Retailer admits to sizable security breach

Wednesday, August 8, 2018 - 14:56 by Sarah Collinson

Around 10 million consumers in the UK are thought to have been hit after an attack executed against Dixons Carphone, a retailer responsible for safe shopping online and hundreds of bricks and mortar stores around the country.

The breach occurred in 2017 and was originally reported to have impacted over a million people, but this figure has since increased dramatically after further investigations were carried out, according to the Guardian.

The type of information which was accessed by malicious third parties during the hack includes the names and addresses of customers. The company claims that sensitive details relating to payment cards were not taken, although this may not do much to instil confidence in those who had made purchases at one of its outlets in the past few years.

Dixons Carphone will be getting in touch with consumers who have been impacted by this incident in order to alert them to the likelihood that their private information has fallen into the wrong hands. However, since no one has apparently become the victim of fraud as a result of this breach, the retailer is not planning to offer any kind of compensation.

Company spokesperson Alex Baldock said that steps had been taken to improve the security of the systems used to store sensitive information, while also apologising for the fact that the attack had been successful in the first place.

This is just the latest in a long line of high profile breaches suffered by retailers, telecoms companies and other major organisations.

Consumers who intend to carry out safe shopping online are still urged to stay alert to the threats they face and make sure they are up to date with the latest news relating to breaches so that they can take appropriate action if they are ever affected.