Used tech chain, CeX, has this week emailed millions of its customers telling them to change their passwords for its e-commerce site after a breach which occurred at the end of last year.

Money Saving Expert reports that although it has been months since the hack occurred, those claiming responsibility have only just contacted the retailer, prompting it to take action.

Any customer who has previously carried out safe shopping online with CeX is likely to be contacted by the company in the coming days and the straightforward advice to keep accounts safe is to change the password so that it cannot be compromised by crooks.

It is worth pointing out that while this sounds like it could pose a major threat to up to two million consumers, the reality is that CeX is being deliberately cautious and not taking any risks. For the time being, hackers only claim that they have access to private customer data; in reality it could be a bluff designed to cause disruption for the retailer.

A spokesperson for CeX explained that the breach which occurred in late 2016 was relatively minor and that the security flaw which hackers exploited was quickly fixed. They also said that there have not been any other successful attacks in the interim and so customers can still carry out safe shopping online with confidence.

The call for customers to change passwords is a precaution which makes sense in this scenario, but it is also good advice for all web users who want to avoid having their personal information stolen. Such attacks are inevitable and it is only by regularly changing passwords that people can realistically expect to protect themselves.

Retailers clearly have a responsibility to keep customers safe and in this instance the steps being taken by CeX are proportionate to the problem at hand.