Data-grab hackers steal credit card details in bulk

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/08/26/stinwenws01006.html

By: Guy Dennis and Edin Hamzic 
August 26, 2001

TENS of thousands of consumers have unknowingly had their credit card
details intercepted by high-tech criminal gangs, a government security
agency has revealed.

Datastreaming, a new and fast-growing crime, involves hacking into the
computer systems of high street retailers and stealing credit card
details in bulk. Earlier forms of the fraud usually affected just one
or two cardholders at a time.

The new scam has contributed to Britain's position as the worst
country in Europe for credit card fraud. The total lost to criminals
last year was 300m according to the Association of Payment Clearing
Services (Apacs), an increase of 55% on 1999. This year, it is
expected to reach 400m.

The National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) says the first known
attack in Britain took place 18 months ago. Since then it has been
notified of six other security breaches in which tens of thousands of
card details were taken. Many more attacks have probably gone
unreported because businesses fear customers will desert them if such
incidents are publicised.

In the largest reported case, several thousand credit card details
were taken from a train operating company, said Andrew Brown, an
intelligence officer for NCIS's counterfeit section. "It took some
time to identify where the systems were being compromised. We watched
the number of compromises grow because we had to identify the
weaknesses the hackers were exploiting."

Most banks do not inform customers when their card details are stolen
by datastreaming. They argue that the large number taken at any one
time means that not all will be used for fraud. Instead, banks
compensate customers when their cards are fraudulently used.

Britain is targeted by international gangs partly because it has the
largest card traffic in Europe. There are 127m credit, debit and
Cashpoint cards in circulation. Critics have accused banks and
retailers of failing to introduce more secure systems because of the
high cost.



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