Security News > 2010 > March > Heartland Aftershocks: Still at Risk?
http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=2264 By Linda McGlasson Managing Editor Bank Info Security March 4, 2010 Earlier this week, First National Bank of Durango, CO came forward to reveal that as many as 5,000 of its customers were at risk because of new fraudulent transactions tied to the Heartland Payment Systems data breach. The incident begs the question: Are banking institutions and customers still at risk of similar aftershocks from this historic case? Fraud Scenario: 'Lie Low and Wait' What happened to First National Bank of Durango is not unusual, says Avivah Litan, Gartner distinguished analyst. "Typically the crooks will use stolen cards right after a heist until the looting is discovered and publicized in the media," she says. "At that point, the crooks will lie low and not use them because of heightened alerts that will flag and stop their use (e.g. because the cards are on watchlists)." Then when time passes and the heat is off, "The crooks will rear their ugly heads and start using them again, as has happened here," Litan says. Debra Geister, Senior Director, AML and Compliance Services at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, says this scenario is really no different from a sleeper scam, where the fraudsters sit back and wait until an opportune time to strike. "Keep in mind, in the fraudster's world, this [credit card] data is their asset. It is how they generate income." [...] ___________________________________________________________ Register now for HITBSecConf2010 - Dubai, the premier deep-knowledge network security event in the GCC, featuring keynote speakers John Viega and Matt Watchinski! http://conference.hitb.org/hitbsecconf2010dxb/