Tiffany & Co. has officially confirmed a significant data breach. This breach specifically affected its customers in South Korea. It marks the second such security incident for an LVMH brand. Previously, Dior, another LVMH company, reported a similar data compromise. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is the parent company. It is the world’s largest luxury goods conglomerate. These repeated incidents raise broader concerns over data security practices. These concerns apply to the entire LVMH group. On May 26th, Tiffany Korea sent email notifications. These emails informed select customers about a cybersecurity breach. The breach involved unauthorized access to an external vendor platform. This third-party platform was used for managing sensitive customer data.
According to the email from Tiffany Korea, the breach occurred on April 8th. The company stated it verified the data compromise on May 9th. This verification confirmed personal data was exposed. The data belonged to individuals residing in South Korea. Exposed information includes full names and residential addresses. Phone numbers and email addresses were also accessed by unauthorized parties. Furthermore, internal customer ID numbers were compromised. Critically, customer purchase history was also exposed. This type of data is considered particularly sensitive. This was also the case in the earlier Dior breach. Tiffany & Co. has noted that, as of now, there are no confirmed cases.
No misuse or exploitation of the compromised data has been identified.
When contacted by Chosunilbo, Tiffany Korea’s customer service center provided information. They said only those directly affected had been individually notified. A public notice regarding the breach was absent. It did not appear on the company’s official website. This was true at the time of the reporting. LVMH finalized its major acquisition of Tiffany & Co. The American luxury jeweler was acquired in January 2021. This significant deal was valued at approximately $12.4 billion. Tiffany Korea generated substantial domestic sales last year. Sales reached $276 million, showing strong performance. This represented a 7.6% increase from the previous year.
LVMH proudly describes itself as home to 75 distinguished Maisons.
These brands are rooted in six different sectors of luxury. In addition to Louis Vuitton, its portfolio is vast. It includes Christian Dior Couture and Givenchy. Fendi, Celine, Kenzo, and Bulgari are also LVMH brands. Loewe, TAG Heuer, Marc Jacobs, and Sephora are part of it too. The fact that two luxury brands experienced attacks is concerning. An unnamed vendor may be involved in these incidents. This raises a critical question for the wider LVMH group. Many more of its luxury brands may have fallen prey. It is unknown if attackers accessed EU or U.S. customer data. So far, reports only mention Korean and Chinese customers affected.
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