Bharat SainiLast Updated on March 29, 2014 by Bharat Saini
The news that Morrisons were victims of a large-scale data theft made a lot of people sit up and take notice. First of all, customers of the company were keen to hear if they would be compromised in any way but the firm was very quick to point out that this was not a situation that would impact on customers in any way, shape or form. The data that had been stolen, and placed online, relates to the payroll system so it was purely the employees of the company who were being compromised. Good news for customers of the supermarket but not so good news for the employees.
It now turns out that an actual employee of the company has been arrested in connection with the invasion and theft of the payroll system. It is always important to remember that an arrest doesn’t mean that the person is guilty, and that should be at the forefront of all talking points about the case. However, it will certainly be a major concern for the firm and a lot of employees will be wondering why another employee would place them into a position where they have been compromised. Hopefully there will be no come back for nay of the employees but given that so much pertinent and relevant data was placed online, there is no way that this can be guaranteed. The information pertaining to the employees was placed online and was also sent to a local newspaper.
A sizable number of people were placed at risk
More than 100,000 employees were placed at risk and this is completely unacceptable in the modern era. Employees have enough moans and complaints about their employee without finding that their bank accounts and personal details have been published online, compromising their potential safety and security. While other firms in the UK, of all sizes, will be looking at Morrisons and being thankful it was the supermarket giant, and not their own firm, that suffered, there has to be a wakeup call for all businesses across the country. If this sort of situation can happen at Morrisons, it could happen anywhere.
From very early on, the company was quick to state that they didn’t believe the attack had come from an external source, which means that they believed it was an employee of the firm who had undertaken this crime. Again, while an arrest doesn’t mean that the person is guilty, it does seem as though the firm was not far off of the mark with their initial comment. The firm is continuing to work closely alongside the police in West Yorkshire who are undertaking the investigation.
The firm is looking to protect employees
The firm has undertaken a great deal of work in providing information to their employees about how to secure themselves and their accounts after the information was published. The firm has also started to work with the financial data firm to ensure that misuse of information is being examined for the employees. The company hopes that this will minimise the likelihood of any of their employees being impacted upon by identity fraud.
It has been a particularly rough time for the company given that they have also announced a profit warning, with their latest profits set to be around half of the level for the previous years profits. The firm has made moves that have sparked industry belief about a price war in the supermarket industry. The firm is said to be committing itself to engaging in a significant price cut promotion in an attempt to win back customers who now shop with other supermarket. Morrisons is said to be the fourth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom with firms like Asda, Tesco and Sainsburys ranking above it.
There were fears over the fact that Morrisons were using antiquated systems for their financial and payroll data but the company has taken steps to switch to a more modern style. There has been no indication whether the breach was due to the old system, the new system or a cross-over between the two systems. If the new breach is related to the new system, there is likely to be a great deal of concern and worry about this new system that is supposed to offer a more robust and reliable service for the firm.
Andrew Reilly is a freelance writer with a focus on news stories and consumer interest articles. He has been writing professional for 8 years but has been writing for as long as he can care to remember. When Andrew isn’t sat behind a laptop or researching a story, he will be found watching a gig or a game of football.
