Hackers breached the systems of Canada-based point-of-sale (PoS) software provider Lightspeed and managed to gain access to customer information.
Australian security expert Troy Hunt published a copy of the notification email sent by the company to customers. Lightspeed’s security services recently detected unauthorized access to systems storing information related to its Retail offering.
According to the company, the attackers accessed a central database containing information on sales, products and customers, including encrypted passwords, electronic signatures and API keys. While the database was accessed by hackers, Lightspeed said there was no evidence that information was actually taken or misused.
The PoS vendor also pointed out that passwords created or reset since January 2015 are stored using “advanced encryption technology” and “the strongest available algorithm.” It’s unclear how easy it is to crack passwords created before January 2015.
The company said attackers could not have accessed credit card numbers and other sensitive payment information as the Retail product does not store such details. Integrated payment providers are required to use hardware that encrypts the information at the source of payment and the encryption keys are not stored by Lightspeed.
Customers have been informed that a third-party security firm has been called in to assist the investigation and the vendor is confident that access to its systems has now been limited to authorized users. A series of security improvements have been rolled out to prevent future incidents.
SecurityWeek has reached out to Lightspeed to learn if the company has determined how many customers are impacted by the incident. According to its website, Lightspeed has more than 38,000 customers in 100 countries. These customers process $12 billion in transactions each year.
Lightspeed is not the only PoS vendor to suffer a data breach in recent months. In August, reports surfaced about Oracle’s MICROS PoS division being hacked by a cybercrime gang known as Carbanak. The same group is believed to have targeted at least five other PoS vendors, some of which have confirmed detecting an intrusion.
Related Reading: Millennium Hotels & Resorts Investigating Possible PoS Breach
Eduard Kovacs (@EduardKovacs) is a contributing editor at SecurityWeek. He worked as a high school IT teacher for two years before starting a career in journalism as Softpedia’s security news reporter. Eduard holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial informatics and a master’s degree in computer techniques applied in electrical engineering.
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