Hacker Cracks Into Egghead

Online technology retailer Egghead.com has disclosed a hacker managed to penetrate its computer systems, potentially including the customer databases in which the company stores credit card numbers and other personal information about the users of its Web site.

In a statement, Egghead says it has reported the hacking incident to credit card companies "as a precautionary measure" in case card numbers were stolen by the intruder. Those companies are now "alerting card issuers and banks so that they can take the necessary steps to ensure the security of cardholders who may be affected," Egghead adds.

Egghead, which sells computers, software, consumer electronics equipment, and other products through its Web site, also says it has called in law enforcement officials to conduct a criminal investigation into the hacking incident. In addition, the company has hired "the world's leading computer security experts to conduct a thorough investigation of our security procedures and an analysis of this breach," according to the announcement Friday.

Hackers Don't Take Holidays

The company isn't making any additional comments about the intrusion at this point, a company spokesperson says. In its statement, Egghead notes that it has been working "for many months" to strengthen its security systems in an effort to prevent attacks by malicious hackers.

Egghead's disclosure comes just a week after Creditcards.com, an affiliate of Humboldt Bank in California that processes credit card transactions and sells e-commerce technology, confirmed a would-be extortionist had hacked into its Web site and exposed up to 55,000 credit card numbers on the Internet.

It also follows a disclosure by Microsoft acknowledging that its internal computer network had been hit by a month-long intrusion in which an attacker was able to view the source code for an unspecified future product. The FBI has launched investigations into the incidents at both Microsoft and Creditcards.com.