• by Douglas Quenqua , September 18, 2007

Vertical Web Media, publisher of Internet Retailer magazine, confirmed today that its customer files were recently hacked and that credit card information had been stolen.

Jack Love, the Chicago-based company's president, declined to say how many card numbers had been stolen or when the breach occurred, citing an ongoing investigation by the FBI and private investigators. He said only that the stolen files represented "a minority" of its customer base.

The system "was compromised by a very sophisticated hack in what must have been a hacking ring [utilizing] about half a dozen computers around the world operating in a coordinated fashion," said Love.

"We've been devastated by this, and we've been moving as fast as we can to get this information to our customers so they can protect themselves."

Internet Retailer, itself a source of news on the pitfalls and risks involved with e-commerce, has been sending letters to customers whose information may have been stolen since at least Sept. 7.

One letter obtained by MediaPost expresses regret over the incident and advises the customer to have his credit card company re-issue the stolen card with a new number and to obtain credit reports in order to watch for signs of theft. It also includes detailed instructions on how to obtain those free reports.

The information believed to have been stolen includes names, addresses, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, credit card account numbers and card expiration dates. The site does not collect CCV numbers--the security codes written on the back of credit cards--which Love said should decrease the chances of the stolen cards being used fraudulently.

From a PR standpoint, company is currently handling the crisis in-house. "Our first activity is not to put a PR firm in the field," said Love. "We want to get the information to our customers so they can protect themselves by canceling cards. That's our real focus."