“Dear customers, we are facing a technical incident. Online orders and deliveries are temporarily suspended.” Here is the message currently displayed on the website of luxury crystal maker Baccarat. This “symbol of the art of celebration and French joie de vivre”, created in 1764, is in reality facing computer hacking.
Teams mobilized
“Baccarat is the subject of a cyberattack which partially constrains its operation and its activity, but the company continues to operate and the teams are mobilized to continue to serve its customers,” lamented the company, based in Meurthe-et -Moselle, in a press release shared on September 27. As reported by France Bleu, part of the crystal factory’s activity is however reduced without it being known at the moment whether this has an impact on production.
However, data from the company, which has around 1,100 employees around the world, is currently unavailable. It is unclear whether to understand that files have been encrypted or whether they are simply offline. “But there is currently no indication that personal or confidential data of customers, employees or partners has been compromised,” assures the company.
Call for vigilance
The crystal factory explained that it was communicating about this computer hacking “for the sake of anticipation and prevention of potential risks”. “We are contacting most of our customers, partners and suppliers to call on them to be extremely vigilant,” added the company. general director, Maggie Henriquez. The company calls on its customers and suppliers to report any suspicious messages that may have been sent following this intrusion.
Traditionally, Baccarat called on external service providers to assess the damage, determine the information systems affected and prepare for a gradual return to normal. In 2022, the Paris prosecutor’s office opened 611 investigations into cyberattacks, a figure slightly higher than that (602) in 2021.