Why Data Breach at Staples May Not Matter

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://247wallst.com/retail/2014/10/21/why-data-breach-at-staples-may-not-matter/

By Paul Ausick
247wallst.com
October 21, 2014

Office supply store Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) confirmed on Monday that 
it is investigating a breach of payment card data at some of its locations 
in the northeast United States. The company has said little else except 
that it takes protecting customer data “very seriously” and reminds 
customers that they are not responsible for any fraud on their credit 
cards if the fraudulent activity is reported quickly.

The news had at most a minor impact on Staples’s stock Tuesday. Shares 
opened about down about 1.3% but clawed back to around flat for the day in 
afternoon trading. That’s not always the case when a retailer reports a 
data breach, but there are a couple of mitigating circumstances here.

First, the company’s stock was upgraded early in September from Neutral to 
Outperform at Credit Suisse based on a possible merger between Staples and 
Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP). We had our doubts about such a merger at 
the time, and Staples’s stock price has actually dropped back from a high 
around $12.75 at the time the upgrade was made to around $12.30 today.

Also, Staples has not provided any detail on the number of records that 
were breached, but the thefts appear to have been limited to a relatively 
few of the company’s more than 1,500 U.S. stores. According to the Krebs 
on Security blog, at least seven stores in Pennsylvania, three in New York 
City and one in New Jersey were affected.

[...]

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