Barnes & Noble PIN Pad Devices Hit By Hackers

As the New York Times reports, Barnes & Noble disclosed this week that it learned over one month ago – on September 14 – that hackers broke into point of sale PIN pad devices at 63 Barnes & Noble stores around the country and stole credit and debit card information for customers who had made purchases at those stores.  The bookseller notified credit card companies that affected accounts might be compromised, but did not notify customers or publicly acknowledge the breach until today.  The reason for the delay?  According to the Times, Barnes & Noble agreed not to publicize the breach at the request of federal investigators, who were concerned that publicity would hamper investigation of the breach.  The company stated that it received two letters from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York indicating that disclosure of the breach would not be required, and Barnes & Noble proceeded accordingly.