Saks and Lord & Taylor stores hit by data breach

The personal data of customers shopping at department stores Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off Fifth, and Lord & Taylor was compromised after a data breach, according to an announcement from the stores' parent company, Hudson's Bay Co. Though the scope of the breach has yet to be confirmed, the AP reports that a hacking group called JokerStash claimed last week that it had placed the credit and debit card information of 5 million Saks and Lord & Taylor customers up for sale.

Why it matters: This incident joins a long line of similar data breaches and hacks that have exposed the personal data of billions worldwide in recent years, like those faced by Yahoo (3 billion), Equifax (147.9 million), and Uber (57 million) — just to name a few.