Soon after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a warning on increased point-of-sale malware infections attributed to “Backoff,” the PCI Council followed suit, urging retailers to defend their systems against the threat.
On Wednesday, the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) published a bulletin (PDF) encouraging merchants to contact their AV provider to ensure their software detects Backoff.
Last week, the Secret Service revealed that over 1,000 U.S. businesses had been impacted by the malware, and on Monday, security firm Trustwave announced that two new Backoff variants were detected in the wild.
The PCI Council also advised retailers to review all system logs for any “strange or unexplained activity,” particularly large data files being sent to unknown locations, the bulletin said. Merchants were also told to update all default and staff passwords on vulnerable systems and applications.
