 |
All brands of
cards could be affected |
A computer hacker may have broken into more than 40 million credit card
accounts, US company officials say.
MasterCard International said the breach was traced to a company in
Atlanta which processes transactions for banks and merchants.
All brands of credit cards could be affected, it warned.
The company, CardSystems Solutions, said it identified the breach last
month and immediately contacted the FBI, which was investigating.
MasterCard announced the breach in a news release
on Friday, saying security "vulnerabilities" had allowed an unauthorised
individual to infiltrate
the network of CardSystems and access the cardholder data.
It said 14 million of its customers may have been exposed to fraud.
Another 22 million were Visa cards, said a spokeswoman for the Visa
company.
MasterCard spokeswoman Sharon Gamsin told the Associated Press news
agency the data - names, banks and account numbers - could be used to
steal funds, but not identities. The company was notifying banks that
issue MasterCards.
In its own press release, CardSystems Solutions said it had identified
a "potential security incident" on 22 May and contacted the FBI a day
later.
The company said it was installing extra security procedures.
(BBC) |