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Friday, August 22, 2014

Dozens of UPS stores infected with malware

In an announcement posted Wednesday to its website, UPS said that out of 4,470 franchised stores across the country, 51 were infiltrated by a "broad-based malware intrusion."

The company said it recorded approximately 105,000 transactions at those locations, which includes stores in California, Georgia, New York, and Nebraska, but doesn't know the exact number of cardholders affected by the breach.

The company also said that anyone who used a credit card at any one of the 51 locations between Jan. 20, 2014 and August 11, 2014 might be at risk.

UPS Store spokeswoman Chelsea Lee told Ars that the company was alerted to the potential intrusion based on a government bulletin issued by the Department of Homeland Security. She said UPS then "retained an IT security firm and conducted a review of its systems and the systems of its franchised center locations."

"I understand this type of incident can be disruptive and cause frustration," Tim Davis, president of The UPS Store, said in a statement. "I apologize for any anxiety this may have caused our customers. At The UPS Store the trust of our customers is of utmost importance. As soon as we became aware of the potential malware intrusion, we deployed extensive resources to quickly address and eliminate this issue. Our customers can be assured that we have identified and fully contained the incident."

The UPS Store, Inc., is a subsidiary of UPS, but each store is independently owned and operated as a licensed franchisee.

For more of the Ars Technica story: arstechnica.com

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