Online shopping increasingly unsafe for customers

"A few million" Adidas customers have been affected by the latest data leak. Photo: ictnews.vn

According to the Wall Street Journal, on last Thursday (June 28), Adidas revealed a “potential data security incident” that possibly left the contact and login information of millions of Adidas customers in the hands of an “unauthorised party.” As many as “a few million” customers who used the Adidas US website may have been affected by the breach.

The data leak was officially confirmed on June 26. Accordingly, the company representative said: “We are working with leading data security firms and law enforcement authorities to investigate the issue.”

“According to the preliminary investigation, the limited data includes contact information, usernames, and encrypted passwords,” the company said in its announcement. “Adidas has no reason to believe that customers’ credit card or fitness information was impacted.”

Not only Adidas, but other global brands such as F21 and Sear have also been caught up in data leak scandals.

In last April, Sears, one of the US’ biggest department store chains, warned that almost 100,000 customers’ credit card information could have been exposed because a “third-party” attacked its 24/7 online support system, according to Reuters.

In November last year, fast-fashion brand F21 also announced that customers shopping in March-July last year could have had their credit card information and related information stolen due to a similar issue.

KPMG’s survey stated that in 2017, there were 15 cases of data security breaches in many well-known brands, including Adidas, F21, Kmart, and others. In addition, the number of attacks at retailers and firms has increased.

The survey also stated that 19 per cent of consumers will halt shopping at venues that are subject to data breaches, and 33 per cent will halt shopping at the destinations for a long time.