CHIPOTLE HACK
Chipotle Mexican Grill has identified 20 restaurants in the Dayton area that are among hundreds nationwide where customers were exposed to potential fraud when paying with credit or debit cards in April.
The Mexican-restaurant chain is continuing to investigate the data breach and said its locations were victims of malware designed to access payment card data that was used on point-of-sale devices at Chipotle restaurants.
The hack happened between March 24 and April 18. The malware searched for track data read from the magnetic stripe of a payment card as it was being routed through the payment device. Customers that used a payment card at an affected location during the at-risk time frame should be aware of the possibility of fraud, the company said.
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Impacted Chipotle stores include locations in Kettering, Dayton, Centerville, Beavercreek, Huber Heights, Springboro, Troy and Xenia. The company believes it took the proper precautions to stop the breach. This isn’t the first reputation hit for Chipotle in recent years, after the chain restaurant had a flurry of food contamination incidents a couple years ago.
KMART HACK
Customer credit card information has been hacked from Kmart's payment system, the company announced in a letter this week.
The retailer became aware of a security incident “involving unauthorized credit card activity” after customer purchases at some stores. The company launched an investigation to review and secure the impacted parts of the store network.
“Our investigation to date indicates our Kmart store payment data systems were infected with a form of malicious code (similar to a computer virus) that was undetectable by current anti-virus systems,” the letter said. “Once aware of the new malicious code, we quickly removed it and contained the event. We are confident that our customers can safely use their credit and debit cards in our retail stores.”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Global cyber security spending will exceed $1 trillion from 2017 to 2010, according to marketing firm Cybersecurity Ventures. That’s an increase from just $3.5 billion in in 2004. What’s driving the explosion of spending? Experts say the feat of cyber crime is fueling exceptional market growth.
Cyber security is becoming ever important as more companies and government entities are subjected to hacking and cyber security threats. Just last year, both Arby’s and Noodles & Company told customers that they were investigating major data breaches.
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Cyber crime damages will cost organizations, governments and businesses across the world about $1 trillion annually by 2021, according to the Cybersecurity Ventures marketing firm.
HOW DO COMPANIES PREVENT IT?
Companies can hire cyber security firms to make sure their systems are secure. Many firms will start by running risk assessments, and evaluating where an institution need amp up their protection mechanisms.
Major corporations are also investing significant amounts to increased cyber defense. Microsoft Corp. announced it will continue to invest more than $1 billion annually on cyber security development, and J.P. Morgan Chase & Company and Bank of America have also stated they are spending more to guard against tech crime.
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