Criminals Crack and Steal Customer Data From Barnes & Noble Keypads 83
helix2301 writes with an excerpt from CNet "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."
Re:Which stores exactly? (Score:5, Informative)
The exact list of affected stores can be found here:
http://www.barnesandnobleinc.com/press_releases/10_23_12_Important_Customer_Notice.html [barnesandnobleinc.com]
Don't use ATM/Debit cards for purchases (Score:5, Informative)
A local grocery store chain had a similar problem a few months back and that's when I decided to never use my ATM/Debit card for purchases -- once the thieves have your card number and PIN, they can suck money right out of your bank account.
For that matter, never use a debit card linked to your bank account - ask your bank for an ATM-only card and send back the debit card that looks like a credit card. If you want a credit card, use a credit card, at least if that number is stolen, thieves can't wipe out your bank account balance and cause you to start bouncing checks. Debit cards don't have the same protection as credit cards under the law, they have the same $50 liability cap if you report the loss of theft of the card within 2 business days, but if you don't report the loss or theft of your card within 2 business days, you could be liable for up to $500 of loss. And if you don't report it within 60 days after your bank statement is mailed, there is no cap on liability.
Many banks and debit card issuers offer better liability guarantees, but they aren't required to by law. And even if the bank refunds their own NSF fees for bounced checks, there's no guarantee that they'll refund bounced-check fees charged by all of the merchants you unknowingly sent bad checks to.
Re:Well done B&N (Score:4, Informative)
Why are they storing CCs plain text on the terminals. Do they really need anything other than the last four digits...or can they store them encrypted locally or even better on a server.
The question is did they realize this threat and ignore it? Could they have forced their software vendor to fix it? Did they just not want to spend the money? If they didn't see the risk why?
CC numbers are stored in plain text on the magstripe. So the terminal has to deal with that info in unencrypted format at at least one point. And if you've compromised the card reader somehow -- the article doesn't say how -- then you can see, save or transmit that data.
And TFA doesn't say they ignored it. It says they contacted the FBI. I assume from the statement: "The company discovered the breach on September 14 but kept it quiet while the FBI attempted to track the hackers." that it was the FBI who asked BN to sit on it. And who knows, perhaps the vendor was notified in the meantime, that part isn't mentioned either way in TFA.