Chanel and Pandora ‘hit by cyberattacks’

Retailers Chanel and Pandora have reportedly been hit by cyberattacks which resulted in customer data breaches.

Media reports reveal that Chanel confirmed on Tuesday that its customers in the US were impacted by a breach which was first identified on 25 July.

On the same day, Pandora also sent an email to customers confirming that it had experienced a cybersecurity attack.

The email, seen by Forbes, said that some customer information was accessed through a third-party platform that it uses.

“Only very common types of data were copied by the attacker – specifically name and email address,” said the email.

Pandora assured customers that no passwords, credit card details or similar confidential data was involved in the breach.

The attacks follow high-profile cyber incidents at Marks & Spencer and Co-op earlier this year.

Last month, Co-op’s chief executive admitted that all 6.5 million of its members had their data stolen during the incident.

The April attack on M&S forced the group to close its online store for nearly seven weeks and led to empty shelves at shops during May as automated stock systems were shut down.

The incident has cost the company an estimated £300 million in lost profits this year.

“As Pandora has rightly warned, the affected emails are now vulnerable to phishing attacks, which if successful, can allow hackers to steal vital information, or lead to financial loss if the user clicks any links or downloads malicious attachments,” said Christoph C. Cemper, founder of prompt management tool AIPRM.

He warned that while passwords were not compromised in this case, exposed email addresses could still be used to attempt logins on other sites.

“The recent cyber-attack affecting Pandora Jewellery underscores a persistent vulnerability across the retail sector that demands immediate attention,” said AJ Thompson, chief commercial officer at IT consultancy Northdoor. “While Pandora’s core systems remained secure, the breach occurred through a third-party platform, with the jewellery firm admitting that customer names, phone numbers, and email addresses had been accessed.”

National Technology News has approached Chanel and Pandora for further comment.