Data security

As mobile wallets and other high-tech payment mechanisms proliferate, they bring with them more options for security. Companies are increasingly looking for ways to use devices' built-in cameras to urge consumers to take self-portraits for authentication.

Though most merchants will be liable for fraud if they do not upgrade to EMV-chip card terminals by the start of October, many do not see themselves affected by fraud on the same scale as the major retailers that have suffered massive data breaches.

JPMorgan Chase has named retired Army Gen. Raymond Odierno senior adviser to the company on international relations, cybersecurity, leadership development and other issues.

Before it dissolves in late September, a bipartisan House task force should take a broader look at de-risking, changing technologies, cybersecurity and the private sector's role in deterring terrorism financing.

The Tel Aviv-based fraud prevention provider Forter insists that the legacy security model for e-commerce won't scale enough to combat the sharp rise in fraud coming in the post-EMV economy.

Alternative payments are taking hold at a brisk pace. Now a major bank lobbying group and payment company is crying foul.

The Payments Security Task Force and the EMV Migration Forum will offer educational materials about EMV-chip card payments, including templates of social media posts and hashtags; educational downloads that include visual aids and training guides; media interview tips; and more.

When 650-store discount chain Fred's announced a data breach this month, it made an unwarranted leap of logic, one that has become all-too-common among breached retailers. That leap was deciding that an absence of evidence was proof that something didn’t happen.

MasterCard and First Tech Federal Credit Union are testing a system that might be the picture-perfect solution to the expected rise in e-commerce fraud following the October shift to EMV security in the U.S.

Target Corp. reached a settlement with Visa Inc. over a hacker attack that struck the chain during the 2013 holiday season and exposed millions of customers' personal information.

Target Corp. reached a settlement with Visa Inc. over a hacker attack that struck the retail chain during the 2013 holiday season and exposed millions of customers' personal information.

The United States is one the last developed countries to migrate to an EMV-based payments infrastructure, with a card network-imposed liability shift going into effect on October 1.

The Federal Trade Commission has closed its investigation of Morgan Stanley's massive data breach. It has identified the problem that allowed the breach to happen: access controls to a narrow set of reports were improperly configured.

While the average consumer’s banking and payment account information may not be considered as highly-sensitive as the "non official cover" list from Mission Impossible, multi-layer authentication is still the best way to fend off fraudsters.

When the card networks' October deadline for EMV-chip card adoption arrives, things will likely have changed very little compared to how they are today.

Anthony Murgio, who is accused of running a Bitcoin exchange that laundered money and who has been linked to one of the largest bank hacks in U.S. history, can remain free on $100,000 bail.

When cardmaker American Banknote (ABnote) CIO John Ekers discussed his company's Apple Passbook Android clone last week, he observed that "in the last 3-4 weeks, we're getting a lot more interest in limited use keys (LUK)," which is the first element of tokenization.

Fraudsters, anticipating the U.S. shift to EMV security at the point of sale, are busy looking for ways to hack into the e-commerce sites and consumer bank accounts that will be unaffected by the change in payment card security.

There is money to be made for merchants who support mobile payments. However, cyber criminals have noticed and they want their cut, too. The newer and more untested the technology, the greater its potential vulnerability.

Protecting payment card data is a never-ending struggle, and the fraudsters are only getting more creative. So far this year several incidents and studies have demonstrated the evolving nature of cybercrime.