Goodwill Blames Credit Card Breach on Third-Party Vendor

Goodwill Industries International revealed on Tuesday that some of its customers’ payment cards were compromised after the systems of a third-party vendor became infected with malware.

The non-profit organization announced investigating a possible card breach back in July after being alerted by a payment card industry fraud investigative unit and federal authorities.

Following an investigation, it has been determined that cybercriminals gained access to credit and debit card information after breaching the systems of a company that processes payments for some Goodwill members. An unspecified piece of malware had allowed the attackers to intermittently access the said vendor’s systems between February 10, 2013, and August 14, 2014, the organization said.

The compromised servers stored names, payment card numbers, and expiration dates. There’s no evidence that PINs, addresses and other personal information has been obtained by the cybercrooks.

A total of 20 Goodwill members (roughly 10% of all stores) use the affected vendor’s services to process payments, but there’s no evidence that the malware made its way onto their systems.

Affected stores are located in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, DC. 

Goodwill says its members received only a “very limited” number of reports regarding the fraudulent use of payment cards utilized at their stores. Impacted Goodwill stores have taken steps to ensure that the malware found on the payment processor’s systems no longer represents a threat to customers, the organization said.

“We continue to take this matter very seriously. We took immediate steps to address this issue, and we are providing extensive support to the affected Goodwill members in their efforts to prevent this type of incident from occurring in the future,” stated Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International.

“We realize a data security compromise is an issue that every retailer and consumer needs to be aware of today, and we are working diligently to prevent this type of unfortunate situation from happening again. Goodwill’s mission is to provide job training for people with disabilities and disadvantages. We provide this service to millions of people each year. They, our shoppers and our donors, are our first priority.”