Banks still exposed for Heartland meltdown?

You have to give Heartland Payment Systems credit for tackling their security issues head on. It remains to be seen whether their end-to-end encryption systems will become an industry standard (data security news), but it has impressed some as the near-term future of card security.

Unfortunately, it is still grappling with the fallout of the massive breach that first thrust the firm into the headlines. An indication of this comes from tiny First National Bank of Durango, in Colorado, which has been hit with a spate of fraudulent transactions on debit cards. The bank has received a list of up to 5,000 potentially compromised cards, or about 25 percent of all debit cards it has issued. It has been forced to block purchases on all cards.

It may be that the thieves have kept possession of the stolen data and were laying low, waiting for the right time to monetize their crime. This despite the conviction of Alberto Gonzalez. Hopefully, we won't see more of this. But you have to wonder whatever happened to all the stolen data. 

For more:
- here's some coverage in The Durango Herald

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