With multiple breaches being identified by KrebsOnSecurity on various stores across the country, it was detected by them that Fred’s Inc., had a credit card violation from the malware installed directly on the company's point-of-sale systems.
Cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs confirmed that Fred’s is the latest victim of the breach and issued the following statement:
“ Fred’s Inc. recently became aware of a potential data security incident and immediately launched an internal investigation to determine the scope of the issue. We retained Mandiant, a leading independent forensics firm, to examine our data security systems.
We want to assure our customers that protecting their information is one of our top priorities and we are taking this potential incident very seriously. Until this investigation is completed, it will be difficult to determine with certainty the scope or nature of any potential incident, but we will continue to work vigilantly to address any potential issues that may affect our customers.”
This is the only information available and Fred’s have hired investigators to look into the matter. But Kreb’s sources have said that “the pattern of fraudulent charges traced back to Fred’s stores across the company’s footprint in the Midwest and south, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.”
Fred’s Inc., has around 650 stores in more than a dozen states in the United States.