Staples’ Middletown Location Was Hacked

The Staples store at 1515 Route 35 in Middletown is one of 115 of the company’s stores that were hacked during the summer, according to a statement released by the company yesterday, December 19, 2014.

The company said that the point-of-sale software at 115 of its 1400 stores was infected by malware which exposed customers’ payment card information including card holder names, account numbers, expiration dates and card verification codes. Staples believes that 1.16 million customers’ cards were affected.

Transactions that occurred between August 10, 2014 and September 16, 2014 at 113 stores, including Middletown, Livingston, Jersey City, East Brunswick and Forked River in New Jersey, are vulnerable to cyber thieves. Two stores in New York had security breaches prior to August 10. A complete list of the affected stores and the dates of exposure can be found here.

Staples is offering free identity protection and credit monitoring services for one year to affected customers. Information on how to obtain the free service can be found here or by calling 866-274-4371.

The company said it is committed to protecting its customer data and has taken steps to enhance its point-of-sale systems, including the use of new encryption tools.