Archive for the ‘BankCard USA NEWS’ Category
Hacker Sentenced to 20 Years for Breach of Credit Card Processor
BOSTON — Convicted TJX hacker Albert Gonzalez was sentenced to 20 years and a day, and fined $25,000 on Friday for his role in breaches into Heartland Payment Systems, 7-Eleven and other companies.
The sentence will run concurrently with a 20-year sentence he received on Thursday in two other cases involving hacks into TJX, Office Max, Dave & Busters restaurants and others, so it adds only one day to his total prison term. Restitution will be decided at a future hearing.
“I understand the road to redemption will be long,” said Gonzalez, 28, before the sentence was pronounced.
Gonzalez, who once dubbed his criminal enterprise “Operation Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” had faced a sentence of between 17 and 25 years for the intrusions.
He was indicted last August — along with two unnamed East European hackers known only as “Grigg” and “Annex” — on charges of hacking into Heartland Payment Systems, a New Jersey card-processing company, as well as Hannaford Brothers supermarket chain, 7-Eleven and two unnamed national retailers.
Lawyers representing the two unnamed companies spent 30 minutes Friday trying to persuade the court not to unseal documents identifying those retailers, who suffered breaches, but no known loss of sensitive customer data. In the end, U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock ordered the documents unsealed, paving the way for the companies to be identified. [Update: One of the companies has been confirmed as JC Penney, by the blog Storefront Backtalk, which reported last year that the company was believed to be among the targets. The second company is Wet Seal.]
According to the government, Gonzalez and an uncharged conspirator found the targets on a list of Fortune 500 companies and then did reconnaissance to determine the payment-processing systems they used. They then uncovered vulnerabilities in the systems they could exploit.
Using a SQL-injection attack, the hackers broke into the 7-Eleven network in August 2007, stealing an undetermined amount of card data. They used the same kind of attack to infiltrate Hannaford Brothers in November 2007, which resulted in 4.2 million stolen debit and credit card numbers; and into Heartland on Dec. 26, 2007. Of the two unnamed national retailers mentioned in the affidavit, one was breached on Oct. 23, 2007, and the other sometime around January 2008.
Once on the networks, the hackers installed back doors to provide them with continued access. They tested their malware against 20 different antivirus programs to make sure they wouldn’t be detected, and also programmed the malware to erase evidence from the hacked networks to avoid forensic detection.
The initial breach into Heartland was confined to the company’s corporate network, which was separate from its card-processing network. But by May 2008, the hackers had jumped to the processing network. Heartland discovered the hackers on its network only in January 2009 after being told by credit card companies that it might have been breached.
According to prosecutors, the breach of Heartland and Hannaford resulted in a data theft on 130 million credit and debit cards. The company claimed losses of $130 million.
Although Gonzalez pleaded guilty to the charges, his attorney said in a sentencing memo that he played only a peripheral role in this case, as opposed to the ringleader role he played in the TJX hack.
According to the memo, the intrusions and data theft in this case were conducted by “Grigg” and “Annex,” and Gonzalez learned of the breach only after the fact. He also did not participate in the sale of the stolen card data “nor did he profit from any of the intrusions at issue in this case.”
His only role was to provide the hackers “with certain services he controlled” and to ask another hacker to modify malware that one of the East European hackers might have designed.
He had only “minor and insignificant” involvement in the 7-Eleven intrusion as well. For this reason, he should receive the minimum sentence, his attorney argued.
Gonzalez’s crimes were committed mostly between 2005 and 2008 while he was drawing a $75,000 salary working for the U.S. Secret Service as a paid undercover informant.
“It would take an enormous number of robberies to capture the amount of money” stolen by Gonzalez and his crew, Woodlock told the hacker. “This is real time. And it’s meant to deliver a message to others.”
Read More http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/03/heartland-sentencing/#ixzz0jxxuZUk8
BankCard USA Transforms iPhone into Credit Card Terminal
Take cards anywhere. Pay lower interest rates on your credit card processing transactions with PAYware Mobile by BankCard USA.
PAYware Mobile is an attachment that hooks up to your iPhone to allow you to swipe cards wherever you may be. It’s the complete payment solution that transforms the iPhone into a secure payment portal. With PAYware Mobile, you’ll never miss a sale. Simply swipe a card, capture a signature and enjoy the convenience of payments wherever and whenever. With PAYware Mobile, not only do you have the ultimate in convenience, you have the ultimate in security. In addition, the app-plus-reader combination can lower your cost of accepting credit cards by 30%.
• Accommodates the many customers who want to use credit cards.
• Encrypts credit card data and reduces fraud and liability.
• Attach to phone, swipe card and capture signature.
If you are interested in having the PAYware for your iPhone, contact a BankCard USA today at: 800.589.8200.
BankCard USA Launches 5 Point Service Guarantee Program
BankCard USA Launches 5 Point Service Guarantee Program
Company Continues To Lead Industry in Merchant Services Best Practices
Westlake Village, Calif., December 14, 2009 – ‘Keeping it all under one roof’ is the mantra of BankCard USA, a merchant services company, servicing merchant needs from start up to expansion. In an era where passing the buck and outsourcing business is all too common, BankCard USA does business differently. Operating in an industry that has become predatory and has left a bad taste in more than one business owner’s mouth, BankCard USA is pushing back to lead the way in best practices.
