ALERT! PF CHANG’S HACKED ALERT!

Published On June 19, 2014 | By Tom Huskerson | Breach Briefs, News and Analysis

Yet another company has reported a credit card breach. The popular Asian restaurant chain P.F. Chang’s has reported that it’s systems were hacked and the hack goes back as far as September 18th of 2013 and continued until June 11th.

When these data breaches occur VISA, MasterCard and the other card providers react by issuing private Compromised Account Management System (CAMS) alerts to banks that issue their cards. CAMS alerts is intended to notify those institutions of specific cards affected in a breach. That institutions can then re-issue the cards or take additional steps to manage potential fraud on those accounts.

Visa issued a new CAMS alert on June 17th  letting the bank know that hundreds of cards had been exposed in the recent breach.  The bank purchased  more than a dozen stolen cards from an underground store exclusively selling cards stolen in the P.F. Chang’s break-in. All the cards the bank purchased were listed in the CAMS alert issued by VISA.

Over the nine months that the breach took place it is believed that over 7 million cards were compromised.

Breaking It Down Black people eat at PF Chang’s. I know I do. And I know I am demanding a new card with the Pin and Chip technology. The consumer is the ultimate victim when these breaches occur. We are the ones who have to fight with the card companies and the banks about fraudulent charges. And what about our credit records? My question is how can the hackers beat so many companies at this game? This is an institutional problem that is a cancer on the financial industry. These companies are paying hackers to get back information. So the profit incentive is re-enforced by their actions.

This is a breach affecting 7 million cards. How fast can these companies replace 7 million cards. Why hurry? These cards have been floating around on criminal websites for nine month and I am certain there are plenty of phony charges that are being disputed. Black people included in that group. So the question is really how much money are these companies going to lose before the they figure out how to beat these hackers?

 

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About The Author

Tom Huskerson Bio Born in Richmond Virginia Tom Huskerson is a military veteran who settled in California after his discharge. Tom attended Santa Barbara City College where he began his writing career as a campus reporter. He worked as an intern news reporter for the Santa Barbara News-Press writing feature stories before moving on to San Francisco. At San Francisco State University Tom studied broadcast communications and began to focus on the Internet. He completed his graduate thesis on Internet advertising. Tom was the first student to ever focus on the Internet as a graduate student at San Francisco State University. After graduation he went to work for Zona Research in California’s Silicone Valley. As a research associate Tom supported senior analyst writing on the latest developments in the Internet industry. During the dot com boom Tom worked for several web businesses as a market researcher and analyst. As a writer and researcher Tom has authored various technical works including a training program for Charles Schwab security. Other projects included professional presentations on workplace violence and hiring security contractors. Tom has also written both fiction and non-fiction works and blogging for a travel website. He has published two books of short stories and completed two novels. Tom is the owner of Scribe of Life Literature and EbonyCandle.com. Tom is not the chief editor for the OnTechStreet. com. A news and information blog that focuses on tech news for African-Americans. The blog is the result of his desire to inform the African American community of the dangers and benefits of the cyber age. In his blog Tom reports on information security, new and analysis, scams and hoaxes, legal happenings and various topics that arise from the age of information. Tom believes that technology is a necessary tool for black people and they should know what is happening. Tom writes believing that techno speak is for the professional and that valuable information can be communicated using plain language. As a result he has embraced the motto, Less Tech, More Knowledge.

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