Michaels May Be Latest U.S. Retailer to Suffer Security Breach

What's This?

Michaels arts and crafts store.

By Colin Daileda2014-01-26 19:03:02 UTC

Michaels, a U.S. arts and crafts chain, is investigating fraudulent activity on some customers' credit cards, which the company says may be the result of a data breach.

"Michaels Stores, Inc. recently learned of possible fraudulent activity on some U.S. payment cards that had been used at Michaels, suggesting that the company may have experienced a data security attack," Michael Fox, a Michaels spokesperson, said in a statement to Mashable. "The company is working closely with federal law enforcement and is conducting an investigation with the help of third-party data security experts to establish the facts."

"Although the investigation is ongoing, based on the information the company has received and in light of the widely reported criminal efforts to penetrate the data systems of U.S. retailers, Michaels believes it is appropriate to let its customers know a potential issue may have occurred."

See also: Inside the Syrian Electronic Army Hack on CNN

The U.S. Secret Service also confirmed to Mashable that it is looking into a possible security breach at Michaels.

News of the possible cyber attack at Michaels comes on the heels of two other security breaches at Target and Nieman Marcus. Around 1.1 million debit and credit cards were compromised in the Nieman Marcus breach, while the Target attack affected 70 million to 110 million people.

The breaches at Target and Nieman Marcus are thought to be linked to a single band of cyber criminals in Eastern Europe that may have targeted additional companies, according to The New York Times. The group installed malware in Target and Nieman Marcus' computer systems that then delivered customer credit-card information back to the criminals' computers.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Topics: Business, credit cards, cyber attack, data, michaels, retailer, U.S., World