IT Security Firm Identifies And Removes Malware At UPS Stores

By Cheryl Knight, contributing writer

Over the past year, many high-profile security breaches that put retail customer information at risk made national news. According to a July 2014 article published by Forbes, the number of distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) over 20 Gbps in size doubled compared to this time in 2013. One of the latest company to suffer from an attack on its systems, with the subsequent loss of customer data, was the UPS Store, a subsidiary of the United Parcel Service (UPS).

The investigation into possible malware on UPS Stores computers, as reported in a The New York Times article, began on the same day, July 31, that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)  issued a bulletin to retailers nationwide warning them of Backoff malware that attacks point of sale (POS) systems.  

The first step UPS took after finding indications of a security breach was hiring an IT security firm to check its systems for the malware. While a majority of the companies UPS Store franchises did not have the malware, the IT firm did find the virus in the systems of 1 percent, or 51 out of 4,470, UPS Stores nationwide. The attacks occurred from as early as January, with most after March 26, until the IT security firm eliminated the problem by August 11.

For IT solutions providers that offer network security, it wasn’t a surprise ending to the story. Attacks are on the rise, but there is a defense — and there is a significant ROI for your services.