Ever since Target was crippled by a high-profile card data breach, all eyes have been turned to the IT security of major retail-level stores. Dairy Queen recently announced that it had also been targeted by a breach involving a new form of malware called "Backoff." Though it is downplaying the effects of this intrusion, the company admitted that payment card data at nearly 400 locations across the country was affected over the summer.

The company says that the breach exposed multiple types of identifying data, including card numbers and expiration dates, but that there's no evidence that more sensitive information, like Social Security Numbers and PIN, were revealed to outside forces. One Orange Julius store was also affected in addition to the Dairy Queens.

"We are committed to working with and supporting our affected DQ and Orange Julius franchise owners to address this incident," CEO John Gainor said. "Our customers continue to be our top priority."

However, the overall number of POS systems attacked by Backoff has increased as recently as September, at least according to a piece in MarketWatch. The amount of infections has been rising since this July and jumped 27 percent in September alone. The source quotes security firm Damballa, which said that this is a common tactic for criminals to take to get the most out of a cyberattack.

To stay compliant with PCI security standards and up to date on the latest threats, all companies should take advantage of experienced merchant credit card processing solutions to keep their customers' personal information protected, and their business reputation intact.