British department store Harrods warns customers that some personal details taken in data breach

Key Points

• Harrods has announced a data breach affecting some customers' personal information, including names and contact details, but no financial data such as passwords or payment details was compromised.
• The breach was traced back to a third-party provider's compromised systems and is described by Harrods as an "isolated" incident that has been contained.
• Four individuals were arrested in connection with cyberattacks against Harrods and other retailers, highlighting a broader trend of increased cyber threats targeting major UK businesses.
• Recent reports indicate that the Kido nursery chain experienced a cyberattack where hackers posted sensitive information about children on the darknet.

LONDON (AP) — Harrods, the luxury British department store, has warned some customers that their personal data may have been taken in a breach of its online systems.

The company said late Friday that some names and contact details of its online customers were taken after one of its third-party provider systems was compromised.

“We have informed affected customers that the impacted personal data is limited to basic personal identifiers including name and contact details, but does not include account passwords or payment details," it said in a statement.

It added that incident was “isolated” and has been contained, without providing more details.

Harrods said that the data breach wasn't connected to an incident in May, when it restricted internet access across its sites as a precautionary measure following an attempt to gain unauthorized access to its systems.

Four people were arrested in July on suspicion of their involvement in cyberattacks against Harrods and two other leading British retail chains, Marks & Spencer and the Co-op and Harrods. The suspects were bailed pending further inquiries.

Several other cyberattacks have targeted high-profile British businesses in recent months.

Last week, Jaguar Land Rover, Britain's biggest automaker, said that its production lines will remain shut down until at least Oct. 1, after a cyberattack in August.

On Friday, the BBC and other British media reported that hackers stole information about thousands of children from Kido, a London nursery chain, and posted some of the children's photos and details on the darknet.

The Metropolitan Police force said that inquiries about “a ransomware attack on a London-based organization” were ongoing and no arrests have been made.