Breach at One of Europe's Biggest PC Superstore Chains Exposes 5.9 Million Payment Cards

June 14, 2018

Dixons Carphone, one of Europe’s largest electronics retailers, disclosed a data breach on Wednesday involving 5.9 million payment cards and 1.2 million personal records.  

“As part of a review of our systems and data, we have determined that there has been unauthorised access to certain data held by the company,” the company said. The BBC reports that the hacking attempt traces back to July 2017. An investigation at the company is ongoing.  

Dixons Carphone, known formerly as Dixons Retail, merged with British cellphone provider Carphone Warehouse in 2014. The company also operates the street-side home electronics stores Currys and PC World, often in the same location, as well as Dixons Travel stores. The company’s brand is a household name in the U.K., akin to Best Buy in the U.S.  

Dixons said it has since secured its systems and has, as of yet, found no evidence of the illegally accessed data being used for fraud. The company has also been in contact with the police, as well as the U.K.’s data privacy and financial authorities—the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and Financial Conduct Authority, respectively.  

Read more at Gizmodo

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