Most recently, the company announced its newly operational merchant account review hotline where companies can call and have their existing merchant services contract evaluated and receive advice on how to get out of unfair contracts. BankCard USA has now launched another step in restoring VIP customer service to the merchant services industry with their 5 Point Service Guarantee Program.
Currently, most merchant service providers are resellers that make a sale and then pass the customer to a processor. These resellers do not have the ability to handle customer account information and directly service them. BankCard USA is different. By managing the account, all under one roof, the merchant receives the benefit. The newly launched 5 Point Service Guarantee Program states:
- New customers are never sent refurbished equipment or outdated POS software—BankCard USA ensures that all hardware and software is the newest and most updated available, reducing potential malfunctions and resulting in faster transactions for the merchant.
- Your Business Deadline comes first – Whether merchants need new POS equipment for a grand opening, convention, or a merchant needs to make a quick switchover, BankCard USA will take care of you. Equipment can be delivered within 24-hrs.
- No Contracts! BankCard USA doesn’t lock customers into contracts. They take a different approach, relying on good service to maintain customer loyalty.
- Customer requests must and will be handled on the first call. BankCard USA knows that merchants are far too busy to worry about following up with their merchant servicer. Time is valuable and we don’t waste it.
- Same-Day Problem Resolution- BankCard USA’s goal is to make sure all problems no matter how big are solved within 24 hours.
BankCard USA founder Shawn Skelton comments, “Customer service is so important to us because by definition we are a service business. Part of what a customer pays for is the value of being serviced professionally and timely. We treat every merchant like a VIP and we take pride in the fact that from A to Z we can handle everything that a merchant will need in house and within 24 hours.”
In response to the 5 Point Service Guarantee, customers are already raving about the service they are receiving from BankCard USA including:
“I just wanted to thank you for going the extra mile to get our account set up and approved. From start to finish, you had us approved in less than 24 hours. Other companies I have dealt with have taken much longer. Being a business owner, I can also appreciate the fact that you were easy to get in touch with and responded to emails very quickly. Once again, thank you for your great service.” Scott Brown, Quality Floors Direct.
“I would like to inform you of my satisfaction with the company’s customer service. The quality of service was to meet my needs and this put you, BankCard USA, above your competitors. ..Great customer service will always make the customer come back time and time again.” Bonnie Martin, Bon Mar Productions.
“Just a note to thank you and the extremely helpful staff at BankCard USA. The entire transaction went seamlessly, and now we are up and running and ready to accept payments of all types. I will definitely be recommending your service to all my business associates.” Cosmo Miller, Cold Fresh Inc.
Find out more about the 5 Point Service Guarantee at www.bankcardusa.com/serviceguarantee. Additionally, merchants can contact the merchant account review hotline by calling 866-259-9777 or visiting the BankCard USA’s web site at www.bankcardusa.com
BankCard USA Opens Fraud Hotline!
BankCard USA Helps Business Rebound From Predatory Merchant Processors
BankCard USA Opens a FREE Fraud-Hotline for businesses burned by bad merchant service contracts
Westlake Village, Calif., Oct 2009 – Imagine launching your first business, excited to start selling your products to a hungry consumer base. Or perhaps you are expanding your brick and mortar business to offer products on the Internet. One of the most logical steps is to open a merchant account so your new business can take advantage of the 90% of transactions made on the Internet with credit cards. This seems like an easy enough task, however, the merchant services industry has become oddly predatory over the last decade and more and more companies are finding themselves in unfair merchant services contracts.
In response to the bad contract epidemic, BankCard USA today announced that it has opened-up an in-house fraud hotline to advise credit card merchants stuck in unfair contracts. BankCard USA Fraud Hotline will help businesses understand credit card processing rates, security issues, regulations and contract terms.
BankCard USA founder Shawn Skelton comments, “How did we get to this place in our industry? What began to happen is there was a shift in our industry. We switched from being a service driven business to a price driven business. There isn’t much price differentiation that can be done in merchant services, so for many companies staying in business meant devising hidden ways to make money.”
“For example, a business would sign up for a merchant account thinking they were getting a great price, and would get hit with a ton of other padding fees, or their provider would arbitrarily raise their rate. Things like monthly, convenience, yearly, and other fees have unfortunately become more common as new entrants to the industry had to make money somewhere. Where it really got bad was for companies just starting out or businesses with small profit margins who simply can’t afford bad contracts. At BankCard USA we saw time and again merchants stuck in really bad contracts. As a response to that, we set up our new Fraud Hotline to help advise merchants on whether or not they are in a fair contract and what they should be looking for in a good merchant service partner,” concluded Skelton.
BankCardUSA recommends the following when seeking out a new merchant services partner:
- Initially take price out of the picture.
- Find a provider that your business colleagues recommend
- Make sure the provider has a good rating with the BBB
- Avoid providers that use high pressure sales
- Really read about all fees on their application
Interested parties can contact the merchant Fraud Hotline by calling 818-540-3540 or visiting the BankCard USA’s web site at www.BankcardUSA.com. When calling, BankCardUSA recommends having the following on hand to discuss with the counselor:
- Current merchant services contract
- Average monthly sales volume
- Past receipts