News

FTC puts CardSystems security breach to rest

February 27, 2006

Digital Transactions:The Federal Trade Commission announced Feb. 23 a proposed settlement with the successor to CardSystems Solutions Inc., the merchant processor that gained notoriety last year as the source of the largest known compromise of financial data to date. (Read also, Compromised credit data improperly kept, company admits, Fallout from CardSystems breach continues and Visa grants CardSystems an extension.) The settlement, which did not include fines and was the first to involve a credit card processor, arose out of FTC’s ninth case targeting companies whose security practices compromised consumers’ private financial information.

Up to 40 million card account numbers stored by CardSystems were compromised in an intrusion discovered last year. The hack led to the demise of CardSystems as an independent company and the acquisition of its assets by Solidus Networks Inc., doing business as Pay By Touch Solutions. (Read also, Pay By Touch goes on buying spree.)