Samsung Electronics, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, on Friday said it suffered a cyber security breach in late July that exposed the personal information of some customers in the US.
Customer information including name, contact and demographic details, date of birth and product registration data was compromised following the incident but social security numbers and credit card numbers were not affected.
"In late July 2022, an unauthorised third party acquired information from some of Samsung’s US systems," it said.
The company, however, did not provide information on how many customers were affected by the breach.
“We have taken actions to secure the affected systems, and have engaged a leading outside cyber security firm and are co-ordinating with law enforcement,” the company said.
The company is informing customers to make them aware of this matter and the information affected for each relevant customer may vary, it added.
This is the second time Samsung has confirmed a data breach this year. In March, the company confirmed that it was hit by a large-scale data breach in which hackers were able to steal about 200 gigabytes of confidential source code related to its flagship Galaxy smartphone series. An anonymous group calling itself Lapsus$ claimed responsibility.
Samsung said it will work with experts to enhance the security of its systems.
“We will further enhance the security of our systems — and our customers’ personal information — and work to maintain the trust our customers have put into the Samsung brand for more than 40 years."
The South Korean company reported a more than 12 per cent surge in second-quarter net profit, as revenue rose during the period on the back of higher semiconductor sales.
Profit at the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer in the three months ending June 30 rose to 14.10 trillion won ($10.82 billion) from 12.57tn won a year earlier. Consolidated revenue during the period surged 21 per cent to 77.2tn won.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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