Large Security Breach May Have Compromised Many Credit and Debit Cards Throughout the US
On Friday, both MasterCard and Visa were both hit by a large security breach that is said may have an impact on American citizens. The extent of the breach which occurred through third party vendor Global Payments has yet to be announced although it is thought that the personal details of millions of Americans may be at risk. Global Payments is a firm based in Atlanta who claim to be one of the largest processing companies of electronic transactions in the world.
Both MasterCard and Visa have notified law enforcement officials and are advising customers that their own security systems have not been affected. They have also announced a statement to their customers announcing that any fraudulent purchases will be covered and that their customers will not be held responsible for any problems caused by the breach. A spokesman for the Secret Service has confirmed that the matter is currently being investigated but that no arrests have currently been made. He declined to comment further until the extent of the breach has been discovered.
Following the news on Friday, Global Payments stocks fell by 9%. Trading on the stocks was halted soon after noon whilst the company continues to investigate the breach. It is thought that a conference call will be held early this week so that the company can address their customers. A spokesman for Global Payments said that it is reassuring that the security processes at the company noticed an intrusion however they do believe that card data may have been accessed. Since the breach was announced, experts have been brought in to minimize the damage.
Since the breach was announced many financial experts have been questioning the security technology that is currently integrated into US credit and debit cards. Almost every developed country in the world now has microchips included in credit and debit cards however the US is one of the countries that is lagging behind. Even though the microchips have been proven to lower fraud, only time will tell as to whether this will be introduced into the states any time soon.
