Credit Card Breach at Staples Stores

[dlevere]

By Brian Krebs

Multiple banks say they have identified a pattern of credit and debit card fraud suggesting that several Staples Inc. office supply locations in the Northeastern United States are currently dealing with a data breach. Staples says it is investigating “a potential issue” and has contacted law enforcement.



According to more than a half-dozen sources at banks operating on the East Coast, it appears likely that fraudsters have succeeded in stealing customer card data from some subset of Staples locations, including seven Staples stores in Pennsylvania, at least three in New York City, and another in New Jersey.

Framingham, Mass.-based Staples has more than 1,800 stores nationwide, but so far the banks contacted by this reporter have traced a pattern of fraudulent transactions on a group of cards that had all previously been used at a small number of Staples locations in the Northeast.

The fraudulent charges occurred at other (non-Staples) businesses, such as supermarkets and other big-box retailers. This suggests that the cash registers in at least some Staples locations may have fallen victim to card-stealing malware that lets thieves create counterfeit copies of cards that customers swipe at compromised payment terminals.

Asked about the banks’ claims, Staples’s Senior Public Relations Manager Mark Cautela confirmed that Staples is in the process of investigating a “potential issue involving credit card data and has contacted law enforcement.”

“We take the protection of customer information very seriously, and are working to resolve the situation,” Cautela said. “If Staples discovers an issue, it is important to note that customers are not responsible for any fraudulent activity on their credit cards that is reported on [in] a timely basis.”

[Helder]

God damn! It's like every week a new place is hit and all that's left for these hackers is to hit the mother load that is Walmart. I guess it's time to go back to the paper money ways again with all this fraud going on.

[dlevere]

I know, I'm getting so sick of this. It would be easier if Brian would report on who hasn't been hacked. I'm paying cash for everything from now on.

[Hybrid]

I know, I'm getting so sick of this. It would be easier if Brian would report on who hasn't been hacked. I'm paying cash for everything from now on.

just be sure not to use their ATM's and as they always say cash is king

[dlevere]

Staples: 6 Month Breach, 1.16 Million Cards

By Brian Krebs

Office supply chain Staples Inc. today finally acknowledged that a malware intrusion this year at some of its stores resulted in a credit card breach. The company now says some 119 stores were impacted between April and September 2014, and that as many as 1.16 million customer credit and debit cards may have been stolen as a result.



KrebsOnSecurity first reported the suspected breach on Oct. 20, 2014, after hearing from multiple banks that had identified a pattern of credit and debit card fraud suggesting that several Staples office supply locations in the Northeastern United States were dealing with a data breach. At the time, Staples would say only that it was investigating “a potential issue” and had contacted law enforcement.

In a statement issued today, Staples released a list of stores (PDF) hit with the card-stealing malware, and the stores are not limited to the Northeastern United States.

“At 113 stores, the malware may have allowed access to this data for purchases made from August 10, 2014 through September 16, 2014,” Staples disclosed. “At two stores, the malware may have allowed access to data from purchases made from July 20, 2014 through September 16, 2014.”

However, the company did say that during the investigation Staples also received reports of fraudulent payment card use related to four stores in Manhattan, New York at various times from April through September 2014.

Aviv Raff, chief technology officer at Seculert, said the per-store minimum time to detect and respond to the breach was an average of 40 days.

“Once again, much like previous breaches, the statistics of the Staples’ breach shows the necessity of moving from trying to prevent an attack to try and detect and respond as quickly as possible,” Raff said.


Source: Seculert

It appears that the attackers responsible for the Staples break-in are not the same group thought to have hit Target and Home Depot. In November, I posted a story that cited sources close to the Staples investigation saying the breach at Staples impacted roughly 100 stores and was powered by some of the same criminal infrastructure seen in the intrusion disclosed earlier this year at Michaels craft stores.