Play.com warns of customer e-mail security breach Skip to main content

Play.com warns of customer e-mail security breach

A screenshot of Play.com's homepage. Play.com hired a US-based marketing firm to handle email communications with customers.

Related Stories

Play.com has warned its customers to "be vigilant" after a security breach led to some personal information being compromised.
The retailer, which sells music, videos and games, blamed another company that it employs to do marketing.
It said that no payment details were stolen, but asked users to beware of spam e-mails containing harmful links.
The company has apologised saying it had "taken every step to make sure this doesn't happen again".
In a statement, Play.com's chief executive John Perkins said: "On Sunday 20 March some customers reported receiving a spam e-mail to e-mail addresses they only use for Play.com."
"We believe this issue may be related to some irregular activity that was identified in December 2010 at our e-mail service provider, Silverpop.
"Investigations at the time showed no evidence that any of our customer e-mail addresses had been downloaded.
"We reacted immediately by informing all our customers of this potential security breach in order for them to take the necessary precautionary steps."
The retailer, which operates out of Jersey, said that all of its customers had now been warned to be cautious of e-mails appearing to come from Play.com.
It has also requested that any suspicious messages be forwarded to privacy@play.com.
Cyber attack US-based firm Silverpop was employed by the site in 2008 to manage e-mail marketing and communications.
Silverpop's manager of corporate communications, Stacy Kirk, told the BBC that the only security issue it had been affected by happened last year, and that it had notified all affected clients at the time.
"Silverpop was among several technology providers targeted as part of a broader cyber attack that occurred in the fall of 2010," she said.
"At that time, we very quickly stopped the attack, notified all customers impacted by the activity and began working with the FBI, law enforcement and third party security experts to help identify those responsible and take any additional steps necessary to ensure this did not happen again.

“Start Quote

On behalf of Play.com, I would like to once again apologise to our customers for any inconvenience due to a potential increase in spam that may be caused by this issue.”
End Quote John Perkins CEO, Play.com
"We are confident that the breach last year remains an isolated incident."
Ms Kirk would not confirm that Play.com was among those contacted due to client confidentiality.
Some users on Twitter and in discussion forums have reported an increase in spam e-mail to accounts signed up to Play.com, with some of these e-mails containing links to websites containing malware.
Phishing scams are designed to trick users into believing they are sharing data with a company that they trust, and giving out personal information such as a credit card details.
However, it cannot be confirmed that the e-mails were sent as a result of the data breach at Play.com.
No notice Some customers who received Play.com's warning e-mail questioned its validity as it did not refer to them by name.
Play.com's website currently contains no notice or guidance about the breach.
Many users have also complained that it is currently not possible to manually remove credit card details from the site.
Paul Vlissidis, technical director of IT security firm NGS Secure, said that such situations are a major concern for retailers and their customers.
"Online businesses, even those of Play.com's size, cannot afford the loss of reputation and customer trust that negligence of this type causes," he said.
"While it is a weakness in the security of a third party that has allowed this data breach, it is the responsibility of all organisations dealing with personal customer data to ensure comprehensive security audits have been carried out in all areas of outsourced work."
Mr Perkins has moved to re-assure customers that other data kept with Play.com is safe.
"We would also like to reassure our customers that all other personal information (i.e. credit cards, addresses, passwords, etc.) are kept in the very secure Play.com environment.
"Play.com has one of the most stringent internal standards of e-commerce security in the industry.
"On behalf of Play.com, I would like to once again apologise to our customers for any inconvenience due to a potential increase in spam that may be caused by this issue."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12819330
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl
Post a Comment
Read more

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do
1 comment
Read more

Is 160 enough? One Indian man's family

By Sumnima Udas , CNN October 31, 2011 -- Updated 0857 GMT (1657 HKT) Ziona, center, with his has 39 wives, 86 children and 35 grandchildren in rural Baktwang village, India. STORY HIGHLIGHTS One man in India is the patriarch of a family of 160 in rural India Ziona, who only goes by his first name, has 39 wives, 86 children and 35 grandchildren. Ziona's father, Chana, founded the Christian sect in Baktwang that promotes polygamy "I never wanted to get married but that's the path God has chosen for me" Mizoram, India (CNN) -- The world's population hits 7 billion this week, but Ziona, the patriarch of what may be the biggest family in the world, is not bothered. "I don't care about overpopulation in India ... I believe God has chosen us to be like this (have big families). Those who are born into this family don't want to leave this tradition so we just keep growing and growing," he says with a smile. Ziona, who only goes by his f
Post a Comment
Read more