Stationary and office supply store Staples is the latest company to be dealing with a credit and debit card breach, according to Brian Krebs at Krebs on Security.
The breach, if confirmed, is said to affect locations in the Northeastern United States. Staples has issued a statement saying it is currently investigating "a potential issue involving credit card data and has contacted law enforcement."
Krebs writes that "half a dozen sources at banks operating on the East Coast" have seen customer card data from a small subset of Staples' 1,800 stores across the USA "including seven Staples stores in Pennsylvania, at least three in New York City and another in New Jersey."
Forbes states that the company has insisted customers affected will not be liable for any fraudulent activity on their cards, with Senior Public Relations Manager Mark Cautela commenting that, "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 a timely basis."
If confirmed, this will be the latest in a long line of credit and debit card breaches that have been hitting retailers across the US, with Target, Home Depot, Dairy Queen and most recently Kmart hit by card data stealing malware. It's estimated that more than 1,000 US businesses have been hit by Point of Sale malware.
The BBC reports that the recent spate of card leaks means that stores are now "rushing through" their switch from magnetic strip payment cards to more secure chip and pin.
If you're concerned about the rise of Point of Sale malware, ESET researcher Lysa Myers has written guides both for keeping yourself and your business safe from attacks and future data leaks.
Tupungato / Shutterstock.com
