Kering Confirms Data Breach Affecting Luxury Brands Customers

Kering, owner of luxury brands Gucci, Balenciaga, and others, confirms a data breach affecting customers worldwide. Hackers stole sensitive customer data, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, and spending habits, but not credit card numbers. Kering has contacted affected customers, but the number of those impacted is unknown. The hackers, ShinyHunters, claim to have stolen data linked to 7.4 million email addresses.

Kering, the parent company of luxury brands including Gucci, Balenciaga, and Alexander McQueen, has confirmed a significant data breach affecting millions of customers globally. The incident, which occurred in April, was disclosed to relevant data protection authorities by Kering. The breach involved the unauthorized access to customer data, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, addresses, and total spending habits in luxury stores worldwide.

Kering has stated that no financial information, such as credit card details, was compromised. The company has notified affected customers via email but has not disclosed the exact number of individuals impacted. According to the cybercriminal group known as Shiny Hunters, the data breach involved 7.4 million unique email addresses, suggesting a potentially vast number of victims.

The hackers, who have been acting alone, gained access to Kering's systems in April and claimed to have been in on-off negotiations with the company over a ransom payment in Bitcoin. Kering, however, has refused to engage in such negotiations, adhering to long-standing law enforcement advice. The company has since secured its IT systems and taken appropriate actions to prevent future incidents.

This data breach is part of a wave of attacks targeting luxury brands and high-street retailers. Other notable victims include Cartier, Louis Vuitton, and Google, which has also been targeted by Shiny Hunters. Cybersecurity experts have warned about the trend of such attacks, highlighting the attractiveness of retailers to cybercriminals due to the vast amounts of customer data they hold.

References

Gucci, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen hacked in ...^[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crl5j8ld615o
Kering Confirms Data Breach Exposing Customer Information^[2] https://wwd.com/business-news/technology/kering-confirms-cyber-attack-1238162900/