Data security

Since enterprises must maintain information about their customers, why is it that breaches happen constantly?

Over the holidays, my wife and I took a short vacation to Napa Valley. We had the opportunity to visit a number of wineries and purchase a few bottles—an experience that also demonstrated the shortcomings of antiquated card security.

A visit to an overnight shipping store in Napa Valley reveals that outdated payment-processing procedures remain de rigueur with some merchants — despite the fraud risk.

San Diego-based Mitek, a firm that specializes in capturing mobile data for customer acquisition, has acquired Dutch identity verification company IDchecker.

New software aims to help prevent wireless network hijacking, or "commjacking." But there are also steps banks can take on their own to protect employees and customers from this seldom-discussed but ever-present threat.

MasterCard issuers had to cast at least 90% of their votes in favor of the Target settlement by May 20, and not enough did, the companies said. Banks and credit unions will fight for a better deal.

Carolina Bank's growth, and a corresponding increase in remote workers, drove the CEO and IT department to seek technology tightening access to its systems without making it harder for employees to log in.

The proposed $19 million settlement to cover financial institutions' losses from the Target data breach in 2013 has failed, and financial institutions believe public data security fears provide a strong hand in future talks.

Online payments are an unintended soft spot resulting from the EMV point of sale migration, creating an opening for security technology vendors to combat the emerging cybercrime threats.

If there was any question about the need for Congress to modernize our nation’s data-security laws, the recent settlement negotiation between Target and MasterCard should put all doubts to rest.

The Fast Identity Online Alliance has established its FIDO Certified testing program for products and services that support the alliance's security specifications.

For all the excitement about the blockchain's potential to shake up the financial industry, few people understand how it works. The really revolutionary part of the blockchain process is how miners manage to keep records of transactions accurate and tamper-proof.

Let Target's settlement with MasterCard over the retailer's massive data breach serve as a reminder of the need for all participants in the payments system to play by the same set of rules.

Banks' technology investments are helpful but fail to ease customer concerns about the security of personal data, hidden fees and other problems, a new survey shows.

The U.S. financial system has weathered several external threats in the past year, but significant hazards remain, including the potential for cyberattacks and excessive concentration of risk in central counterparties, according to a report by the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

In the payments industry, the common practice is to equate mobile merchants with micro merchants, and to put them on a back burner for things like EMV upgrades.

Visa will increase how much it reimburses banks to issue new cards compromised by merchants' data breaches, after some banks complained that the card network's payments were too low.

A New York woman convicted of participating in an identity-theft ring was sentenced Thursday to two to six years in state prison. The ring stole more than $850,000 from hundreds of JPMorgan Chase customers.

Despite years of debate, lawmakers are still grappling with key questions over how to set enhanced data security and notification standards to prevent cyber attacks, including whether they should preempt state laws.

A new series of reports from analytics and consulting firm Accenture found that nearly 90% of the 450 financial firms surveyed plan on increasing their spending in risk management related to cybersecurity and fraud detection and prevention.