Why Big W’s online store is offline right now
A technical issue has exposed some customer information to prospective shoppers.
Discount department store Big W's website and online shop remain in browsing mode following a technical issue which exposed the personal information of one of its shoppers to a "small number of customers" during the checkout process.
Big W issued a statement on its website explaining that between 1:50pm and 3pm on Thursday 10 November a customer's name, phone number and address pre-populated the first stage of the checkout process for some online shoppers.
Once the error was detected, Big W immediately took down its website and commenced an investigation, personally contacting every customer affected.
Following the investigation, the retailer said no passwords, login details, bank account or credit card information were compromised. Big W said no customer's financial information is at risk and there is no need for customers to take any action regarding credit or other payment cards.
There is also no need to change any Big W website account details or passwords.
Site technicians are currently working to rectify the issue and restore BIG W's website, intending to return to regular operation in the next few days.
Big W did not disclose the exact number of customers affected by the information breach but said it had reported the incident to the Privacy Commissioner.
While the breach has caused disruption to the retailer's shopping portal, it is nowhere near as dangerous as Yahoo's immense data breach from 2014, when hacker's accessed the data of at least 500 million users.
It's important to remember to always protect your personal information when you shop, bank or transact online. Take the necessary steps to avoid data breaches.
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