Sally Beauty Believes Customer Data May Have Been Stolen

   By Michael Calia 
 

Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. (SBH) on Monday said credit- card data from fewer than 25,000 customer records were illegally accessed and may have been stolen.

The beauty-supplies company said it is working with the U.S. Secret Service on the agency's preliminary investigation of the situation. The company also said it continues to work with Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), which has helped with Sally Beauty's internal probe since the breach was identified.

Sally Beauty cautioned "it is difficult to ascertain" the scope of such a breach, and the company "will not speculate as to the scope or nature of the data security incident."

The company said earlier this month it had caught an attempt to breach its retail chain's systems. At that time, however, the company said it didn't believe any data were taken.

The company, which operates more than 2,700 Sally Beauty Supply stores in the U.S., has said that it believes it has shut down the attack.

Verizon's cybersecurity unit is looking into several data breaches at retailers, including one involving 40 million credit and debit card accounts at Target Corp. (TGT).

Arts and crafts retailer Michaels Stores Inc. said earlier this year its data security may have been attacked, and Neiman Marcus said some customers' card information may have been stolen.

Shares of Sally Beauty were inactive premarket. The stock, down 9.2% so far this year, closed Friday at $27.46.

Write to Michael Calia at [e-mail]

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