Arkansas restaurant reports credit and debit card breach
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Date Reported:
6/10/10
Organization:
The Dixie Cafe
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
Little Rock and Hot Springs
Location:
10700 Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock and 3623 Central Avenue, Hot Springs, Arkansas
Victims:
Customers
Number Affected:
"at least 40"
Types of Data:
Debit and card information
Breach Description:
"LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The company that owns Dixie Cafe restaurants says customers' credit- and debit-card information may have been breached at two stores in Little Rock and Hot Springs"
Reference URL:
KFSM-TV Channel 5
Todaysthv.com
Report Credit:
KFSM-TV Channel 5
Response:
From the online sources cited above:
Executives with the Dixie Cafe say they just discovered the breach this week, hitting two locations in Little Rock and Hot Springs.
The company is working with local and federal authorities to get to the bottom of all this.
Little Rock police are part of this investigation. And Lt. Terry Hastings says there are at least 40 reports of affected diners from this corporate hacking.
"We had our first inkling that something might have gone awry on Monday. By Tuesday, it appeared something had taken place," Allan Roberts, Dixie Restaurants CEO, said.
Roberts says the affected sites are this Rodney Parham cafe and the Central Avenue restaurant in Hot Springs.
The hacking time frame lands somewhere between February 1 and June 8. Roberts says everything should be OK going forward.
[Evan] That is a 3+ month time frame. Let's hope that the company had robust enough logging and monitoring to narrow things down a bit, assuming that this is a technical "hack".
"We took all of our restaurants off the computer and are using a dial-up process that is absolutely and totally impenetrable," Roberts said.
[Evan] How can people state that anything is "absolutely and totally impenetrable"? There is no such thing. Is there even enough evidence to prove that this breach took place because of a technical vulnerability and compromise?
The investigation remains ongoing and includes Little Rock Police.
"It's a new kind if crime, they can get in, get the money and you don't even see the suspect," said Hastings.
[Evan] New?! Uh. OK.
Hastings says it appears this is part of a hacking ring well beyond Central Arkansas. They're working with secret service to find out more.
The investigation so far has shown that no Dixie Cafe employees are tied to this hacking.
Hastings says those who ate at the Little Rock location during the affected time frame should contact his department. Those in Hot Springs should call police there.
You're also urged to contact your bank or credit card company.
And Robinson tells us customers are starting to call the restaurant asking about unfamiliar charges on their cards, one from as far away as Spain.
Victim Comments:
"Oh, I was very upset, my head started hurting. I was so mad," Taylor Robinon said.
It's a hard hit for Robinson, a soda tender at this Little Rock Dixie Café. Robinson used her credit card here to buy a family meal one night. Just recently, she saw strange purchases on her statement.
"There was a charge for $67 and it was in Cedar Hurst, New York. And I was like, I've never been to New York," Robinson said.
There was another $10 spent at a Brooklyn McDonald's. Robinson then deactivated her card.
[Evan] I wonder how often most people check their accounts. Do most people check them daily or weekly?
Robinson says she'll get her money back from her bank and hopes it's the end.
"I don't want to go through it again for sure," Robinson said.
Commentary:
Well, this is definitely not a "new" type of crime. The scenario is played out more often than we care to admit. Someone (usually local) steals the information from the company's electronic systems (at rest or in transit). Then the thief uses the information themselves or sells the information on to an intermediary (or final user). There are many variations of this type of crime, but this the typical flow. I am very interested to know how the information was obtained.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
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