Uniqlo hack: 460,000 accounts compromised on Japanese sites of Asia’s biggest retailer
- Consumer data security has become a growing concern for corporations as e-commerce proliferates
- Users’ personal information, purchase history and parts of credit card numbers may have been accessed
The company said the two online store websites were hacked between April 23 and May 10 and the names, addresses, phone numbers and credit card data of 461,091 customers may have been leaked.
There have been no reports of information being used by a third party, the company said.
The incident and the breach was a list-based attack, Fast Retailing said. Such access can happen when customers use the same ID and password combinations on multiple websites.
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Fast Retailing has taken measures to block the unauthorised access and invalidate the passwords of the affected accounts. It also asked all affected customers to reset their passwords to access the company’s online stores.
The casual clothing store operator said identification numbers and passwords previously leaked from other website operators may have been used in the unauthorised access.
“We deeply apologise to our customers and pledge to prevent this from happening again,” said the company in a statement.
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Consumer data security has become a growing concern for corporations as e-commerce proliferates, with an increasing number of retail and services companies reporting incidents.
Last year, Cathay Pacific Airways and Marriott International were among those reporting that hackers accessed customers’ personal information.
Fast Retailing has been investing heavily to build up its e-commerce operation. Internet sales made up 10 per cent of domestic sales in the first half of the company’s current financial year. It does not disclose the total number of online users.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
