Retail giant Harvey Norman has been hit by a global data breach
Customers’ contact details may have been compromised, but not their bank details.
ELECTRONICS AND FURNITURE retailer Harvey Norman has emailed Irish customers alerting them to a data breach that occurred at one of its third-party online service providers.
The Australia-headquartered retail giant notified customers yesterday of the 27 June breach at Typeform, which provides survey and online form software for Harvey Norman’s website.
In a statement to Fora, the retailer confirmed that “a small number” of customers have been affected by the data breach.
“Any services which Typeform would have to provided Harvey Norman have now been suspended,” it said.
The retailer – which operates 13 stores in the Republic and two outlets in the North – said that some personal data may have been compromised, such as customers’ names, email addresses and telephone numbers.
“No sensitive personal data such as payment data, bank details or passwords are involved. Harvey Norman never stores any payment details on our systems.”
Blaine Callard of Harvey Norman Ireland
Other businesses
In the message to customers, Harvey Norman apologised and said it notified the Office of the Data Protection Commission with details of the Typeform data breach last Friday, 29 June.
It recommended that customers take extra caution when managing their emails to ensure they don’t fall victim to online scams.
“In particular, if you receive any email from Harvey Norman asking for payment, a credit card number or any other confidential information, do not answer and contact us immediately.”
According to reports in the UK, the Typeform data breach has affected a number of other businesses around the world, including budget hotel chain Travelodge.
As in Harvey Norman’s case, people’s personal contact details may have been compromised but not sensitive information like bank account details.
It is not clear yet whether the breach has affected Travelodge customers in Ireland. Fora has contacted the chain for clarification.
Upmarket London food shop Fortnum & Mason and the Liberal Democrats political party have also been affected by the Typeform breach. British mobile-only bank Monzo has also been hit and issued a statement on the matter last week.
