Neiman Marcus and Other Retailers Breached, Credit Card Details Stolen 151
Fnord666 writes "Another day, another data breach. Apparently high end retailer Neiman Marcus has also suffered a breach of credit card data. Brian Krebs has the report: 'Responding to inquiries about a possible data breach involving customer credit and debit card information, upscale retailer Neiman Marcus acknowledged today that it is working with the U.S. Secret Service to investigate a hacker break-in that has exposed an unknown number of customer cards. Earlier this week, I began hearing from sources in the financial industry about an increasing number of fraudulent credit and debit card charges that were being traced to cards that had been very recently used at brick-and-mortar stores run by the Dallas, Texas based high-end retail chain. Sources said that while it appears the fraud on those stolen cards was perpetrated at a variety of other stores, the common point of purchase among the compromised cards was Neiman Marcus. Today, I reached out to Neiman Marcus and received confirmation that the company is in fact investigating a breach that was uncovered in mid-December.'"
The Chicago Tribune reports that "at least three other well-known U.S. retailers" suffered breaches this holiday season as well.
Re:Good thing Visa takes the risk... (Score:4, Informative)
That's the thing about CREDIT cards, the customer generally doesn't take the financial fall for fraud.
Maybe not, but Visa/Mastercard might just pass the pain onto the retailers.
My dad runs a small business, and usually if there is any problem with a credit card charge, Visa/MC will extract money back from him in a blink of an eye.
Re:What about EMV (chip and PIN) cards in the US? (Score:4, Informative)
In the US, moving to this system would almost surely come with the banks relieving themselves of all liability for fraud. Since the EMV system is completely and totally secure (which, of course, it's not [wikipedia.org]), any charge must have been authorized by the cardholder and can't be disputed.
The meager customer protections that exist for credit cards are a relic of the past. In the current US, there's no way a new system would make anyone with money hold any of the risk.