Jimmy John's data breach affects 17 local stores, 1 in Champaign, more in Ind.
The personal information of Jimmy John's customers could be compromised after a security breach.
The sandwich shop chain, which is based in Champaign, Illinois, says it does not know how many people are affected, but the data was stolen from machines used to swipe credit cards.
Advertising itself as selling the world's greatest gourmet sandwiches, the Illinois-based Jimmy John's franchise has been hacked. Over 200 stores, 17 in the Chicago area, are affected.
Between June 16 and September 5, customers' credit and debit card data was compromised after an intruder from a remote location stole log in credentials from Jimmy John's cash registers.
"In a digital age nothing is that surprising," said Colin McCauley.
McCauley is a former Jimmy John's employee. He says in his experience half of his customers would use debit or cards, the other half cash.
"During lunch, you get a lot more cash depending on location," he said.
Jimmy John's is the latest corporation to be hacked. Just last week, Home Depot says malicious software affected 56 million customers debit and credit cards that were swiped at its stores.
It's a problem that DePaul University cyber security professor Jean-Phillipe Labruyere says will continue to be an everyday occurrence, no matter how big or small a company.
"The attacker sophistication is increasing, while corporate do not put as much resources into defending attacks and sophistication increasing," he said.
In a press release Wednesday afternoon, Jimmy John's said that it is taking steps to make sure that this does not happen again. One of the steps is to install encrypted swiping machines.
Experts tell consumers to always check your banking statements, or to simply pay with cash.
AFFECTED LOCAL STORES:
STORE 1928 Hobart , IN 1661 E. 37th Ave. --- 7/1/2014 - 8/3/2014
STORE 0370 Portage , IN 2547 Willow Creek Rd. --- 7/23/2014 - 8/1/2014
STORE 0887 Chicago , IL 3234 W. Foster Ave. --- 6/16/2014 - 8/8/2014
STORE 0600 Evergreen Park , IL 9451 S. Kedzie Ave. --- 6/26/2014 - 8/1/2014
STORE 0043 Lombard , IL 1235 South Main St. --- 7/1/2014 - 8/1/2014
STORE 0739 Chicago , IL 6451 W. Diversey Ave. --- 7/1/2014 - 8/1/2014
STORE 1322 Lombard , IL 2770 S. Highland Ave. --- 7/1/2014 - 8/2/2014
STORE 0608 Countryside , IL 5321 S. LaGrange Rd Unit C --- 7/1/2014 - 8/2/2014
STORE 1938 Sugar Grove , IL 472 N. Route 47 --- 7/1/2014 - 8/4/2014
STORE 0041 Chicago , IL 3328 North Clark St. --- 7/1/2014 - 8/2/2014
STORE 0386 Vernon Hills , IL 325 North Milwaukee Ave., Suite 150 --- 7/1/2014 - 8/2/2014
STORE 0448 Naperville , IL 19 W. Jefferson Ave. --- 7/7/2014 - 8/1/2014
STORE 0273 Homer Glen , IL 14110 Bell Rd. --- 7/23/2014 - 8/1/2014
STORE 0422 Oakbrook Terrace , IL 18W 048 22nd St. --- 7/23/2014 - 8/1/2014
STORE 0187 Glen Ellyn , IL 850 Roosevelt Rd. --- 7/23/2014 - 8/1/2014
STORE 0433 Geneva , IL 1070 Commons Dr. --- 7/23/2014 - 8/1/2014
STORE 0303 Chicago , IL 1101 S. Canal St. Ste. 104 --- 7/23/2014 - 8/1/2014
