Goodwill, a nationwide chain that sells donated apparel and other household items has reportedly been involved in a series of credit card breaches. Investigators are currently looking into the potential theft; however, nothing has been confirmed. Appropriate action will be taken if it is discovered there was in fact a data breach. Suspicion began to arise after cardholder reports of fraudulent charges against their accounts at big box retailers. After examining these reports, a common trend was discovered involving preceding charges at Goodwill locations.
At this time, it is unknown how many Goodwill locations are included in the possible breach or how many cards may have been impacted. It has yet to be determined how long this potential breach began, although some sources indicate it may extend as far as the middle of 2013.
This is just another in a long list of recent breaches including organizations such as Target, Neiman Marcus, and Michaels. It is imperative that cardholders pay attention to their statements, and that merchants are hyper-vigilant about getting and maintaining their merchant requirements as outlined by the Payment Card Industry’s standards. These standards include:
- Building and maintaining a secure network
- Protecting cardholder data
- Maintain a vulnerability management program
- Implement strong access control measures
- Regularly monitor and test networks
- Maintain an information security policy
- Create strong passwords and update them regularly
- Frequently update your anti-virus software
- If possible, do not store cardholder data.
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