Hundreds of local residents will feel the effects of Tuesday’s disclosure by a New Jersey credit/debit-card processing company that admitted millions of credit and debit card information was compromised by what company officials called a “widespread, global cyber-fraud operation.”
Although not all Rolla bank customers are affected by what could be the largest security breach in credit card history, some local banks already have taken steps to ensure their account holders are protected, by issuing them new credit or debit cards.
Robert H.B. Baldwin, Jr., the president and chief financial officer of Heartland Payment Systems Inc., whose corporate office is located in Princeton, N.J., said the company first learned it was the victim of a security breach within its processing system in 2008, although the method by which credit card information was stolen had not surfaced.
“We found evidence of an intrusion last week and immediately notified federal law enforcement officials, as well as the card brands,” Baldwin said. “We are cooperating closely with the United States Secret Service and Department of Justice.”
No confidential merchant data, Social Security numbers, unencrypted personal identification numbers (PINs), addresses or telephone numbers were retrieved, according to a statement released by Heartland.
Company officials stated on Friday they did not yet know how many card numbers were fraudulently obtained, despite speculations reported by the press.
“Consumers will know if their card account numbers have been used by reviewing their monthly statement,” stated an updated Heartland release. “Cardholders should report suspicious activity to their issuing banks (the bank that issued the card, not the card brand). If unauthorized use is confirmed, cardholders will be reimbursed for the fraudulent purchases and will not be held financially responsible.”
After being alerted by Visa and MasterCard of suspicious activity surrounding processed card transactions, Heartland enlisted the help of several forensic auditors to conduct an investigation. Last week, the investigation uncovered malicious software that compromised the data that crossed Heartland’s network.
Heartland was criticized widely for releasing the information about the breach on Inauguration Day, in what critics say was an attempt to detract from the publicity the disclosure would generate.
Even some local Rolla bank officers were reluctant to discuss what impact the security breach would have upon their customers or operations, thinking their bank would somehow be blamed for the incursion upon Heartland.
Others, however, were candid in their assessments.
Vice President/Bank Manager Kelly Wells, of Mid America Bank & Trust Co. in Rolla, said approximately 200 of the bank’s cardholders were notified this week, by phone or mail, that their MasterCards may have been compromised because of the Heartland security breach.
“No fraudulent activity has shown up on any of their cards,” Wells said, “and we will issue them new cards.
“It’s not uncommon (the security breach), but it is uncommon for it to happen at this magnitude.”
Operations Officer Jeff Pyatt, at the main office of First Community National Bank in Steelville, said his bank already notified 75 percent of the bank’s at-risk debit card holders since Wednesday, when the bank was first notified.
“People need to be reviewing their accounts and making sure there’s no fraudulent activity, and they should report it immediately if they notice anything,” Pyatt cautioned.
With 14,000 account holders at FCNB, Pyatt was reluctant to disclose the exact number of potentially compromised debit cards, thinking it might cause a panic.
Senior Vice President Douglas Fish, with Citizens Bank of Newburg in Rolla, said Friday, “As of right now, we’ve not been notified of any compromises to our customers’ credit cards.”
Banking officials at Phelps County Bank, US Bank and Central Federal Savings & Loan did not return phone calls to the Rolla Daily News.
Heartland’s founder, chairman and chief executive officer, Robert O. Carr, said Friday, “Our energized organization called on the owners of more than 150,000 business locations these past three days to help them understand the breach and what it means to them. I couldn’t be prouder of our entire organization for the way everyone has pulled together to help.”
“Just as the Tylenol crisis engendered a whole new packaging standard, our aspiration is to use this recent breach incident to help the payments industry find ways to protect its data — and, therefore, businesses and consumers — much more effectively,” Carr said.
The Heartland corporation is a NYSE company that trades under the symbol HPY. It delivers credit, debit, prepaid card processing, payroll, check management and payment solutions to more than 250,000 business locations nationwide.
Heartland has created a Web site — www.2008breach.com — to provide more information about its credit card breach.
