MADISON COUNTY— Customers of Bruegger’s Bagels who have visited the Madison or Huntsville franchises between late August and early December may want to check their bank statements for any suspicious activity, as they could have potentially had their data exposed in a recent data security breach that affects some locations of Caribou Coffee and two of its affiliated companies.

Hundreds of locations of Caribou Coffee, Bruegger’s Bagels and Coffee & Bagels across the United States were deemed to be at risk of exposed customer information in connection with the incident. Of the three companies involved, only Bruegger’s Bagels had any potentially affected locations listed in Alabama, though all three companies listed other locations in surrounding states that may have been affected as well.

According to an official statement from the companies, they identified “unusual activity” on their networks through information monitoring processes Nov. 28. Once this came to light, they began working with Mandiant, a cyber security firm, “to understand the scope of the incident and determine whether there had been any unauthorized access.” Mandiant did report Nov. 30 that it had detected unauthorized access to the companies’ point of sale systems, which exposed some customers’ data. Mandiant was able to help the companies stop the breach.

“At this time, we are confident that the breach has been contained,” the statements read.

Data that was exposed includes customers’ credit card information, although customers who placed catering orders online or made purchases through rewards or customer loyalty accounts were not affected by the data breach.

The companies recommend that customers who have visited any of the at-risk locations check their bank statements for any unusual or suspicious activity and contact their debit or credit card companies if they believe they are a victim of the breach.

“We also encourage customers to remain vigilant by reviewing your account statements as well as your credit report for any unauthorized activity,” the statements said.

To read the full statement from each company, view a list of potentially affected locations and find out what to do in the event you have been affected, follow these links:

• Caribou Coffee
• Bruegger’s Bagels
• Coffee & Bagels

For more information about the breach, contact the companies through the appropriate phone numbers or email addresses provided in the statements.

“We sincerely apologize that this breach occurred and assure you that our team is working to help prevent data security issues from occurring in the future,” the statements said. “The privacy and security of your information is very important to us and we remain committed to doing everything we can to maintain the confidentiality of your information. We appreciate your patience and loyalty as a customer.”

The local Bruegger’s Bagels franchises are located at 2000 Cecil Ashburn Drive in Huntsville and 347 Hughes Rd. in Madison.