Hackers target Auchan (again)

Auchan is next in a long line of retailers hit by a data breach following a cyberattack. The French supermarket chain says data of “several hundred thousand” customers were stolen, for the second time in less than a year.

“No bank details stolen”

The chain admits that customers’ “name, first name, e-mail address, address, phone number and loyalty card number” were stolen, but stresses that no financial data or passwords were stolen. The leak is now contained, the chain says, adding it has since notified affected customers and French privacy watchdog CNIL.

This is far from the first cyber attack on retailers’ customer data in recent times: just think of Ahold Delhaize, the attack that crippled Marks & Spencer’s web shop for months and the repeated attacks on LVMH, just to name a few.

In fact, this is not the first time Auchan has been hit in the last few months: the chain also received unwanted virtual visits last November, when the data of half a million customers were allegedly stolen. As Auchan has a hypermarket close to the Belgian border in Roncq, many Belgian customers may also have been affected.