Photo: FLLewis / Media City — Kmart 1000 North San Fernando Blvd. Burbank October 11, 2014
Kmart is the latest retailer to be attacked by hackers. The disclosure was made on October 9 “… our Kmart store payment data systems were infected with a form of malware that was undetectable by current anti-virus systems. We were able to quickly remove the malware. However, we believe certain debit and credit card numbers have been compromised, ” according to a news release from the company.
Kmart will be offering free credit monitoring protection for those who shopped at its stores during September through last Thursday. More information on the Kmart website or by calling 888-488-5978.
Meanwhile, the Albertsons grocery store chain is struggling to recover from a second security breach in a matter months. The first occurred back at the beginning of the summer, but was not disclosed until mid-August. Now there’s another intrusion by cyber criminals.
Photo: FLLewis / Media City G — Albertsons 3830 W Verdugo Ave. Burbank October 11, 2014
On September 29, Albertsons parent company, AB Acquisition LLC acknowledged that a different malware was used in the attack “which apparently occurred in late August or early September 2014,” according to a news release. Shoppers are being warned, “new malware may have captured account numbers, expiration date, other numerical information and/or the cardholder’s name.” Albertsons stores in Southern California, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming and Southern Utah were affected.
Earlier this week, Dairy Queen admitted it had been assaulted by the malware bandits. At this point, none of the local Dairy Queens appear to be impacted by that assault.
In all of these cases, consumers are being urged to monitor their credit reports, credit and debit cards for suspicious and or unauthorized activity. Over the past years, hackers have attacked a long list of retailers and restaurant chains including P.F. Chang’s, ebay, Sears, Home Depot and Target.
