By Will Sturgeon, 18 November 2003 15:40
NEWS Argos and B&Q have not said they will contact their registered customers about recent security problems on their websites.
It is widely regarded as best practice for sites to admit when they have had a problem and provide customers with information to make decisions based on what has happened - such as whether to change login and password details.
Both retailers have fixed the serious security flaws affecting their sites but as yet neither has informed its customers instead, the sites' users have been finding out from silicon.com.
One who contacted us and who wished to remain anonymous said: "I was actually in the Argos site and about to order a present for my son when my Outlook alarm told me I had mail. For some reason I checked it before processing the order and saw the headline. I then chose not to order the goods online."
He added that problems at various sites haven't "put me off continuing to order online - it's just so convenient. I won't stop using Argos per se but will think twice about using their online offering." <
At the time of writing B&Q hadn't said it will be contacting its registered online customer base.
Argos had issued a statement saying: "We would like to reiterate that no credit card information is contained, and therefore accessible, on the www.argos.co.uk site. The company will continue to maintain its commitment to customer information security."
Comments
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1. John Stanhope
If the are not prepared to admit the error to their customer base, then I hope that it blows up in their collective faces.
Transparency is the name of the game in these situations. If they are not prepared to be honest, then IMO they do not deserve customers
2. anonymous
UK companies are storing more and more customer private information on the Internet. A breach can occur when inadequate security procedures are in place and we hear of an increasing number of cases, again and again, yet many go unreported or unnoticed. It isn't always going to be obvious every time a breach occurs and if your identity gets stolen there's not much you can do about it. If you're a customer of a company that keeps your information online then chances are your at risk, its true to say that some companies and their customers are at more risk than others, for example www.thesun.me.uk details how one company failed its customers when it was discovered that inadequate security measures where in place.
3. anonymous
Not so! - I got an email from B&Q - I've forwarded it to the ditiorial team. B&Q came clean.