Kmart Becomes Latest Victim of Credit Card Hack

Just two days after Dairy Queen announced that its customer data had been compromised, Kmart, one of the popular retail chains of America, also reported a massive credit card hack.

Kmart announced late Friday that it detected a malware and removed the software from the system but could not say how many customers' data was compromised. It also added that there was no evidence of theft of any customers PIN, social security numbers and other financial information.

Kmart has reportedly launched a full investigation on the breach and said it will provide customers free credit monitoring protection until the matter is sorted out.

"The privacy and security of our customers' information is of utmost importance to us, and we are committed to doing everything we can to safeguard our customers' information in the face of a recent surge of data attacks. To further protect our members and customers who shopped with a credit or debit card in our Kmart stores during the month of September through yesterday (Oct. 9, 2014), Kmart will be offering free credit monitoring protection," the company said on its website," the company said on its website.

 "Given the criminal nature of this attack, Kmart is working closely with federal law enforcement authorities, our banking partners as well as security experts in this ongoing investigation," Kmart added.

Last month, 216 of Jimmy Johns' outlets were affected by a similar kind of data breach. Earlier in September, Home Depot confirmed a massive data breach. Target and Goodwill have also suffered at the hands of hackers that swindled financial information from their centers.

The string of data breaches started off with the Target Store customer information hack that exposed about 40 million accounts and compromised personal information of about 70 million people.

The Department of Homeland Services said that the breaches are a result of malicious software that has affected more than 1,000 businesses in the country.

Experts say it is of utmost importance that they remove the magnetic strip that helps transfer data from the cards and introduce a computer chip and PIN number method to prevent such breaches. Also, banks and credit card companies need to tighten security standards.