According to Bizjournal, so far, the company has not released any further information about the possible intrusion, including how many stores were affected, how widespread the breach could be or how long it may have lasted or what else it may be doing to protect customers. It also said that there are no notifications to customers on the company’s home page, its Twitter feed or Facebook page.
Crisis communications specialist Jon Austin said that, while the breach may not have a lasting impact on the brand, maintaining silence about the breach is the wrong approach. “There is some fraying that comes from this,” Austin said. “They should provide answers not because any one of these [incidents] is fatal, but if happens over a long period of time or if it particularly mishandled it can have a corrosive effect on the relationship with consumers.”
