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Secret Service: Over 1K businesses may have experienced data breach

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- The Department of Homeland Security released an advisory warning to businesses, large or small, to ensure that their data has not been breached.

According to Homeland Security, there was a family of malware detected in October of last year, but was not recognized by anti-virus software until this month. Businesses should be proactive in checking if their data was breached as the malware may have infected some who are unaware. The PoS malware is called "Backoff" and was found exploiting business' accounts remotely and stealing customers information, including debit and credit card numbers. So far, seven businesses have confirmed that they have had customers affected, but the Secret Service estimates that over 1,000 businesses have been affected by the malware.

"The Secret Service is active in contacting impacted businesses, as they are identified, and continues to work with and support those businesses that have been impacted by the malware," officials said in a recent release.

Anyone with questions should contact the NCCIC duty officer at 888-282-0870. If you need to report a cybercrime, call the Secret Service toll free number at 877-242-3375.