Kmart hit by data breach

Retailer Sears Holdings Corp. said the payment data systems at its Kmart stores had been compromised, the latest in a series of computer security breaches to hit U.S. companies in recent months.

The U.S. Secret Service confirmed it was investigating the breach, which occurred in September and compromised the systems of Kmart, which has about 1,200 stores across the United States. The breach did not affect the Sears department store chain.

Sears said it believes hackers made off with some credit and debit card numbers.

More e-cig regs eyed on planes

Federal regulators should consider further regulations on electronic cigarettes on airplanes, the state’s top fire official said after his office recently concluded one of the devices caused a small fire on a plane at Logan International Airport.

The Aug. 9 fire, confined to a single piece of luggage in the cargo hold, forced an evacuation of the plane. It was extinguished before the JetBlue aircraft took off. State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said his office’s investigators confirmed that an e-cigarette in a passenger’s checked luggage turned on, causing the fire.

Coan sent a letter to the FAA this week about the incident, and U.S. Sen. Edward Markey said he’ll ask the FAA to investigate whether e-cigarettes should be allowed on airplanes at all.

Corcoran Jennison files hotel plan

Corcoran Jennison Co. has filed a project notification form with the city to expand the DoubleTree Club by Hilton hotel in Dorchester’s Columbia Point.

The Boston developer proposed a six-story, 89,500-square-foot addition that would include 96 new rooms for a total of 187 rooms, an expanded ground-floor restaurant, kitchen and back-of-house space, function rooms and a ballroom.

The addition would take the place of a parking lot on the northeast side of the Mount Vernon Street hotel, which is next to the former 20-acre Bayside Exposition Center site that Corcoran Jennison lost to foreclosure in 2009 and is now owned by the University of Massachusetts-Boston.

Raytheon, UMass Lowell open center

Raytheon and the University of Massachusetts Lowell yesterday officially opened a new collaborative research facility that will advance innovative technologies in a state-of-the-art setting.

The Raytheon-UMass Lowell Research Institute is located at the university’s Mark and Elisia Saab Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center. Raytheon has committed $3 million with options to $5 million throughout the next 10 years to establish the facility. Initial research will focus on technologies for radar and communication systems.

Boston-based Phoodeez catering services has hired three new employees: Ian Danielson as director of business development, Brian Vicente as director of operations, and Tyler Smith as part of the business development team.