Sally Beauty payment card data breach confirmed

International cosmetics retailer Sally Beauty Holdings has confirmed that it has suffered a data breach that resulted in the possible theft of payment card data stored in their systems.

“As we previously stated on March 5th, our systems detected an unauthorized attempted intrusion into our Sally Beauty Supply LLC network. At the time of this discovery, we immediately engaged a top-tier forensics firm (Verizon) to investigate this security incident,” they said in a statement released on Monday.

“As a result of this ongoing investigation, we have now discovered evidence that fewer than 25,000 records containing card-present (track 2) payment card data have been illegally accessed on our systems and we believe it may have been removed. As experience has shown in prior data security incidents at other companies, it is difficult to ascertain with certainty the scope of a data security breach/incident prior to the completion of a comprehensive forensic investigation. As a result, we will not speculate as to the scope or nature of the data security incident.”

Apart from working with Verizon, the company is also working with the US Secret Service, which has also launched an investigation of the breach.

“We will be providing appropriate notifications to affected consumers and others, as necessary, as the facts develop and we learn more,” they company concluded, urging customers to check their website in the coming dates for updates, to keep an eye on their payment card statements for any fraudulent or suspicious activity, and to beware of phishing attempts impersonating the company and asking them to share personal or financial information.

“At this time, we believe card-present payment card data – customer name, credit or debit card number, and the card’s expiration date and CVV – was affected. We do not believe that sensitive information, (other than card numbers) such as social security numbers or dates of birth, was compromised as part of this issue. In addition, Sally Beauty does not collect PIN data and, therefore, it should not be at risk,” the company said in a FAQ section about the breach.

It’s still unknown how many customers have been affected.

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