Michaels confirms security breach
Tim Boyle/Getty Images


If you're a glue-gun-wielding crafts fan, Michaels Stores Inc. says it is really, really sorry that your debit or credit card may have been affected by a security breach.
The nation's largest arts-and-crafts chain announced details of the security breach on Thursday, more than three months after the company first disclosed the possible data breach, the Associated Press reports.
"Our customers are always number one priority and we are truly sorry for an inconvenience or concern Michaels may have caused," CEO Chuck Rubin said in a statement.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Michaels' report estimates about 2.6 million debit and credit cards used at its stores between May 8, 2013 and January 27 of this year were compromised. While the data breach apparently did not include personal information such as names, addresses or PIN numbers, compromised data did include payment card numbers and expiration dates. Subsidiary chain Aaron Brothers was also attacked, with about 400,000 customers' cards potentially compromised.
The company is offering free identity protection, credit monitoring and fraud assistance services to affected customers for 12 months, the AP noted.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
-
Why the world's busiest shipping routes are under threat
The Explainer Political tensions, mega ships and global warming offer new challenges – and opportunities
-
Bangkok: the new 'international capital of fine dining'
The Week Recommends Six Bangkok restaurants rank among the world's best
-
Five of the best luxury watches for women
The Week Recommends From iconic heritage designs to bold contemporary reinventions, these elegant timepieces stole the show at Watches and Wonders 2025
-
Nvidia hits $4 trillion milestone
Speed Read The success of the chipmaker has been buoyed by demand for artificial intelligence
-
X CEO Yaccarino quits after two years
Speed Read Elon Musk hired Linda Yaccarino to run X in 2023
-
Musk chatbot Grok praises Hitler on X
Speed Read Grok made antisemitic comments and referred to itself as 'MechaHitler'
-
Disney, Universal sue AI firm over 'plagiarism'
Speed Read The studios say that Midjourney copied characters from their most famous franchises
-
Amazon launches 1st Kuiper internet satellites
Speed Read The battle of billionaires continues in space
-
Test flight of orbital rocket from Europe explodes
Speed Read Isar Aerospace conducted the first test flight of the Spectrum orbital rocket, which crashed after takeoff
-
Apple pledges $500B in US spending over 4 years
Speed Read This is a win for Trump, who has pushed to move manufacturing back to the US
-
Microsoft unveils quantum computing breakthrough
Speed Read Researchers say this advance could lead to faster and more powerful computers