Angling Direct websites hit by ‘cyber security’ incident
Angling Direct – one of Europe’s leading fishing tackle retailers – has this morning issued a statement to the London Stock Exchange after being hit by a ‘cyber security’ incident.
The UK-based company told the market and investors that it is currently managing the situation after detecting unauthorised activity on its network’s late on Friday (November 5).
The illegal activity shut down the company’s websites and these remain inactive. It adds that some of its social media accounts have also been compromised and the Board has appointed external cyber security specialists whose investigations are underway to find out what happened.
It said: “Work continues round the clock to bring the websites back online, while our 39 retail stores across the UK has remained open and continue to trade.
“As a precaution, the company has notified the relevant regulators and law enforcement agencies, including the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK. We are mindful of our obligations regarding data; it is too soon yet to make any determination around the impact this incident has had on personal data, but we will inform any individuals in line with our regulatory obligations should there be a need to do so. Importantly, the company does not hold any customer financial data as our website transactions are handled by third parties.
“As matters currently stand, the Board does not anticipate that this incident will have a detrimental impact on underlying trading and the it will continue to assess any cost exposure that this incident may create. The Board will provide a further update as and when appropriate and apologises for any disruption that has been caused to customers by this incident.”
