40 Million Credit Card numbers hijacked

Examine your statements carefully.

Earl

****




40M Credit Card Accounts Could Be Affected

By JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writer 2 hours, 33 minutes ago

A computer hacker may have accessed more than 40 million credit card
accounts in what could be the largest in a series of recent security
breaches involving consumer data, officials said.

MasterCard International Inc. announced Friday that the breach was traced to
Atlanta-based CardSystems Solutions Inc., which processes credit card and
other payments for banks and merchants. All brands of credit cards could be
affected.

The compromised data did not include addresses or Social Security numbers,
said MasterCard spokeswoman Sharon Gamsin. The data that may have been
viewed ‹ names, banks and account numbers ‹ could be used to steal funds,
but not identities.

Gamsin said she did not know how the virus-like computer script that
captured customer data got into CardSystems' network, which MasterCard said
was infiltrated by an "unauthorized individual." Neither company would
elaborate.

The FBI was investigating.

MasterCard said 14 million of its customers may have been exposed to fraud.
A spokeswoman for American Express said a small number of its cardholders
were affected, but would not give an exact number. Discover Financial
Services Inc. wouldn't say whether its customers were affected. Visa USA and
a large issuer of cards, MBNA Corp., did not return calls for comment
Friday.

The incident was the latest in a series of security lapses affecting
consumer information. The breach appears to be the largest yet involving
financial data, said David Sobel, general counsel at the Electronic Privacy
Information Center.

"The steady stream of these disclosures shows the pressing need for
regulation of the industry both in terms of limitation in the amount of
personal information that companies collect and also liability when these
kinds of disclosures occur," he said.

Under federal law, credit card holders are liable for no more than $50 of
unauthorized charges, and many card issuers will even waive the $50.

Other companies that have been hit by security lapses recently include
Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and DSW Shoe Warehouse. Federal
lawmakers responded by drawing up legislation designed to better protect
consumer privacy.

MasterCard announced the breach in a news release Friday, saying it was
notifying its card-issuing banks of the problem.

CardSystems then released its own statement, saying it first learned of a
potential breach on May 22. The company said it was told by the FBI not to
release any information to the public; its statement Friday had been vetted
by the agency.

"We were absolutely blindsided" by MasterCard's announcement, CardSystems'
chief financial officer, Michael A. Brady, told The Associated Press.

CardSystems, which has a processing center in Tucson, Ariz., has been in
business for more than 15 years and handles transactions for more than
115,000 small to mid-sized businesses, according to the company's Web site.
The company says it processes transactions worth more than $15 billion
annually.

Sobel said the fact that the latest breach involved a third party "indicates
that this is a shadowy industry where the consumer never really knows who is
going to be handling and using their personal information."

Earlier this month, Citigroup said UPS lost computer tapes with sensitive
information from 3.9 million customers of CitiFinancial, which provides
loans.

There have also been breaches involving other kinds of sensitive data.

ChoicePoint Inc. said in February that thieves using stolen identities had
created 50 dummy businesses that pulled data including names, addresses and
Social Security numbers on as many as 145,000 people.

In March, LexisNexis Inc. disclosed that hackers had commandeered a database
and gained access to the personal files of as many as 32,000 people.

The company has since increased its estimate of the people affected to
310,000. Information accessed included names, addresses and Social Security
and driver's license numbers, but not credit history, medical records or
financial information, corporate parent Reed Elsevier Group PLC said in a
statement.

_

Earl Evleth wrote:
Examine your statements carefully.

Earl

****




40M Credit Card Accounts Could Be Affected

By JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writer 2 hours, 33 minutes ago

A computer hacker may have accessed more than 40 million credit card
accounts in what could be the largest in a series of recent security
breaches involving consumer data, officials said.

MasterCard International Inc. announced Friday that the breach was traced=
to
Atlanta-based CardSystems Solutions Inc., which processes credit card and
other payments for banks and merchants. All brands of credit cards could =
be
affected.

The compromised data did not include addresses or Social Security numbers,
said MasterCard spokeswoman Sharon Gamsin. The data that may have been
viewed =8B names, banks and account numbers =8B could be used to steal fu=
nds,
but not identities.

Gamsin said she did not know how the virus-like computer script that
captured customer data got into CardSystems' network, which MasterCard sa=
id
was infiltrated by an "unauthorized individual." Neither company would
elaborate.

The FBI was investigating.

