Help for hacked Generate clients

Hackers stole 26,000 members’ personal information.

Kiwisaver provider Generate is offering to compensate its members affected by a recent hack – but says it is under no obligation to do so.

Generate revealed in February that its records had been accessed ‘‘illegitimately’’ between December 29 and January 27.

Hackers stole 26,000 members’ personal information, including names, addresses, IRD numbers, and potentially ID and proof of address documentation.

Their Kiwisaver savings were not affected.

In an email to members, Generate said it was aware the incident had created uncertainty and concern and had created inconvenience and demands on members’ time as they took action to minimise the risks as a result of having their personal information compromised.

They were told to watch bank accounts carefully, change their online passwords, notify credit agencies and register for alerts for people registering for credit in their name.

Generate said that while it was ‘‘under no obligation to do so’’, it would reimburse members the cost of a replacement photo ID if their ID was caught in the breach and was valid on December 29.

They were told to apply for the reimbursement by April.

‘‘For those members who had photo ID compromised but choose not to apply for new documents, or for members who miss the March 31 deadline, we will waive Generate’s annual member fee of $36 for 12 months.’’

Other members whose personal information was accessed but whose identification documents were not compromised would also have the $36 fee waived.

‘‘To reiterate, the offers ... are made on an ex gratia basis without any admission of liability and are in addition to the other actions we have taken in response to this incident, including: Engaging cyber security experts to immediately secure our online application system and to undertake a broader audit and testing of all of our systems; and engaging IDCARE, an independent identity and cyber security organisation, to provide affected members with specialist advice and assistance.

‘‘We hope that the offers and steps we have outlined in this ongoing breach response from Generate helps to demonstrate to all of our members how valued you all are to us.’’