Shoe retail chain Office latest victim of security breach

CEO Brian McCluskey urges customers to change their passwords for Office as well as other accounts

High street shoe retailer Office is the latest victim of a security breach, and has urged its customers to change their passwords for the website.

The company's CEO Brian McCluskey confirmed in a statement sent to Computing, that the Office website has been the subject of a security breach.

"We can confirm that no credit card, debit card, PayPal or bank details were compromised in any way. In addition we have reported the matter to the relevant authorities," he said.

McCluskey added that the retailer takes data security "very seriously" and said that it has been in communication with its customers on the matter.

In an email sent out to customers, the company said that it has taken the necessary measures to secure its customers' information.

Only accounts created prior to August 2013 have been affected. The information that could have been compromised includes name, address, phone number, email address and the password to the Office account.

The company has therefore urged customers to change their password password as well as similar ones used elsewhere, as these accounts could be accessed by those who perpetrated the attack, using the combination of a customer's email address and their Office password.

Office launched in 1981 with a concession stand in London. It now has 153 sites globally, 58 of which are concessions in Selfridges, Topshop, House of Fraser and Harvey Nichols. The company was bought by Silverfleet Capital in 2010.

The Office security breach follows several other high-profile data breaches at internet firms including Spotify and eBay, while US retail chain Target was hit by a data breach that could have affected up to 110 million US citizens.