Heartland Payment Systems hacked. 100mln credit and debit card accounts affected

Heartland Payment Systems payments processor has officially stated today that last week they have found an evidence of system intrusion. As a result of data breach more than 100 million credit and debit card accounts were stolen. According to company statement the fraudsters have inserted malicious software that has recorded all the sensitive information including names, credit and debit card numbers, and expiration dates. 

“No merchant data or cardholder Social Security numbers, unencrypted personal identification numbers (PIN), addresses or telephone numbers were involved in the breach. Nor were any of Heartland's check management systems; Canadian, payroll, campus solutions or micropayments operations; Give Something Back Network; or the recently acquired Network Services and Chockstone processing platforms,” assured Robert H.B. Baldwin, Jr., Heartland's president and chief financial officer. The company doesn’t know the exact number of accounts affected since it doesn’t know when the software was placed. 

The incident revealed after Visa and MasterCard have reported of suspicious activity surrounding processed card transactions. Heartland payment system has immediately addressed several forensic auditors to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter as a result of which the malware has been detected. 

The company has already reported the incident and now is cooperating closely with the United States Secret Service and Department of Justice. Also the payment processor has launched a new site www.2008breach.com to keep the users informed about the incident occurred. The company strongly advises its cardholder to examine their monthly statements closely and report any suspicious activity to their card issuers. It was also said that cardholders will not be responsible for unauthorized fraudulent charges made by third parties.

The company executives have apologized for any inconvenience and promised to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Also it was announced that Heartland will implement a next-generation program designed to flag network anomalies in real-time and enable law enforcement to expeditiously apprehend cyber criminals.