A major US department store chain revealed over the weekend that it had been the target of a massive data breach – and now it has emerged that three of its Canadian locations have also been affected.
New York-based cybersecurity firm Gemini Advisory has confirmed that the data breach suffered by parent company Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC) also left three Saks Fifth Avenue department stores in Ontario exposed – specifically, the stores in Sherway Gardens in Toronto, Bramalea City Centre in Brampton, and Pickering Town Centre.
HBC owns and operates Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off Fifth and Lord & Taylor. Several Saks stores across North America were compromised by the breach, while all Lord & Taylor locations were hit. Over five million credit and debit card details may have been compromised as a result of the attack, The New York Times said.
Saks Fifth Avenue believes the issue no longer poses a risk to customers shopping at its stores. "While the investigation is ongoing, there is no indication that this affects our e-commerce or other digital platforms, Hudson’s Bay, Home Outfitters, or HBC Europe," it said in a statement.
Gemini Advisory co-founder Dmitry Chorine said that the firm first looked into the breach when it observed an influx of stolen credit and debit card information being offered on sale on the dark web last week. Gemini then analyzed the data and came to the conclusion that shoppers were at risk.
“On March 28, we saw a significant spike of stolen credit cards offered for sale on one of the marketplaces,” Chorine told CBC. “When we checked, we saw there was an advertisement stating that more than five million credit and debit cards will be offered for sale, and that’s when we decided to research this particular breach.”
