Hacked

On September 14, Barnes & Noble, one of the largest book retailers in the United States, turned off the keypads in front of registers in all of their physical stores.  We now find out the reason, yesterday almost a month and a half after the incident we find out that Barnes & Noble’s got hacked. Hackers broke into keypads at more than 60 Barnes & Noble bookstores and made off with the credit card information for customers who shopped at the stores in the last month.  At least one point-of-sale terminal in 63 different stores was compromised recording card details.   Since discovering the breach, the company has uninstalled all 7,000 point-of-sale terminals from its hundreds of stores for examination. Store locations ranged across the country, including locations in New York City, San Diego, Miami, and Chicago.  They advise potentially affected customers to change their PINs and review their card statements for unauthorized purchases.  Barnes & Noble’s has admitted that there have already been some unauthorized purchases.  In a statement regarding this “We are working with banks, payment card brands and issuers to identify accounts that may have been compromised, so banks and issuers can employ enhanced fraud security measures on potentially impacted accounts.” The company also stated its customer database is secure and that purchases made on BarnesandNoble.com, and purchases from and for the Nook were unaffected.  Barnes & Noble has been working closely with the FBI in attempt to track the hackers.  This is the reason why the company has been keeping a lid on the situation for last 6 weeks.