[ISN] Breach Exposes Ross-Simons Credit Card Information

[InfoSec News]

http://www.turnto10.com/consumerunit/8649210/detail.html

April 12, 2006

Rhode Island retailer Ross-Simons said the personal information of
thousands of credit card applicants may have been compromised.

NBC 10 Consumer Reporter Audrey Laganas reported that about 32,000
accounts were potentially at risk. All of the accounts belong to
customers who applied for a Ross-Simons credit card between October
2004 and April 4 of this year.

Ross-Simons said a data breach resulted in the unauthorized access of
credit card application data, including Social Security numbers,
credit card numbers, expiration dates and other personal information.

Ross-Simons said it is notifying all affected customers and will help
them minimize any risk created by the breach. The company is offering
12 months of free credit bureau monitoring for affected customers, NBC
10 reported.

The retailer said it verified the breach on April 4 and reported it to
the FBI.

"The cause of the external system breach has been identified and
corrected. Private label customer application information is no longer
being stored by Ross-Simons," a news release said.

Ross-Simons did not disclose specifics of how the breach happened or
how it was discovered. The company said it has hired an independent
third party to conduct an immediate external audit of its security
procedures.

Ross-Simons customers can call (888) 838-0815 for additional
information. A list of frequently asked questions is posted on the
Ross-Simons Web site.

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