Data Hack against Michael Stores Eventually Substantiated Following Months of Investigation

During January 2014, Texas, US-based Michaels Stores the retail chain for crafts and arts was reported to have possibly been hit with a data infringement. Since then investigation had been ongoing and now recently, the firm substantiated the report adding that the cyber-crooks, besides invading its computers, also breached its alliance company namely Aaron Brothers, published softpedia.com, April 17, 2014.

Michaels hired dual security companies that independently conducted the data breach's study. Both discovered an advanced malware that the cyber-crooks had employed for the hacks. Also, neither company had earlier observed the malware prior to the incident.

The POS (point-of-sale) machines that the malware targeted contained details such as payment cards' expiration dates and numbers that customers had utilized for purchases at both Aaron Brothers and Michaels. But, no evidence appeared as to whether other data including customers' addresses, names else PINs also got compromised.

Chuck Rubin, CEO of Michaels said that approximately 2.6m credit and debit cards might've got accessed from different sales centers of Michaels during 8th May 2013-27th January 2014. He added that there was a possibility the hackers also attacked Aaron Brothers' outlets to compromise approximately 400,000 similar cards during 26th June 2013-27th February 2014. Scmagazine.com published this, April 17, 2014.

Elaborating how various stores of Michaels got affected with the breach; Rubin stated that it also impacted a good 54 locations of Aaron Brothers. The arts-and-crafts firm published the names of locations of Aaron Brothers and Michaels that got intruded, online.

Rubin further stated that his company was providing free credit monitoring as well as identity protection services to those US clients of Aaron Brothers and Michaels who were affected. Moreover, it was also providing certain fraud assistant help to those clients for a year, free-of-cost.

According to Rubin, in a period when extremely refined and indomitable crooks had shown success in hacking huge numbers of PC-networks, it became imperative that every organization raised their respective levels of alert. Thus, Michaels was determined for coordinating with each and every required party for enhancing transactions' safety that customers performed with their payment cards, he concluded. Dallasnews.com published this, April 17, 2014.

» SPAMfighter News - 4/26/2014