Hot Topic suffers data breach exposing 57 million records

Retailer Hot Topic, known for its presence in American malls, has suffered yet another data breach - Image (c) ConsumerAffairs

It isn't the retailer's first data breach

Retailer Hot Topic has reportedly suffered a data breach exposing tens of millions of customer records.

The data breach happened in Oct. 2024 and exposed 57 million unique email addresses, but also included physical addresses, phone numbers, purchases, genders, dates of birth and partial credit data containing card type, expiry and last four digits, according to data breach investigator Have I Been Pwned.

Hot Topic didn't immediately respond to an email from ConsumerAffairs requesting comment.

Cybersecurity firm Atlas Privacy said that Hot Topic only "lightly encrypted" credit card information, raising concerns about the retailer's handling of sensitive data, PCMag reports.

You can check if you're affected by the Hot Topic data breach on the website Atlas Privacy created called Databreach.com.

Hot Topic has had multiple data breaches

This isn't the first time Hot Topic has suffered a data breach.

In April, Hot Topic said in an email to customers that a data breach occurred in Nov. 2023 that included email addresses, passwords and the last four digits of credit cards, USA Today reports.

The data breach happened after "unauthorized parties launched automated attacks" against Hot Topic's website and app, the retailer said.

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