Sports Direct staff ‘hacked’
SPORTS Direct reportedly failed to tell its 30,000 staff about a cyber attack in which personal details were stolen.
Hackers got hold of workers’ names, email and postal addresses, and phone numbers during the breach in September, reports say.
A Sports Direct spokesman said: “We cannot comment on operational matters in relation to cyber security for obvious reasons.
“However, it is our policy to continually upgrade and improve our systems, and where appropriate we keep the authorities informed.”
ALAN Simpson, the comedy genius behind Steptoe and Son and Hancock’s Half Hour, has died aged 87 following a long battle with lung disease.
His lifelong co-writer Ray Galton – who he met in a sanatorium when they both had tuberculosis as teenagers – led tributes to the legend last night.
Ray, 86, and his family said in a statement: “There are no words to express our sadness at the passing of Alan, Ray’s partner and family friend. From their first attempts at humour in Milford Sanatorium, through a lifetime of work, the strength of their personal and professional bond was at the heart of their success.”
Alan was born in Brixton, South London. His family then moved to Mitcham. His milkman dad, Francis, died when he was 16. He left school to work as a shipping clerk but would say he wanted to write about working-class characters, mostly losers, that he felt he understood. A year later he met Ray during two years at the Surrey County Sanitorium in Milford. They started writing together and did their first radio show there in 1949. Hancock took them on for Half Hour, which started on radio in 1954 then moved to TV. But they fell out with the comic, who said he could do better and sacked them. It was while writing for the BBC’s Comedy Playhouse that they invented two Shepherd’s Bush rag-and-bone men – and Steptoe and Son was born. The antics of Harold and Albert ran from 1962 to 1974. Alan and Ray also wrote for Frankie Howerd, Peter Sellers and Ronnie Corbett. Paul Merton said last night: “In the 20-odd years I knew him Alan was always wise, funny, loyal and opinionated. He loved good food, good wine, and Hampton and Richmond football club. In fact, all the finer things in life.” Comic actor Mark Gatiss added: “RIP Alan – a genius of the ordinary. With Ray, he formed one of the imperishable comedy partnerships.”