Stone Refurb

Profile narrative

Encore PC, also known by its former trading name Stone Refurb, operated as an IT company based in Staffordshire, England. The organisation's primary business activity involved refurbishing and reselling computer equipment, with an online retail presence that allowed customers to purchase its products through a company website. As a small-to-medium enterprise operating in the consumer electronics refurbishment sector, Encore PC served individual customers seeking affordable computing hardware, processing payments and handling sensitive financial information as part of its routine commercial operations.

The organisation came to public attention following a significant cybersecurity incident disclosed on 26 September 2020. Hackers compromised the company's website over a period spanning several months, during which time they were able to steal customers' bank details. The breach enabled unauthorised payments to be made from the accounts of affected customers, with at least one customer reporting a financial loss exceeding £2,300. The incident was reported to and investigated by police, and it prompted broader notifications to the company's customer base regarding the potential compromise of their financial data.

Limited information is publicly available regarding the company's operational scale, workforce size, annual revenue, or market reach. The available reporting indicates the organisation maintained a website through which it conducted sales, and that it processed customer bank card details as part of its payment infrastructure, but no further specifics about customer volumes, geographic distribution beyond Staffordshire, or financial performance have been documented in the available sources.

The distinguishing characteristic of Encore PC in available reporting relates to its vulnerability profile as a small IT refurbishment business targeted by cybercriminals. The breach demonstrates how organisations handling customer payment data, even at a relatively modest operational scale, can become targets for sustained attacks that exploit website vulnerabilities to harvest financial credentials. The extended duration of the compromise, occurring over several months before detection, highlights challenges that smaller enterprises may face in identifying and responding to sophisticated intrusions against their commercial infrastructure.

Structurally, Encore PC operated under the trading name Stone Refurb at the time of the disclosed incident, indicating a rebrand or name change from the original Encore PC identity. No information is available in the provided sources regarding parent companies, subsidiary relationships, ownership structure, or corporate registration details beyond the trading name transition. The organisation's status following the 2020 disclosure, including any subsequent enforcement actions, regulatory findings, or business outcomes, is not documented in the available material.

Incidents

1 incident linked to this organisation.