Shop at Albertsons? A Hacker May Now Have Your Info

By Penny Arévalo (Editor):

A hacker may have compromised the private information of customers who shop at Albertsons grocery stores throughout Southern California, the company announced Friday.

Based on the latest information from an ongoing investigation, it appears that someone made unauthorized access between June 22, 2014 (at the earliest) and ended on July 17, 2014 (at the latest), reported AB Acquisition LLC, which operates Albertsons and nine other market chains.

However, further investigation may widen the timeframe in which customers’ private information was exposed, according to a press release.

Investigators are trying to figure out the scope of the data breach, but company officials say “the intrusion has been contained and is confident that its customers can safely use their credit and debit cards in its stores,” the press release says.

Not all stores across the company’s outlets in 29 states were impacted, but Southern California Albertsons are among those targeted, company officials said.

“As soon as we were notified of the incident, we began working closely with SUPERVALU (the company’s third-party IT provider) to determine what happened,” said Mark Bates, senior vice president and chief information officer, in a prepared statement. “It’s important to note that there is no evidence at this point that consumer data has been misused.”

More information will be available at albertsons.com. The company is offering customers whose payment cards may have been affected 12 months of complimentary consumer identity protection services through AllClear ID.