Crime

Has Every Major Credit Card Provider Been Hacked?

Major Credit Card Data Breach Reported

(Photo: AP/Paul Sakuma)

NEW YORK (The Blaze/AP) — MasterCard and Visa said Friday that they had notified issuers of its credit cards of a potential breach of the security of customer accounts. The companies did not say how many customers were affected.

Global Payments Inc., which processes credit card transactions for stores, said it had detected a breach of card data in early March. Breaches of card data can lead to identity theft and unauthorized charges.

Global Payments said it had alerted federal law enforcement and was investigating. Spokeswoman Amy Corn would not say whether cards besides Visa and MasterCard were affected.

Gizmodo has more on this potential hack:

The story has been developing throughout the morning. Right now, it goes like this: Hackers gained access to an administrative-privileged account at a New York City taxi company and, over the course of several months, stole 10 million credit card numbers. They’ve been sitting on them, waiting to spend all at once to maximize the time before they’re shut down.

The Wall Street Journal puts the number of compromised accounts around 50,000, which is a far cry from 10 million. The massive number had originally been sourced to a post from a Gartner analyst, and while it seems a little far fetched that a cab company would have millions of numbers, we’d still err to caution.

Visa and Mastercard have both issued statements explaining the breach, but stressed that their networks were not specifically breached. Though that doesn‘t really matter if you’re affected by the hack of “third-party processor” Global Payments. No word yet from American Express or Discover, but both are accepted by official NYC cabs.

MSNBC has other security experts weighing in on the theory that the breach may have originated through use of NYC cabs or paying for parking garages:

Gartner security expert Avivah Litan said she’s been told that the stolen data is already being used on the street by identity thieves.

“I’ve spoken with folks in the card business who are seeing signs of this breach mushroom. Looks like the hackers have started using the stolen card data more recently,” she said.

She’s been told that investigators believe the data theft originated in New York City.

“From what I hear, the breach involves a taxi and parking garage company in the New York City area, so if you’ve paid a NYC cab in the last few months with your credit or debit card — be sure to check your card statements for possible fraud,” Litan said in her blog post on the topic.

Global Payments stock was halted after published reports said it was responsible. The stock fell 9 percent for the day before trading was stopped.

Credit card companies generally protect customers against fraudulent transactions, and Visa said specifically Friday that its U.S. customers were not at risk. MasterCard said their own systems had not been compromised.

Gizmodo goes on to report that Bank of America and Chase have been alerting their customers to a potential hack for several weeks and notes that fraudulent charges have been seen even after cards had been canceled.

Last June, hackers stole information for 360,000 credit card accounts at Citigroup. In the past year, there have been high-profile data attacks against the International Monetary Fund, National Public Radio, Google and Sony’s PlayStation Network.

Comments (16)

  • Byrn67
    Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:26pm

    A fool and his money is soon parted : Thats why i dont have a credit card will not get a credit card and advise those around me to do withought them and go cash only . Its bad enough when a system at a store goes down and the clerk cant work a pencil and paper but try geting anything with a credit card .

    Report Post » Byrn67  
  • helmethead
    Posted on March 31, 2012 at 8:07am

    “…moral…”

    Report Post » helmethead  
  • helmethead
    Posted on March 31, 2012 at 7:19am

    Interestingly enough, while going through my Chase Visa statement a few days ago, I discovered a very strange charge at a restaurant in New Mexico…but I live in Florida. After contacting the card company, they were quick to cancel my card and issue another one with a new number. The security rep told me that incidents such as this…where a very small charge appears (this one was only for about $7 bucks), is often a way for thieves to check that the number is valid — and hope you don’t notice the charge. Then, at some later time, hit you with a much larger unauthorized use of your stolen card number. Funny thing though, I’m sure my little incident had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with this recent Visa/Mastercard security breach! Yeah, right! And of course the credit card company notified me right away that my account may have been breached. NOT! Hey, if you don’t already do so, be sure and check your statement each month, line by line, to verify all the charges are legitimate. I do that as well as multiple checks of my account online as well. The morel of the story here is, the last line of defense is the card holder exercising due care, because the credit card companies won’t always be there for you….until after something has occurred.

    Report Post » helmethead  
  • soybomb315
    Posted on March 30, 2012 at 8:06pm

    unless you are opening new credit accounts all the time – freeze your credit information. This prevents anybody from opening an account in your name. Mine has been frozen for years and i never have to worry about people stealing my shiznit

    Report Post » soybomb315  
  • semihardrock
    Posted on March 30, 2012 at 7:44pm

    USA Wikileaked again!!!!

    Report Post » semihardrock  
  • barber2
    Posted on March 30, 2012 at 7:44pm

    Don’t you just love our world today ? A world filled with hackers, terrorists, Marxists and anarchists. Think we have entered into the New Dark Ages.

    Report Post »  
    • msconstrue
      Posted on March 30, 2012 at 8:08pm

      dont forget the murderers, molesters, thieves……its darker than dark.

      Report Post »  
  • GrandmaNRichmondTX
    Posted on March 30, 2012 at 7:35pm

    We have one credit card and that is Amex. We decided it was much easier to keep track of than having too many. Also, it has to be paid at the end of the month.

    Report Post »  
  • spirited
    Posted on March 30, 2012 at 7:25pm

    Had to cancel card twice last year;
    once after the purchase of an a/c unit at K-mart
    and
    the other after shopping at Marshalls.

    > Fortunately, the credit card company called within a couple of hours of purchases –both times.

    Report Post » spirited  
  • TRILO
    Posted on March 30, 2012 at 7:21pm

    Funny how the government is working on internet “security” bills and all this happens. Now Symantec just today finds a new virus like the one that infected the Iranian nuclear plants. The government is now saying this is the beginning stages of a worldwide cyber attack.

    Sure there are hackers and they can create havoc for people. But the powers that be are blowing this way out of proportion to scare the sheeple to allow big brother to take over the internet.

    Blah, Blah, Blah.

    Report Post » TRILO  
    • GrandmaNRichmondTX
      Posted on March 30, 2012 at 7:37pm

      I have absolutely no faith in the federal government. NONE. I don’t trust them at all.

      Report Post »  
    • MAMMY_NUNN
      Posted on March 30, 2012 at 10:35pm

      I agree old union tactics create the boogeyman in order to establish protectionism.

      Report Post »  
    • thousandoaks
      Posted on March 31, 2012 at 11:07am

      What makes you think the government hasn’t already taken over the internet?

      Report Post »  
  • Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
    Posted on March 30, 2012 at 7:08pm

    Of course they have, Peggy and her friends have been behind all of these attacks.

    Or, anytime the Govt needs a few extra bucks, they go to their favorite trough. In the end, we consumers end up paying for all of this.

    Just smile, be happy.

    Report Post » Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra  

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