commercial data exposures

Sep 29, 2009 7 Replies
J

It may have been here or elsewhere that someone did not believe me that commercial data exposures were at least as bad and frequent as government data exposures.



Here is a classic commercial data exposure:


Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:38:49 -0400 =46rom: Monty Solomon Subject: 3 Indicted in Theft of 130 Million Card Numbers



On 24 Aug 2009, Albert Gonzalez was indicted along with two unspecified Russian conspirators. Charges included theft of 130 million credit and debit card numbers from late 2006 to early 2008 from various sources



-- Heartland Payment Systems, 7-Eleven, Hannaford Brothers, and others. Some of those numbers were sold online and used in identity frauds. Gonzalez is already waiting trial for previous cases involving T.J. Maxx (in Massachusetts) and the Dave & Buster restaurant chain (in New York). [Source: Brad Stone, *The New York Times*, 18 Aug 2009; PGN-ed]

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--=20 Transmitted with recycled bits. Damnly my frank, I don't give a dear



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R

They left out this part: "The theft didn't yield any proceeds, because all 130 million cards were maxed out." ;-)

Cheers! Rich

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R

On Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:36:27 -0700, JosephKK wrote: ...

_Are_ there 130 million credit cards? Isn't that, like, all of them?

Thanks, Rich

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J

There is likely more than that in California alone. In industrialized countries, probably over 5 billion cards total. So many people have more than one card. Plus if they have a small business perhaps another few for that a well.

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M

You wouldn't get an argument from me. The private sector is really sloppy with personal data. The only reason these stories even make the news is there is a law in California forcing the holder of data to reveal the breach. Nobody goes to jail. Maybe a fine is paid, but fines are just a part of doing business in the private sector.

Thanks to out-sourcing, your personal data is all over India, Pakistan, etc.

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K

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Interesting stats: 14% of the people in the US have ten cards or more. The average is four.

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R

Yikes! I guess I need to crawl out from under my rock more often. ;-)

Did anybody get my joke, "The thieves netted no proceeds, since all 130 million were maxed out"? ;-)

Thanks! Rich

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K

It wasn't a joke. Though I have three bank credit cards[*] I don't carry a balance on any.

[*] Who knows how many store credit cards I have. I do "0% for a year" deals all the time.
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