IT Security Stories to Watch: America's Thrift Stores Suffer Breach

America’s Thrift Stores recently were victimized by malware.

And as a result, the thrift store chain tops this week’s list of IT security newsmakers to watch, followed by Bit9 + Carbon Black, ESET and the Dridex malware. 

​What can managed service providers (MSPs) and their customers learn from these IT security newsmakers? Check out this week’s edition of IT security stories to watch to find out:

1. America’s Thrift Stores get breached

Hackers illegally accessed several America’s Thrift Stores customers’ payment card data, according to Krebs on Security. 

America’s Thrift Stores CEO Timothy Alvis noted that the breach may have affected sales transactions between Sept. 1 and Sept. 27, 2015. 

“This breach allowed criminals from Eastern Europe unauthorized access to some payment card numbers,” he said in a prepared statement. “The U.S. Secret Service tells us that only card numbers and expiration dates were stolen. They do not believe any customer names, phone numbers, addresses or email addresses were compromised.” 

2. Mac OS X malware remains a major problem

A new report from endpoint security software provider Bit9 + Carbon Black showed that the number of Mac OS X malware “is at an all-time high.”

Bit 9 + Carbon Black’s study of more than 1,400 unique OS X malware samples revealed the number of OS X malware samples discovered this year has been five times greater than the number of samples found in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 combined.

“Macs have been largely ignored by malware, until recently,” Mike Sconzo, Bit9 + Carbon Black’s senior threat researcher, said in a prepared statement. “Evidence of a more malicious OS X marketplace is clearly compounding and we confidently expect Mac OS X malware attacks to accelerate in the coming months.”

3. ESET: 1 in 5 households affected by data breach in 2014

A new survey from ESET and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) indicated that one in five households were impacted by a data breach last year.

The survey, titled “Behind Our Digital Doors: Cybersecurity & the Connected Home,” also showed that 40 percent of respondents failed to properly secure their wireless routers. 

“What this study reveals is that Americans are managing their lives and clearly reaping the benefits of the Internet but it is not risk-free,” NCSA Executive Director Michael Kaiser said in a prepared statement. “With a shift in the paradigm, families can make practicing good cybersecurity a way of life and our interconnected families and communities will ultimately be safer and more secure.”

4. Dridex may be responsible for $100 million in losses

Global law enforcement agencies continue to search for the cyberattackers behind the Dridex malware.

CNBC reported that Dridex records banking details and may already be responsible for $100 million in losses worldwide. 

“This is a particularly virulent form of malware and we have been working with our international law enforcement partners, as well as key partners from industry, to mitigate the damage it causes. Our investigation is ongoing and we expect further arrests to made,” Mike Hulett, head of operations at the UK-based National Crime Agency‘s National Cyber Crime Unit, said in a prepared statement.

What are your thoughts on this week’s IT security stories to watch? Share your thoughts about this story in the Comments section below, via Twitter @dkobialka or email me at [email protected].