Major UK retailer WH Smith has become the latest organization to respond to a cybersecurity incident.

guardian paper In a statement to the city, the retailer said a “cybersecurity incident” resulted in illegal access to some corporate data, including current and former employee data.

WH Smith reportedly said it immediately launched an investigation, engaged expert support services, and notified relevant authorities.

incident statement

Fortunately, according to WH Smith, customer accounts and databases were unaffected.

“WH Smith takes cybersecurity issues very seriously and an investigation into the incident is ongoing,” the retailer was quoted as saying in a statement to The Guardian. and we are taking steps to support them.”

“There was no impact on the group’s trading activities,” it added. “Our website, customer accounts, and underlying customer database are on separate systems that are unaffected by this incident.”

UK cyber attack

British organizations are increasingly dealing with cyberattacks, some of which originate in Russia.

For example, the Russian-linked Rockbit gang claimed responsibility for the ransomware attack on Royal Mail in January and said it would release the stolen data unless a ransom was paid.

The attack disrupted Royal Mail’s international parcel and letter export service, causing significant delays.

In 2015, WH Smith admitted to a serious privacy incident after a misconfigured web page sent a flood of emails across a mailing list.

The mistake was reportedly attributed to an “administrative error.” However, the company insisted it wasn’t a “data breach,” which angered many online.