Dixons hit by cyber attack
Hackers access shoppers’ details
THE owners of Dixons and Currys have been left facing serious questions after millions of customers’ details were hacked in their second cyber attack in three years.
Experts warned high street giants Dixons Carphone could face heavy fines and legal action after admitting a huge data breach involving nearly six million payment cards and 1.2million personal records.
It comes after their Carphone Warehouse arm were targeted in 2015 when cyber hackers gained access to information about more than three million customers and 1000 employees.
They were subsequently fined £400,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The ICO, the police and the Financial Conduct Authority have been alerted about the latest breach.
Boss Alex Baldock said: “We are extremely disappointed and sorry for any upset this may cause.
“The protection of our data has to be at the heart of our business and we’ve fallen short here.”
The firm said crooks attempted to steal information on 5.9million payment cards from their Currys PC World and Dixons Travel chains. They insisted there was “no evidence of any fraud on these cards as a result of this incident”. Hackers also accessed names and email and home addresses for 1.2million customers, but Carphone said it appeared the information hadn’t been stolen.
The breach is a huge embarrassment for the company, who are major sellers of virus protection and other cyber security software.
Carphone’s share price dived 2.7 per cent yesterday.
A spokesman for the ICO said they were liaising with the National Cyber Security Centre and other bodies to establish the impact of the incident.
He added: “Anyone concerned about lost data and how it may be used should follow the advice of Action Fraud.”
The latest data breach began before new European General Data Protection Regulation rules came into force on May 25.
Sean Humber, of law firm Leigh Day, said: “Those affected are likely to have claims for compensation not only for any financial losses but also for the anxiety and distress caused by the breach.”