Whole Foods Market Reports Breach
On Sept. 28, Whole Foods Market announced it had recently received information regarding unauthorized access of payment card data used at certain venues such as taprooms and table-service restaurants located within some of its stores.
The venues use a different point-of-sale system than the company’s primary store checkout systems, and payment cards used at the primary store checkout systems were not affected, the retailer says.
Whole Foods has launched an investigation, hired a cybersecurity forensics firm, contacted law enforcement and is taking “appropriate measures” to address the issue.
The grocery chain, which was acquired by Amazon in August, didn’t specify how many cardholders might be affected by the breach. However, it noted that most of its locations don’t have taprooms or restaurants. Still, it’s encouraging customers to monitor payment card statements and report any unauthorized charges to their issuing banks.
Transactions on Amazon.com, which are processed separately, have not been impacted, according to Whole Foods.
The number of U.S. data breaches tracked through June 30, 2017, hit a six-month record high of 791, according to recent data released by the Identity Theft Resource Center and CyberScout. This represents a 29 percent jump over 2016 figures during the same time period.
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