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Hundreds of local residents will feel the effects of Tuesday’s disclosure by a New Jersey credit/debit-card processing company that admitted millions of credit and debit card information was compromised by what company officials called a “widespread, global cyber-fraud operation.”
Although not all Rolla bank customers are affected by what could be the largest security breach in credit card history, some local banks already have taken steps to ensure their account holders are protected, by issuing them new credit or debit cards.
Robert H.B. Baldwin, Jr., the president and chief financial officer of Heartland Payment Systems Inc., whose corporate office is located in Princeton, N.J., said the company first learned it was the victim of a security breach within its processing system in 2008, although the method by which credit card information was stolen had not surfaced.
“We found evidence of an intrusion last week and immediately notified federal law enforcement officials, as well as the card brands,” Baldwin said. “We are cooperating closely with the United States Secret Service and Department of Justice.”
No confidential merchant data, Social Security numbers, unencrypted personal identification numbers (PINs), addresses or telephone numbers were retrieved, according to a statement released by Heartland.
Company officials stated on Friday they did not yet know how many card numbers were fraudulently obtained, despite speculations reported by the press.
“Consumers will know if their card account numbers have been used by reviewing their monthly statement,” stated an updated Heartland release. “Cardholders should report suspicious activity to their issuing banks (the bank that issued the card, not the card brand). If unauthorized use is confirmed, cardholders will be reimbursed for the fraudulent purchases and will not be held financially responsible.”
After being alerted by Visa and MasterCard of suspicious activity surrounding processed card transactions, Heartland enlisted the help of several forensic auditors to conduct an investigation. Last week, the investigation uncovered malicious software that compromised the data that crossed Heartland’s network.
Heartland was criticized widely for releasing the information about the breach on Inauguration Day, in what critics say was an attempt to detract from the publicity the disclosure would generate.
Even some local Rolla bank officers were reluctant to discuss what impact the security breach would have upon their customers or operations, thinking their bank would somehow be blamed for the incursion upon Heartland.
Others, however, were candid in their assessments.
Vice President/Bank Manager Kelly Wells, of Mid America Bank & Trust Co. in Rolla, said approximately 200 of the bank’s cardholders were notified this week, by phone or mail, that their MasterCards may have been compromised because of the Heartland security breach.
“No fraudulent activity has shown up on any of their cards,” Wells said, “and we will issue them new cards.
“It’s not uncommon (the security breach), but it is uncommon for it to happen at this magnitude.”
Operations Officer Jeff Pyatt, at the main office of First Community National Bank in Steelville, said his bank already notified 75 percent of the bank’s at-risk debit card holders since Wednesday, when the bank was first notified.
“People need to be reviewing their accounts and making sure there’s no fraudulent activity, and they should report it immediately if they notice anything,” Pyatt cautioned.
With 14,000 account holders at FCNB, Pyatt was reluctant to disclose the exact number of potentially compromised debit cards, thinking it might cause a panic.
Senior Vice President Douglas Fish, with Citizens Bank of Newburg in Rolla, said Friday, “As of right now, we’ve not been notified of any compromises to our customers’ credit cards.”
Banking officials at Phelps County Bank, US Bank and Central Federal Savings & Loan did not return phone calls to the Rolla Daily News.
Heartland’s founder, chairman and chief executive officer, Robert O. Carr, said Friday, “Our energized organization called on the owners of more than 150,000 business locations these past three days to help them understand the breach and what it means to them. I couldn’t be prouder of our entire organization for the way everyone has pulled together to help.”
“Just as the Tylenol crisis engendered a whole new packaging standard, our aspiration is to use this recent breach incident to help the payments industry find ways to protect its data — and, therefore, businesses and consumers — much more effectively,” Carr said.
The Heartland corporation is a NYSE company that trades under the symbol HPY. It delivers credit, debit, prepaid card processing, payroll, check management and payment solutions to more than 250,000 business locations nationwide.
Heartland has created a Web site — www.2008breach.com — to provide more information about its credit card breach.
