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Aaron Hats
01-22-2009, 01:25 PM
Here we go again. Heartland Payment Systems admits to being hacked and millions of credit card numbers stolen. Check out the full story here (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/01/payment_processor_breach_may_b.html) if you haven't already heard about it. Luckily, we don't use them but that doesn't mean this doesn't get me really ticked. Every day I have customers call me to place orders instead of doing it online because this is what they're afraid of. The credit card companies and the processors make billions of dollars off the merchants and yet they can't keep their own networks secure. Who does this hurt in the end? The merchants.

So now we can ad Heartland to the list along with TJX, Hannaford and RBS to name a few.

KristineS
01-22-2009, 01:43 PM
What's really sad is that a lot of small businesses don't keep credit cards on file for fear of being hacked, and they're probably much safer than the big guys. It is scary to think that your financial information can be so easily accessed.

Aaron Hats
01-22-2009, 02:44 PM
You're absolutely right. It's usually the small businesses that are the safest yet we'll be hurt the most by this type of news. It's sooooo frustrating.

vangogh
01-22-2009, 03:14 PM
I saw this earlier today. Frustrating. What bugged me in the article was the Heartland person kept talking about how they used anti-virus software as that would stop a dedicated hack. Made me think their security people are a bit clueless. At least this one guy seemed to be.

orion_joel
01-22-2009, 07:38 PM
Maybe someone should send them links to the wikipedia articles on Anti-Virus software, and Firewalls. And mention which they may prefer to use.

Evan
01-22-2009, 11:09 PM
It's unfortunate that it continues to happen. But I guess what is worse is that there still are a lot of people that are relentless to get this information to conduct fraudulent transactions.

seolman
01-22-2009, 11:19 PM
What I'm always amazed at is why would ANYONE even WANT to store credit card information on line. Now look at the liability these guys are facing. I see class action lawsuit written all over this. Ridiculous. After the transaction is completed all I would want to keep is a backup copy somewhere off-line with just the last 4 digits of the CC stored and a transaction number to cross reference with the bank.

KristineS
01-23-2009, 03:08 PM
The large companies store the credit card numbers because people set up accounts and like the convenience of being able to enter a password and username and placing an order without having to remember credit card numbers. A lot of the larger retail web sites do this, and some store your credit card number without you even asking them to do so.

It's mostly, I believe, a convenience thing. It also has some merit as a conversion strategy. People who have to go find a credit card may rethink their purchase. If all they have to do is push a button and their information is already there, the company is more likely to secure the sale.

Aaron Hats
01-23-2009, 03:49 PM
With the billions of dollars the credit card processors and banks make on these transactions they should be leading the way with new security technology. Instead they wait until they get hacked then plug the hole.