According to the New York Times, the company discovered the breach around September 14 but kept the matter quiet at the Justice Department’s request so the F.B.I. could determine who was behind the attacks.

“We have acted at the direction of the U.S. government and they have specifically told us not to disclose it, and there we have complied,” an official for B&N told the Times.

The stores are in California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

CBS New York notes that hack was performed by penetrating one credit card pad in each of the 63 stores.

On that pad, customers who swiped their cards and entered a PIN had their information recorded and sent to the perpetrators.

“This is no small undertaking,” said Edward Schwartz, the chief security officer at RSA, a security company. “An attack of this type involves many different phases of reconnaissance and multiple levels of exploitation.”

In response to the breach, B&N deactivated all of its credit card pads in its nearly 700 stores nationwide and had them examined. Federal authorities are helping in its investigation.

As it stands, customers at B&N book stores will now have to ask cashiers to swipe credit or debit cards on card readers connected to cash registers, a process that is secure, the company said.

A complete list of the Barnes & Noble stores affected by the security breach can be seen below.

California

4735 Commons Way Calabasas
2470 Tuscany Street Suite 101 Corona
2015 Birch Road Suite 700 Chula Vista
313 Corte Madera Town Center Corte Madera
5604 Bay Street Emeryville
810 West Valley Parkway Escondido
1315 E. Gladstone Street Glendora
5183 Montclair Plaza Lane Montclair
894 Marsh St Bldg G San Luis Obispo
2615 Vista Way Oceanside
72-840 Highway 111 Suite 425 Palm Desert
27460 West Lugonia Ave Redlands
1150 El Camino Real Space 277 San Bruno
10775 Westview Parkway San Diego
3600 Stevens Creek Blvd San Jose
11 West Hillsdale Blvd. San Mateo
9938 Mission Gorge Road Santee
40570 Winchester Rd Temecula
4820 Telephone Road Ventura
1149 S. Main St. Walnut Creek

Connecticut

470 Universal Drive North North Haven
100 Greyrock Place Suite H009 Stamford
60 Isham Road W. Hartford

Florida

18711 NE Biscayne Blvd Aventura
333 N. Congress Avenue Boynton Beach
152 Miracle Mile Coral Gables
1900 W International Spdway Daytona Beach
2051 N. Federal Highway Fort Lauderdale
12405 N Kendall Drive Miami
11380 Legacy Ave Palm Beach Gardens
14572 SW 5th St Suite 10140 Pembroke Pines
11820 Pines Blvd Pembroke Pines
5701 Sunset Drive Suite 196 S. Miami
700 Rosemary Ave Unit #104 West Palm Beach

Illinois

1441 West Webster Avenue Chicago
1130 North State Street Chicago
5380 Route 14 Crystal Lake
20600 North Rand Road Deer Park
728 North Waukegan Road Deerfield
1630 Sherman Avenue Evanston
1468 Springhill Mall Blvd W. Dundee

Massachusetts

170 Boylston Street Chestnut Hill
96 Derby Street Suite 300 Hingham
82 Providence Highway East Walpole

New Jersey

395 Route 3 East Clifton
55 Parsonage Road Edison
2134 State Highway 35 Holmdel
4831 US Hwy 9 Howell

New York

23-80 Bell Blvd. Bayside
176-60 Union Turnpike Fresh Meadows
1542 Northern Blvd Manhasset
160 E 54th Street (Citicorp) New York
2289 Broadway New York
33 East 17th Street (Union Square) New York
555 Fifth Ave New York
2245 Richmond Avenue Staten Island
230 Main St White Plains
97 Warren Street New York

Pennsylvania

100 West Bridge Street Homestead
800 Settlers Ridge Center Drive Pittsburgh

Rhode Island

1311 West Main Road Middleton
371 Putnam Pike Suite 330 Smithfield
1350-B Bald Hill Rd Warwick

Barnes & Noble Hacked: Bookseller Reports Credit Card Data Breach is a post from: The Inquisitr