Sears, Delta Customers Affected By Data Breach

HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL — A third-party data breach that occurred last fall affected Sears and Delta customers and involved unauthorized access to customers' payment cards, according to company statements. The breach affected [24]7.ai, a company that provides services to other clients, including Sears and Delta. According to Illinois-based Sears, the breach affected less than 100,000 customers.

Sears said [24]7.ai informed them of the breach in mid-March. The breach began on Sept. 26 and was contained about two weeks later on Oct. 12. Sears said customers who conducted online transactions on those dates may have had their card information compromised, although customers using Sears-branded cards were not affected.

Sears said the issue has been resolved and company systems are now secure.

Atlanta-based Delta said it learned of the issue on March 28, adding that it may have affected "several hundred thousand customers." Read more via Atlanta Patch.

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Feroze Dhanoa, Patch National Staff, contributed to this article

AP Photo/David J. Phillip