Line of Business
100 million cards potentially compromised in Heartland breach
Heartland Payment Systems, which is among the largest payment processors in the world - has been hit with a data breach that may go down as the largest ever involving payment data. At risk of compromise are more than 100 million credit and debit cards.1/22/2009 6:00:00 AM By: Jaikumar Vijayan
A data breach disclosed today by Heartland Payment Systems may well displace TJX Companies' January 2007 breach in the record books as the largest ever involving payment data with potentially over 100 million cards being compromised.
Heartland, a N.J.-based provider of credit and debit card processing services said that unknown intruders had broken into its systems sometime last year and planted malicious software to steal card data carried on the company's networks.
The company, which is among the largest payment processors in the country, claimed to have discovered the intrusion only last week after being alerted by Visa and MasterCard of suspicious activity.
The card companies' alerts triggered a subsequent investigation by "several forensic investigators" during which the intrusion was discovered, Robert Baldwin Jr., Heartland's president and CFO, said in the statement.
The company said the intrusion may have been the result of a "widespread global cyberfraud operation".
Baldwin said Heartland is "cooperating closely with the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Justice.
He said around 100 million card transactions per month occur on the affected systems, which handle processing for merchants and businesses.
Heartland has set up a Web site to provide information about the data breach, and it advised cardholders to examine their monthly statements and report suspicious activity to their card issuers.
Baldwin said the computer forensics examinations conducted by the company have uncovered evidence of multiple instances of malicious software on the Heartland network, although he didn't disclose the exact number of identified instances.
He apologized for the inconvenience caused by the situation in which customers' card numbers and, in some cases, names, were stolen.
Page Navigation 1) Cardholders advisted to examine monthly statements closley - page 12) Heartland taking steps to improve network security - page 2
3) Second large payment processor hit in recent weeks - page 3
<< Back
