Processor Already Paid $60 Million to Visa to
Settle 2008 Data Intrusion
After agreeing to a $60 million settlement with Visa earlier in the year, Heartland Payment Systems has added another $41 million to the pot for MasterCard. These amounts are most likely accounted for in a $139 million line item the company set aside in a recent SEC filing. Heartland originally estimated the cost of the data breach would reach $12 million.
Based in Princeton, NJ-based, the nation’s fifth largest credit card processor was the target of a rather large data breach that resulted in the compromise of approximately $130 million customer records.
Issuers of VISA and MasterCard bank cards will be able to make claims against the settlement funds for losses they incurred as a result of the 2008 data breach. The card issuers generally have to pay to reissue the cards at approximately $20 per card. In addition, they bear the cost of any fraudulent charges made as a result of the breach.
Why a company based in New Jersey goes by the name of “Heartland” is the topic of a separate enquiry..
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by . said: [...]
This is a GREAT article that highlights the need for PREVENTION of data breaches at all costs. That is, prevention is cheap at twice the price; given the $$ of most breaches – and cost is not only $, but business reputation and even survival. In David Scott’s words, everyone needs to be a mini-Security Officer today. I think Mr. Scott, the author, is right: Most individuals and organizations enjoy Security largely as a matter of luck. For some free insight (and free is good!), check out his blog, “The Business-Technology Weave” – you can Google to it, or search on the site IT Knowledge Exchange which hosts it. Anyone else here reading I.T. WARS? It reflects much of what is said here. I had to read parts of this book as part of my employee orientation at a new job. The book talks about a whole new culture as being necessary – an eCulture – for a true understanding of security, being that most identity/data breaches are due to simple human errors. It has great chapters on security, as well as risk, content management, project management, acceptable use, various plans and policies, and so on. Just Google IT WARS – check out a couple links down and read the interview with the author David Scott at Boston’s Business Forum. (Full title is I.T. WARS: Managing the Business-Technology Weave in the New Millennium). “In the realm of risk, unmanaged possibilities become probabilities.” Keep “security” front and center! Great stuff.