Retailer Dis-chem hit data breach affecting 3 million customers

The hacker has gained access to the personal information of some 3.6 million of the retail group’s customers.

In a statement on Thursday, the Dis-chem said it launched an investigation as soon as it became aware of the incident on 1 May.

 "Our investigation has revealed that the incident affected a total of 3 687 881 data subjects and that the following personal information was accessed – first name and surname; email address; and cell phone number.

“Based on the categories of personal information impacted, there is a possibility that any impacted personal information may be used by the unauthorised party to commit further criminal activities, such as phishing attacks, emails compromises, social engineering and/or impersonation attempts. For example, it may be cross-referenced with information compromised in other third party cyber incidents, for the further perpetration of crime against data subjects.”

The group said there is no indication that any personal information has been published or misused due to the hack.

"We stress that no identification numbers, medical, financial or banking information was contained in this database. However, we cannot guarantee that this position will remain the same in future.

“Therefore, out of an abundance of caution, we are providing information about the incident as well as the remedial action taken to mitigate against any further adverse consequences of the incident.”

The group says the third-party service provider has since deployed additional safeguards to ensure the protection of information on the database.

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