Data security

Called Mezu, the P2P platform has been live for about a week and uses a location-based code to execute payments, avoiding the need to even share usernames or other identifying information to move money.

Malware operators are joining forces, installing each others’ tools on compromised computers to target a wider range of victims, and possibly also sharing the work of harvesting funds using stolen account details.

Visa, which was criticized for its vague explanation of a June 1 outage in Europe, was in the process of installing better technology, but the project was not complete at the time of the incident and won't be finished until the end of this year.

The Dixons Carphone hack shows again that merchants and payment companies need to do more to make data unattractive to thieves, according to Robert Capps, vice president of NuData Security, a Mastercard Company.

Of all the types of malicious software targeting businesses, ransomware continues to be one of the most pervasive, according to recent studies. Here's an overview of the things banks, especially small ones, are doing to stop it.

Readers respond to a bill designed to modernize the anti-money-laundering rules, applaud the acting head of the CFPB’s decision to fire the members of the bureau’s advisory councils, opine on when a bank ought to communicate it has been hacked and more.

PCI compliance can take time and is expensive, but it's a vital part of security and there are ways to mitigate the resource challenges, according to Justin Shipe, vice president of information security for CardConnect.

That’s the question executives of publicly traded banks are asking themselves as they try to make sense of new — and somewhat vague — guidance from the SEC on procedures for disclosing data breaches.

Retailer associations and debit network providers have formed the Secure Payments Partnership, designed to address the ongoing problem of payment fraud.

Agency says it wants “smaller memberships to ensure streamlined discussions;” the bank hired a U.K. firm to help it better defend against cyberattacks.

Visa's management faces an unwelcome choice: It can share more information about internal shortcomings or mistakes that caused payments to shut off temporarily, or get summoned to Parliament for a politically-infused public questioning.

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation could serve as groundwork for future U.S. rules, so analysts suggest credit unions at least begin working toward compliance.

Rather than hooking into the browser process, BackSwap takes the place of the user and enters the same commands into the browser that a user would if they wanted to hack themselves.

Merchants, banks, fintechs and card networks may crave digital payments' treasure trove of data over cash's simple anonymity, but any weakness in a centralized ecosystem threatens the entire network, as Visa learned late last week.

Many of these attacks have been server side ransomware and other sophisticated hacks, leading companies to examine the immature security processes, the technology of application security, and the insufficient expertise of development, writes Jeannie Warner, the security manager at WhiteHat Security.

Belgian security researcher Xavier Mertens has discovered a piece of a banking malware campaign that appears to target customers of various U.K. banks.

Two major Canadian banks, Bank of Montreal and Simplii Financial, have become victims of hacks that affected some 50,000 and 40,000 customers respectively. Neither bank decided to pay the ransom by the hackers' May 28 deadline.

We need to rethink how we acquire and manage consumer data, and any business using enterprise software needs to be accountable for how information is being processed, transported or shared, writes Chris Wong, CEO of LifeSite.

The authentication software and hardware provider is shifting its focus to identity verification and account onboarding, another sign that the newest generation of bank customers is not interested in coming into a branch to set up an account.

A direct correlation between the chip migration and rampant merchant data breaches is hard to prove. But experts say retailers' prioritization of EMV compliance contributed to other payment card security gaps, leading to the current high level of merchant data breaches.