MasterCard said 14 million of its customers may have been exposed to frau=
d=2E
A spokeswoman for American Express said a small number of its cardholders
were affected, but would not give an exact number. Discover Financial
Services Inc. wouldn't say whether its customers were affected. Visa USA =
and
a large issuer of cards, MBNA Corp., did not return calls for comment
Friday.

The incident was the latest in a series of security lapses affecting
consumer information. The breach appears to be the largest yet involving
financial data, said David Sobel, general counsel at the Electronic Priva=
cy
Information Center.

"The steady stream of these disclosures shows the pressing need for
regulation of the industry both in terms of limitation in the amount of
personal information that companies collect and also liability when these
kinds of disclosures occur," he said.

Under federal law, credit card holders are liable for no more than $50 of
unauthorized charges, and many card issuers will even waive the $50.

Other companies that have been hit by security lapses recently include
Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and DSW Shoe Warehouse. Federal
lawmakers responded by drawing up legislation designed to better protect
consumer privacy.

MasterCard announced the breach in a news release Friday, saying it was
notifying its card-issuing banks of the problem.

CardSystems then released its own statement, saying it first learned of a
potential breach on May 22. The company said it was told by the FBI not to
release any information to the public; its statement Friday had been vett=
ed
by the agency.

"We were absolutely blindsided" by MasterCard's announcement, CardSystems'
chief financial officer, Michael A. Brady, told The Associated Press.

CardSystems, which has a processing center in Tucson, Ariz., has been in
business for more than 15 years and handles transactions for more than
115,000 small to mid-sized businesses, according to the company's Web sit=
e=2E
The company says it processes transactions worth more than $15 billion
annually.

Sobel said the fact that the latest breach involved a third party "indica=
tes
that this is a shadowy industry where the consumer never really knows who=
is
going to be handling and using their personal information."

Earlier this month, Citigroup said UPS lost computer tapes with sensitive
information from 3.9 million customers of CitiFinancial, which provides
loans.

There have also been breaches involving other kinds of sensitive data.

ChoicePoint Inc. said in February that thieves using stolen identities had
created 50 dummy businesses that pulled data including names, addresses a=
nd
Social Security numbers on as many as 145,000 people.

In March, LexisNexis Inc. disclosed that hackers had commandeered a datab=
ase
and gained access to the personal files of as many as 32,000 people.

The company has since increased its estimate of the people affected to
310,000. Information accessed included names, addresses and Social Securi=
ty
and driver's license numbers, but not credit history, medical records or
financial information, corporate parent Reed Elsevier Group PLC said in a
statement.=20
=20
_

if you are an American ?

On 18/06/05 17:46, in article
,
" wrote:

if you are an American ?


Both, I have credit cards running out of the US and France.

I can check transactions daily via the internet. I suppose
most people can these days?

Earl Evleth wrote:
Examine your statements carefully.


More importantly - how hot is it in Paris today Earl?

"Earl Evleth" wrote in message
...
Examine your statements carefully.


Only a FOOL would do otherwise.

Mozilla

On 18/06/05 18:28, in article , "Mike
O'Sullivan" wrote:

More importantly - how hot is it in Paris today Earl?

Around 31°C. The sun still has a couple of more hours with us.

We are going out for dinner at the Tavern Basque on Cherche Midi.
They know "us" since when I call I reserve in the name of "Gaston",
our dachshund. They don't know our name nor care, since when
I say "Gaston" they brighten up with a cheerful response.

They have a restaurant dog, in any case.

So it has been a dog day afternoon. At least not it
has not been "un temps de chiens", which in French
means bluster cold rainy weather.

Earl

On 18/06/05 18:32, in article , "mozilla"
wrote:

Examine your statements carefully.


Only a FOOL would do otherwise.

Plenty of them around--I check mine
every couple of days, at least.

Earl Evleth wrote:
On 18/06/05 17:46, in article
,
" wrote:

if you are an American ?


Both, I have credit cards running out of the US and France.

I can check transactions daily via the internet. I suppose
most people can these days?

but the French dont seem to have the problem ?

On 18/06/05 19:20, in article
,
" wrote:

but the French dont seem to have the problem ?

They never talk about and pretend that the microchip
solves most of the problems.

I don't know what the real fraud rate is with the chip
cards. The strip cards present a problem. And who checks
your signature with that on the card any more.

The French cards work all from the pin number, in France
at least. But traveling the strip is used.

Earl

Earl Evleth wrote:
On 18/06/05 18:28, in article , "Mike
O'Sullivan" wrote:


More importantly - how hot is it in Paris today Earl?


Around 31°C. The sun still has a couple of more hours with us.

About the same in southern England today.