PROTECT YOURSELF
Cybersecurity experts say retailers, not consumers, bear most losses in data breaches. But there are ways to protect yourself just in case:
— Check your credit or debit card statements frequently and flag the issuer immediately of any unfamiliar charges.
— Use credit or debit cards that require a PIN for authentication. Store clerks can’t tell if a signature is faked.
— Use numerals, capital letters or symbols in passwords shared with retailers. The more cumbersome a password, the more difficult it is to replicate.
Chick-fil-A is investigating a possible hacking of credit card data at its restaurants, capping a tough year for American businesses trying to protect themselves against security breaches.
The Atlanta-based fast food giant said Wednesday it had received reports “of potential unusual activity involving payment cards” at a few restaurants and is working with IT security firms, law enforcement and payment industry contacts to determine if the company had been hacked.
The company did not say when it expects to finish the investigation.
“If the investigation reveals that a breach has occurred, customers will not be liable for any fraudulent charges to their accounts – any fraudulent charges will be the responsibility of either Chick-fil-A or the bank that issued the card,” Chick-fil-A said in a statement. “If our customers are impacted, we will arrange for free identity protection services, including credit monitoring.”
Chick-fil-A would be the latest in a string of security breach victims in 2014, including office supplies chain Staples, banking giant JP Morgan Chase and movie studio Sony.
In September, Atlanta-based Home Depot revealed it suffered one of the nation’s biggest hacks in the spring, netting thieves 56 million credit and debit card numbers. The company later said thieves also stole 53 million email addresses.
How many consumers were harmed by the Home Depot breach is unclear, but the company said customers would not be responsible for charges made on credit cards and that it would pay for customer credit monitoring. As many as 11 lawsuits against the company, many brought by banking institutions, are being consolidated into one, according to reports.
Brian Krebs, whose website KrebsonSecurity.com was the first to report the Home Depot breach, said Wednesday that talk of a potential data compromise at Chick-fil-A began in November, but that the reports were spotty.
Chick-fil-A had been concerned about breaches. A company spokesman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in early December that the company delayed the recent rollout of a mobile payment option on its phone apps in order to triple check security.
About the Author
