Yuresh Maharaj, CEO of Standard Bank-owned Liberty, says the company has contained the breach to its systems.

• Investment and insurance provider Liberty has warned its clients that it has suffered a data breach.
• Some clients have been told that the group recently detected “unauthorised access” to their personal information.
• Its owner, Standard Bank, has suffered several systems and security issues in recent years.
• For more financial news, visit News24 Business.

Liberty, the investment and insurance provider owned by Standard Bank, says some of its data systems have been breached.

“We immediately took steps to contain and mitigate the impact. Our services remain unaffected, fully operational and available to all our clients, advisors and employees,” Liberty CEO Yuresh Maharaj said in a statement posted on the company’s website.

“Our team, supported by experts, has launched a full investigation into this incident. We are notifying all affected clients. We regret any concern this may have caused.”

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Liberty declined to answer News24’s questions about when exactly the breach occurred or how many clients were affected.

However, the frequently asked questions section said affected clients would be notified directly by SMS.

One client received a message saying:

Liberty also urged clients to be cautious of unexpected emails, phone calls or text messages claiming to be from Liberty and advised them not to click on links or open attachments from unknown senders.

Standard Bank, which bought out the remaining 43% of Liberty it didn’t already own in 2022, has suffered a string of system breakdowns and security breaches in recent years.

In June 2022, its chief engineering officer quit after the group suffered several system outages.

In July 2024, a social media storm erupted after scores of Standard Bank clients complained of fraud on their accounts, prompting the bank to temporarily block transactions in Brazil, a location frequently cited in complaints.

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In November 2024, Standard Bank confirmed that an employee with authorised access had been caught copying client data to an unprotected personal device, in violation of its security protocols. In December 2025, the group’s mobile banking app also suffered limited functionality for several hours.