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Rumors of a third intrusion at a U.S. processor can be laid to rest. A Visa Inc. spokesperson tells CardLine sister publication ISO&Agent Weekly that alerts it issued in February regarding network intrusions stem from its investigation into two ongoing breaches. The Visa spokesperson says these alerts are not the result of a new incident. Earlier this week, CardLine reported that two credit union organizations notified their customers of a breach of an unnamed processor's network, capturing some sensitive data related to card-not-present transactions (CardLine, 2/23). The payments industry has been abuzz trying to figure out if these alerts were because of a new breach, and if so, which processor is responsible. The two publicly known breach investigations involve Atlanta-based RBS WorldPay and Heartland Payment Systems Inc. In December, RBS WorldPay said hackers gained access to its computer system and potentially compromised the personal information of 1.5 million prepaid cardholders and the Social Security numbers of 1.1 million individuals (CardLine, 12/19/08). In January, processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc. announced its system was breached last year, affecting an undetermined number of transactions (CardLine, 1/20). A Heartland spokesperson says the Princeton, N.J.-based company is not the source of these alerts. In a statement released to CardLine, RBS WorldPay says it does not comment on alerts issued by the card brands regarding itself, other acquirers or merchants. "Although we are continuing to investigate any impact on the merchant acquiring/authorization platform, we have no evidence that any fraud Visa may have seen relates to our incident or our acquiring/authorization platform," the statement reads. "We have no evidence of any other incident at RBS WorldPay."
