• Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off Fifth and Lord & Taylor have experienced a breach in security. 
• These stores lack security in its card payment systems.

Technology has done wonders to the world and has undoubtedly made many of our daily tasks easier. Nonetheless, we cannot deny the fact that it has also complicated several aspects of our lives. This is clearly evident in light of recent events. Even though technology could be used to better a society, it could just be as easily abused by transgressors. This is exactly what happened to several department stores in New York this week.

On Sunday, Gemini Advisory LLC, a security firm based in New York has informed the public of about a possibly dangerous organization of hackers who bragged about its impending sales of 5 million bank cards acquired by theft on the dark web. The organization goes by the name Fin7 or JokerStash and has referred to their stolen items as BIGBADABOOM-2.

Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off Fifth, as well as Lord and Taylor, have suffered from the data breach. As such, a number of customers’ personal information have been misused. The exact number have yet to be disclosed. Fortunately, the other subsidiary companies of Hudson’s Bay Co. like Home Outfitters chain etc. have not suffered from the same fate. In addition, the firm has reassured customers of the security of its digital shopping platforms, which has not been affected either.

Hudson’s Bay Co. is the holding company of the affected department stores based in Canada. The company has made a public disclosure on Sunday. It has admitted the fact that its payment systems have been compromised. Subsequently, the firm has expressed its regrets in an official statement issued in conjunction with this incident.

“[Hudson’s Bay Co.] deeply regrets any inconvenience or concern this may cause.”

The hackers have put up around 125,000 records on the market as soon as the news spread. Gemini Advisory LLC has worked with the banks involved and have reached a conclusion that these files belonged to Lord and Taylor as well as Saks’ customers. Dmitry Chorine, one of the founders and Chief Technology Officer of Gemini Advisory believes that the violations have occurred almost a year ago. In fact, large hotels and dining establishment chains have presumably been victimized by the same organization. Similar events have happened to Equifax the credit bureau in the past year, where a high-profile hack had leaked the most confidential information of over millions of Americans.

The recent breach is, on the other hand, an infringement on the point-of-sale systems. This is the most frequent method towards retail stores because the same system is employed by various companies ranging from Target to Neiman Marcus. Chorine suggests that this organization has most likely found its way to entry by scamming the staffs through emails that are seemingly legitimate yet deceitful in actuality. They normally target the employees who have a say in the workings of the company, like the managers and supervisors. These emails typically contain an attachment that is labeled as a business document – but a single click will set the plan in motion.

According to Chorine, these unfortunate events have mostly struck the New York City metropolitan area in addition to several Northeastern states. He believes that the reason for this is because these stores lack security in their card payment systems, which other places are already using.

“For an entire year, criminals were able to sit on the network of Lord & Taylor and Saks and steal data,” Chorine communicates.

It is still unclear as to how much data the hackers have in hand, but Hudson’s Bay Co. assures the public that it has taken action to counter and control the situation. The firm will continue to get to the bottom of this and it will implement a higher security identity protection service and credit monitoring.

Needless to say, customers will not be held accountable for any loss. A list of security-response websites has been made available for consumers who are seeking for additional details on the infringement towards Saks and Lord and Taylor.

Featured image via flickr / Vernacia