Data security

More than a decade ago, bankers fought Walmart tooth and nail as it made forays into banking. But with Amazon making more moves into financial services, the reaction is very different.

Robert Selander was named an independent director of the embattled credit bureau, which is still trying to regain public confidence after a huge data breach last year.

The breach at Expedia's Orbitz not only jeopardized nearly 880,000 payment cards — it cast a spotlight on the weaknesses all companies expose themselves to when they partner with another brand.

With substantial regulatory relief within reach, community bankers should use their clout to shape cybersecurity policy and ensure a level playing field for banks and nonbanks, retiring ICBA chief Cam Fine says.

The measure easily passes with a two-thirds majority; Wells Fargo CEO's pay up by a third, but no cash bonus.

Many of the same protections for mobile payments, such as tokenization and single-use keys, can come into play to protect in-car payments, according to Jim Carroll, chief technology officer at Mobica.

While there is a collective sense that data breaches are simply a side effect of our digital existence, there are real costs for the companies impacted. The ones that are hit the hardest are the ones that are least able to weather the fines, remediation costs and lost reputation.

A former senior executive at Equifax Inc. was criminally charged for allegedly selling almost $1 million worth of shares before the company’s announcement last year that it had suffered a massive data breach.

There is a growing need for professionals who install and support merchant payment systems to be aware of and trained on critical security controls, writes Mauro Lance, chief operating officer of the PCI Security Standards Council.

As the names pile up — Equifax, Target, Home Depot, TJ Maxx, etc. — there's one thing all of these brands have in common. They all disclosed a major data security breach, and they all remain in business despite what happened.