British Dixons Carphone reports leak of 5.9 million credit card details

British multinational Dixons Carphone has disclosed unauthorized access to data from 5.9 million credit cards. Other information was also stolen, such as names and addresses.

In a statement, the company writes that on the basis of an examination of its ‘systems and data’ it has found out that there has been unauthorized access to certain data. This includes data from 5.9 million credit cards through one of the processing systems of stores Currys PC World and Dixons Travel Stores. The vast majority of the cards, 5.8 million, would be provided with security with a chip and a PIN code. Accessible data did not include PINs, CVCs, or information about the owners of the cards. There was also access to 105,000 unsecured cards from outside the EU.

In addition to this data, there was access to data such as names, addresses and e-mail addresses of 1.2 million people. There would be no evidence that the data “left the systems.” Affected persons have been notified. The British privacy regulator, ICO, has indicated that it is aware of the situation and is in the process of determining the consequences for those affected. It is not the first time that the British company has had to deal with a data breach. In 2015, attackers also managed to steal credit card information from 2.4 million customers. Dixons Carphone was created by the merger of Dixons and Carphone Warehouse in 2014, and sells electronics.