Gander Mountain Company announced the recovery of computer equipment
containing certain customer transaction information relating to a
single store in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. An independent security
assessment firm has verified that no customer data was accessed or
compromised.
“We are pleased to have recovered our equipment,” said Mark Baker,
Gander Mountain president and CEO. “But far more important, one of the
nations leading independent information security assessment firms has
confirmed that no customer data on the computer was accessed or
compromised in any way.”
On September 10, Gander Mountain issued a press release informing the
public that the computer equipment was missing and might have been
stolen. Following that release, the company notified the major credit
card companies, sent letters to customers for whom they had full
address information, established a toll-free helpline, and a dedicated
E-mail box, and posted a customer alert and additional information on
its website to help potentially affected customers.
“From the start our primary goal has been to prevent harm to our
customers,” said Baker. “We took an aggressive approach to informing
our customers and even though it turned out that no customer data was
compromised, it was the best thing to do to mitigate potential harm to
everyone. We are sorry that it caused concern, but we always want to do
the right thing for our customers and we are grateful for their
understanding during this matter.”
Mark Baker, prresident and CEO, Gander Mountain, also put out the following statement to consumers:
Gander Mountain Company To Our Valued Customers:
We have recovered our missing
computer equipment. No data contained on it was accessed or compromised
in any way. All customer information is safe.
On September 10, Gander Mountain
issued a press release and sent letters informing the public and our
customers that computer equipment containing certain customer
transaction information relating to a single store in Greensburg
Pennsylvania, was missing and might have been stolen.
I am very pleased that our
investigation of this matter has resulted in the recovery of the
equipment. But far more important, one of the nations leading
independent information security assessment firms has confirmed that
that no customer information of any kind was accessed.
As this event evolved, we always felt
that the potential for harm from the apparent theft of equipment was
low. Nevertheless, we proceeded with aggressive plans to inform all
customers who might have been affected.
I regret that we may have caused
concern for some of our customers who shopped at our Greensburg, PA
store. You may have already taken some actions to be sure that this
situation did not adversely affect you. We apologize for this
inconvenience, but we continue to believe that rapidly addressing this
situation to reduce the chances of misuse of your data was the right
course of action. Our primary goal was to prevent any harm to our
customers affected by this situation.
Please rest assured, your data is safe. Your data is not at risk. You do not need to take any further action.
We take customer privacy very
seriously and we will continue to look for the best possible ways to
protect sensitive information. Our customers can continue to shop with
confidence in our stores.
I thank our customers for their
patience and understanding during this situation. The support shown for
Gander Mountain reinforced, for all of us here, the fine character
of the people who enjoy the outdoors and shop in our stores.
There is not a better group of people anywhere.
Sincerely,
Mark Baker
President and CEO
Gander Mountain Company
