Bebe confirms data breach in U.S. stores
Women’s clothing retailer Bebe is the latest big-name store to fall victim to a breach exposing customers’ credit and debit card information.
Bebe detected suspicious activity in its in-store payment processing system between Nov. 8 and Nov. 26, the retailer said Friday. Hackers could have accessed cardholder names, account numbers, expiration dates and verification codes for customers who shopped in-store during that period. Online and mobile purchasers were not affected in the breach.
“Our relationship with our customers is of the highest priority and we recognize the importance of protecting their information,” the company’s chief executive, Jim Wiggett, said in a statement. “We moved quickly to block this attack and have taken steps to further enhance our security measures.”
The data leak applies to purchases made in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Data breaches have hit several large retailers recently, including Target, Neiman Marcus and Home Depot. The majority of American retailers use the magnetic stripe system at their registers, leaving them susceptible to data breaches. U.S. retailers will switch over to the chip-and-pin technology popular in Europe by October.
Bebe, based in California, has 175 retail stores globally -- including its online shop -- and 35 outlet stores.
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