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Heartland Payments Systems Inc. has updated its processing network to enable "much more" analysis of potential transaction-security issues as they occur, Robert H.B. Baldwin Jr., Heartland president and chief financial officer, tells CardLine. He did not specify details, but a Heartland statement says the move should help law-enforcement agencies to "expeditiously apprehend cybercriminals." Heartland has established a Web site for consumers at www.2008breach.com to explain the breach. "This is something we are heartsick about," Baldwin says, noting security is a primary focus of the company. "This will redouble that focus to make us a much better company going forward." As more merchants adopt industry-security protocols, processors appear to be emerging as targets for fraudster at a "wholesale level," says David Fish, senior research analyst at Mercator Advisory Group LLC, a Maynard, Mass.-based consulting firm. "We will see more of it," he says. "The organized criminal community focusing on card fraud has gotten wise to the fact there is a lot of data within acquirers' walls that they can find a use for." Baldwin says it is too soon to know the financial impact of the Heartland breach.
