Expert: Russian cybercrime hackers target Oracle

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. (KGO) -- At least 330,000 cash registers around the world may have been compromised by hackers who targeted Oracle.

The cash registers are run by Oracle and they're found in hotels and restaurants all around the world.

Brian Krebs, of Krebs on Security, reports a Russian organized cybercrime group hacked Oracle, targeting the company's MICROS division used by hotels, restaurants and retailers.

"You can think of it sort of as a gateway that hacker to the main hub from the hub to the individual stores," San Jose State University Asst. Professor Bryce Westlake, PhD., said.

Westlake is a professor and also an expert in cybercrime and says if credit card numbers were stolen the worst maybe yet to come. "The hackers are smart, right. They know there's been this data breach, and so everyone using the system is going to be paranoid and constantly checking their card tonight and over the next couple days," he said.

Westlake says the stolen information could be sold a year from now.

Randy Musterer owns Sushi Confidential. He does not use the Oracle software that was compromised, but he's constantly worried about hacking. "You may not know which restaurants use that software or not, so I think this could affect a lot of people that may not have been affected in the past," he said.

In a letter to customers, Oracle admits malicious code was found in the software, but released a statement saying: "Payment card data is encrypted both at rest and in transit in the micros hosted environment."

A consumer ABC7 News talked with was unfazed. "I'm not surprised, usually once a year I'll get my credit card number stolen and I just accept it as a fact of life," San Jose resident Liz Perez said.

Experts advise people to always keep an eye on their accounts and report fraudulent charges.