Whole Foods Targeted by Hackers
Whole Foods, which was recently acquired by Amazon.com, said Thursday that hackers were able to gain access to customers’ credit card information who have made purchases from some of its taprooms and restaurants. CNN reports the organic grocery company didn't disclose the locations of the restaurants and taprooms that were targeted, as well as how many customers have been affected.
"When Whole Foods Market learned of this, the company launched an investigation, obtained the help of a leading cyber security forensics firm, contacted law enforcement, and took appropriate measures to address the issue," the company said in a statement. Whole Foods says it plans to provide updates throughout the investigation.
Total Retail’s Take: This sounds a little like déjà vu. Just yesterday, fast-food chain Sonic announced it had been hacked as well. Earlier this year both Wendy’s and Chipotle suffered similar data breaches. A common thread between these attacks is that the hackers targeted point-of-sale systems. The Whole Foods breach comes just weeks after one of the largest data breaches in history, when Equifax admitted it too had been hacked. In the Equifax breach, access to personal information for as many as 143 million Americans were compromised. If your business didn't already make data security a priority, these recent events should reinforce why it should be.
