Hacker claims 7.49M customer records stolen from American utility company

If you pay an electric or gas bill every month, you probably think about the amount due, not all the personal information sitting behind that account.But your utility company may have your home address, phone number, billing history and other details that can become very useful in the wrong hands.

That is what makes the breach at CenterPoint Energy worth paying attention to, even if you have never been one of its customers.CenterPoint says an unauthorized third party obtained personal information belonging to some customers through an external-facing system.A hacker, meanwhile, claims to have stolen 7.49 million customer records, including addresses, account numbers, billing information and partial Social Security numbers.There is an important catch.

CenterPoint has confirmed that customer information was stolen, but it has not confirmed the hacker's 7.49 million figure or the specific information the attacker says was taken.So, there are still plenty of questions about how big this breach really is.

Here's what CenterPoint has confirmed, what the hacker is claiming and what you should watch for now.NEW! ...