Hacked | Cyber attack on WH Smith staff data leaves HR with a slew of ethical issues to tackle

WH Smith fell victim to a cyber attack last week, with hackers gaining access to confidential employee details and sparking questions about HR’s role in digital security.

The high street retailer revealed that data including names, addresses, National Insurance numbers and dates of birth had been breached. The leak includes details of current employees but also former staff who remain on the company’s database.

WH Smith did not say how many current and ex-employees had been affected, but the company employs about 10,000 people in the UK.

Customer accounts and customer databases are not affected, the firm said, while confirming that an investigation had been launched.