Adidas Data Breach: Personal Information Exposed

Adidas Korea just announced a security breach. Yep, customer data is affected. It’s actually the second major incident in the fashion industry hitting Korean consumers this month.

The sportswear giant revealed that unauthorized access was gained through a third-party customer service provider, compromising customers’ personal information who had contacted their service centers.

On May 16, Adidas disclosed on its website that the breach affected customers who had made inquiries to their customer service center in 2024 or earlier. According to the company, compromised data includes customer names, email addresses, phone numbers, and in some cases, birthdates and physical addresses.

“We have confirmed that there was unauthorized access to some consumer data through a third-party customer service provider,” Adidas stated in its official announcement, reports BusinessKorea.

The company emphasized that sensitive financial information remained secure, noting, “Financial information such as passwords and payment-related details were not included.”

Korean Customer Data Exposed

Adidas has already completed notifications to all affected Korean customers and is working with information security specialists to investigate the incident thoroughly.

“We are taking this matter very seriously and are immediately conducting a comprehensive investigation in cooperation with information security specialists,” an Adidas representative stated.

The company has also reported the incident to relevant Korean authorities and implemented additional security measures to prevent similar breaches in the future.

This breach comes just days after luxury brand Dior faced similar issues with customer data security in Korea. On May 13, Dior announced that unauthorized access to customer information had occurred on January 26, though the company only discovered the breach on May 7.

The Dior incident has drawn particular criticism as the compromised data included sensitive purchase history information along with customer names, mobile phone numbers, and email addresses.

Adding to the controversy, Dior reportedly failed to notify the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) about the breach when it was discovered.

These consecutive data breaches affecting international fashion brands’ Korean customer databases indicate a concerning pattern in the industry. Cybersecurity experts suggest retail customer databases are increasingly becoming targets due to the valuable consumer behavior data they contain.

For affected customers of both companies, security specialists recommend monitoring accounts for unusual activity, being cautious of potential phishing attempts that might leverage the stolen information, and considering changing passwords for other services where similar credentials might have been used.