4th Dec 2015 07:34
LONDON (Alliance News) - JD Wetherspoon PLC on Friday said computer hackers have obtained information relating to customers and staff, with the pub chain operator now considering how to strengthen its defences.
Wetherspoon said it has called in a cyber security specialist to carry out a "full forensic investigation" into the breach, on top of sending an alert to customers via email.
Chief Executive John Hutson apologised to the customers and staff whose data was compromised by the hack.
"Unfortunately, hacking is becoming more and more sophisticated and widespread. We are determined to respond to this by increasing our efforts and investment in security and will be doing everything possible to prevent a recurrence," Hutson said.
The company said the information in question was obtained from its old website. Its new website is managed by a "new digital partner" with "no connection" to the site that was breached, Wetherspoon added.
Wetherspoon said that most customers were unaffected by the data breach, with no financial data involved in the hacking and no passwords obtained. However, 100 customers, who bought vouchers online before August 2014, saw "extremely limited" credit and debit card details accessed.
Only the last four digits of the card numbers were obtained, Wetherspoon said, as the remaining digits were not stored in the database.
"Other information, such as the customer name and the expiry date was not compromised. As a result, these credit/debit card details cannot, on their own, be used for fraudulent purposes," Wetherspoon said.
Some personal staff details, registered before 10th November 2011, were stolen, the pub chain said. However, those details did not include salary, bank, tax or national insurance information.
Wetherspoon said it has notified The Information Commissioner's Office, which regulates data protection, of the breach.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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