Though the largest hacking and identity theft case ever in the United States was solved recently, with the arrests of three people – including Albert Gonzalez – who allegedly stole more than 170 million credit and debit card numbers, law enforcement agencies and others say there are many others still hacking away.
Beth Givens, the executive director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a non-profit group, says the number of cards stolen in that case represents only a fraction of the accounts currently being compromised.
She says there has not been a decline in the number of reported incidents of identity theft since the suspects were arrested and she also believes many companies do not report security breaches.
There’s no question that security measures need to improve, though there’s the lingering issue among retailers, banks, and consumers regarding who should pay for improved payment card security.
Security experts say one weak link puts the whole security network in jeopardy.
Prosecutors in the Gonzalez case said that six years ago, the suspects targeted Miami stores with poor wireless security so that they could break into corporate computer networks. In an effort to counter the attacks the payment industry began requiring stricter security standards, though investigators say some companies that were breached had met those new standards.
It’s widely believed that computer chips embedded in payment cards may help secure private information and companies should be required to utilize additional encryption on their networks, as the battle to stay ahead of the hackers continues.
