LONDON (Alliance News) - Dixons Carphone PLC on Wednesday said it added extra security measures and engaged with cyber security experts after it noted an unauthorised access to its systems and data.
The electronics retail company said it closed off the access to its system and launched an investigation. Dixons said that so far it has found a fraudulent attempt to compromise 5.9 million cards in one of the processing systems of Currys PC World and Dixons Travel stores.
As a result, the company said about 105,000 non-EU issued payment cards which do not have chip and pin protection have been compromised. Dixons currently has no evidence that any fraudulent activity took place, but it informed the relevant authority about the incident.
It has also notified the relevant card companies to enable them to take the appropriate measures to protect customers.
Separately, Dixons identified that 1.2 million records containing non-financial personal data, such as name, address or email address, have been accessed. However, the company believes that this information was not taken outside the system and has not resulted in any fraud.
The company plans to contact those whose non-financial personal data was accessed to inform them, to apologise, and to give them advice on any protective steps they should take.
"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," said Chief Executive Alex Baldock.
"We've taken action to close off this unauthorised access and though we have currently no evidence of fraud as a result of these incidents, we are taking this extremely seriously," added Baldock.
Shares in Dixons were trading 3.4% lower following the news at 191.05 pence each early on Wednesday. The stock had traded at a low of 185.10p.