Another Processor Spills the Data

Hackers have obtained payment card data from another processor, according to Visa Inc., though many of the details, including the name of the company, remain unclear.

Visa is notifying banks and credit unions that account numbers and expiration dates used in card-not-present transactions between February of last year and January were exposed at a U.S. processor, Computerworld reported Monday.

The San Francisco payments company confirmed to Computerworld that a processor "experienced a compromise of payment card account information from its systems," but did not identify the source of the breach.

SC Magazine said the hackers had access to the processor's system from February to August of last year.

MasterCard Inc. is also telling financial companies about the incident, though it told Computerworld that it is warning issuers of a "potential" breach.

This is the third breach at a transaction processor uncovered in as many months.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. disclosed last month that its systems had been compromised, and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC's RBS WorldPay announced a breach in December.

SC Magazine said the newly disclosed scam was similar to the Heartland breach, in which hackers installed a malicious program on the processor's network.