Saturday, February 21, 2009

Confirmation of Second Major Processor Breach

http://cardnet.pcua.coop/Home/NewsFlash/tabid/248/Default.aspx

Earlier this week, Visa and MasterCard began issuing accounts involved in a merchant processor breach. The reported incident involves confirmed unauthorized access to a U.S. acquirer processor’s settlement system of stored transaction information that included Primary Account Numbers (PANs) and expiration dates. No magnetic stripe track data has been identified at risk in this alert. As the entity involved has not yet issued a press release, Visa and MasterCard are unable to release the name of the merchant processor.

It is important to note that this event is not related to the Heartland Payment Systems breach. While it has been confirmed that malicious software was placed on the processor’s platform, there is no forensic evidence that accounts were viewed or taken by the hackers. Since the final forensic report has not been provided there is no estimate available at this time of the number of accounts involved in this event. Law enforcement is activity engaged in an investigation into this situation.

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The security breach occurred at a Merchant Processor. Visa is not disclosing the name or location of the Merchant Processor. This is a very large compromise, similar to the Heartland compromise, but slightly smaller.

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