Orange Belgium, a subsidiary of telecommunications giant Orange Group, disclosed that attackers who breached its systems in July stole the data of roughly 850,000 customers. The incident, which came to light in August, underscores the growing tension between telecom operators’ ambitions in sensitive sectors like healthcare and the security risks that threaten public trust.
Source: corporate.orange.be.
The breach targeted one of Orange Belgium’s IT systems, exposing account information including names, phone numbers, SIM card details, PUK codes, and tariff plans. Fortunately, financial data, email addresses, and passwords were not compromised. Still, the company warned that fraudsters could weaponize the stolen data for impersonation attempts, urging customers to remain vigilant against suspicious messages and calls. Orange Belgium confirmed it knows the threat group behind the intrusion but declined to disclose further details while the investigation continues.
This incident is separate from the cyberattack disclosed by Orange Group in late July, which mainly impacted French customers. It also follows a string of security events within the Orange ecosystem in recent years, including a breach of Orange Romania earlier in 2025 and a ransomware attack on Orange Business Solutions in 2020. Taken together, the repeated incidents highlight the challenges of safeguarding massive networks spanning hundreds of millions of users worldwide.
The timing is notable, as Orange simultaneously promotes its role as a technology partner to healthcare providers. Through its Health & Care services, Orange positions itself as a critical enabler of digital transformation in hospitals and clinics, with offerings designed to tackle four major challenges: managing the explosion of healthcare data, improving efficiency amid staff shortages, meeting the rising expectations of patients, and keeping pace with rapid technological change. Solutions such as Corporate Internet, Fixed Mobile Unification (FMU), and Enterprise Messaging aim to secure data flows, optimize connectivity, and enhance patient engagement.
Orange is also investing in innovation through initiatives like the Magician Project, a collaboration with imec and IDLab Antwerp to deploy NB-IoT in healthcare. One prototype, “wearable alarming,” is designed to allow patients to live independently longer while still being monitored through connected devices. These efforts reflect Orange’s ambition to provide not just connectivity, but integrated digital health solutions for a sector under increasing strain.
Yet the Belgium breach highlights the stakes of this ambition: trust is paramount when handling patient data. As healthcare systems grow more reliant on connected infrastructure, telecom operators like Orange must demonstrate not only technological leadership but also uncompromising security. Without it, the very sectors they aim to empower may hesitate to embrace their solutions.
