Dave & Buster's Installs Credit Card Security Measures in FTC Settlement

After nearly three years of investigation and prosecution, a case that brought identity thieves' tricks and tools to light has been closed. The Federal Trade Commission announced in late March that it reached a settlement with Dave & Buster's that the restaurant chain had left its point-of-sale network vulnerable to security breaches by hackers.

The terms of the settlement require Dave & Buster's to increase security on their merchant terminals and ordering systems, steps the chain took shortly after learning about the incursion that left 130,000 patrons vulnerable to credit card fraud. Three men indicted in connection with the crime had already been charged on other fraud and identity theft cases, including the high-profile breach of a customer records database at TJX, the parent company of Marshalls and TJ Maxx.

The trio installed "packet sniffer" devices at Dave & Buster's locations that collected customer information from each restaurant's internal network. At one location, the capture of over 5,000 credit card numbers led to over $600,000 in losses. Although Dave & Buster's representatives declined to comment to major news organizations, sources report that the company had long since implemented both physical and electronic security measures to deter future attacks.