Easton-Bell becomes latest victim of data breach
By Dhanya Skariachan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Easton-Bell Sports Inc, a California-based maker of sports equipment and clothing, said on Tuesday that hackers stole information on about 6,000 customers who shopped on its website in December, making it the latest victim of a cyber attack.
The information may have included names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, credit card numbers and the three or four digit credit card security codes on the cards provided by customers between Dec 1 and 31, company spokeswoman Erin Griffin said.
Easton-Bell Sports said hackers accessed its vendor servers using malicious software. It declined to identify the vendor and said it did not know if other customers of the same vendor had also been breached.
Last month, retailer Target Corp disclosed the theft of some 40 million payment card numbers and the personal data of 70 million customers in a cyber attack that occurred over the holidays. Upscale chain Neiman Marcus said in January that it too was victim of a cyber attack, and sources have told Reuters that other well-known national chains have been attacked..
At first blush, it looked like there was no relation between the attack on the sporting goods maker and Target, whose point of sales terminals in its stores were compromised and not its website.
Easton-Bell said it shut down the affected servers following the breach and hired outside consultants to investigate how it happened.
"We take the privacy and security of our customers very seriously and deeply regret that their information was possibly put at risk," said the maker of Bell helmets and Giro cycling gear.
It is offering extended credit repair and monitoring services to affected customers.
(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan; Additional reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
