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Dairy Queen looking into possible customer data breach [Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn. :: ](Saint Paul Pioneer Press (MN) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 28--Dairy Queen said it is investigating possible breaches of customer payment card data apparently caused by the same security bug that infected Target Corp. and other retailers going back to last year. Brian Krebs, the cyber-security blogger who broke the news of the holiday season Target breach, reported Tuesday that financial institutions are "dealing with a pattern of fraud on cards that were all recently used at various Dairy Queen locations in several states." Minnesota was not listed by Krebs as one of states. The Edina-based fast-food chain said Wednesday that it was recently notified that it may be the latest victim of the widespread "Backoff" malware, which is believed to have been involved in data breaches at Target and more recently at grocery giant Supervalu. The Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Secret Service last week published a joint advisory warning that more than 1,000 American companies have likely been victimized by Backoff -- a computer program used by cyberthieves to steal payment card data from point-of-sale systems. In an emailed statement, Dairy Queen said it is working with potentially affected franchises, law enforcement officials, payment card issuers and payment card processors to gather information on the possible breach. While Dairy Queen did not comment on whether they suspect customer data was actually stolen, Krebs reported that three batches of stolen cards for sale through underground online marketplaces were all recently used at Dairy Queen locations. A Dairy Queen spokesperson told Krebs the company does not require its franchises -- most of which are independently owned and operated -- to notify it in the event of a customer data breach. According to its website, Dairy Queen has more than 6,000 locations in the U.S., Canada and 18 other countries. Nick Woltman can be reached at 651-228-5189. Follow him on Twitter at @nickwoltman. ___ (c)2014 the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) Visit the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) at www.twincities.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |