The owner of fashion brands Hobbs and Whistles has apologised to customers after being hit by a cyber attack, marking the second hack to impact a UK retailer in a week.
South African retail group The Foschini Group (TFG) said the “cybersecurity incident” occurred on Sunday, affecting its UK subsidiary TFG London, with “certain of its IT systems” impacted – specifically its Phase Eight, Hobbs and Whistles brands.
Payment information not at risk
TFG said there is “no reason to believe that payment information is at risk”. Other high street brands, including Inside Story and White Stuff, are not affected.
TFG reported the incident to the relevant UK authorities.
Second retailer hit in a week
The attack comes a week after fast fashion business Asos said an “unauthorised party” had gained access to some personal data, including names and contact details.
Asos customers received a phone alert saying the retailer had been hacked, which claimed the data storage firm Snowflake had been compromised.
TFG London statement
TFG London said: “On Sunday, 11 October, TFG London identified a cybersecurity incident affecting some of our IT systems, specifically impacting our Phase Eight, Hobbs, and Whistles brands.
“We are actively investigating and working with external cyber security specialists.
“Stores are open as normal but some of our brand’s website capabilities may not be available as the investigation continues.
“We apologise for any disruption and will provide additional updates to our customers as appropriate.”
