US department store Kmart hit in data hack

13 Oct 2014

The US-based discount department store chain Kmart has been hit with a data hack it says has compromised some customers’ debit and credit card information.

The company’s IT team detected the breach on Thursday (9 October). An investigation run in conjunction with an external security firm discovered that the hack occurred in early September when Kmart payment systems were infected with a form of malware that flew under its anti-virus software.

While certain debit and credit card numbers have been compromised, Kmart say no personal information, PIN numbers or email addresses were obtained by the hackers.

“Given the criminal nature of this attack, Kmart is working closely with federal law enforcement authorities, our banking partners and IT security firms in this ongoing investigation,” the retailer said in a statement.

“We are deploying further advanced software to protect our customers’ information.

“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause our members and customers.

“We want our members and customers to be aware of the situation and we suggest that customers carefully review and monitor their debit and credit card account statements.”

The news comes on the back of last month’s attack on DIY retailer Home Depot when as many as 56m customers in the US and Canada may were affected by the largest retail card hack on record.

Kmart image via Shutterstock

Dean Van Nguyen was a contributor to Silicon Republic

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