Mobile POS devices may not displace entirely the traditional countertop POS terminal, but they could come close. It emerged six years ago among the smallest of merchants and had only one function: accepting credit and debit card transactions. But now the mobile point-of-sale device and its attendant software have …

Four computers containing Social Security and bank-account numbers for an estimated 2,200 individuals have been stolen from a California office of merchant processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc.’s payroll-processing division, Heartland reported Monday. Also on Monday the PCI Security Standards Council updated its rules governing payment card software. And in other …

For breached retailers, responding after the fact is responding too late, say Aaron P. Simpson and Chris Hydak. Incident-response plans should not be static. Rather, they should be living and breathing documents that are tested and updated periodically. It’s clear that cybercriminals have zeroed in on the retail industry, primarily …

President Barack Obama last month called for a national data-breach notification law to replace the existing patchwork of state notification rules. If current trends continue, there will be plenty of breaches to report. The number of credit and debit cards compromised in data breaches hit 64.4 million in 2014, up …

Some cybercrooks are nothing if not accommodating. A new version of the so-called ransomware called CyberWall, for example, has made it easier for victims to make payments and get their data back. CyberWall 3.0, released early this week, includes new gateways for reaching the decryption site. The ransom note file …

The number of credit and debit cards compromised in data breaches hit 64.4 million in 2014, up 38% from 46.6 million in 2013, according to preliminary figures from the Identity Theft Resource Center, a San Diego-based non-profit that tracks breaches. Some 133 of 2014’s breaches involved payment cards, up 39% …

  Small banks spent $90 million to reissue 7.5 million credit and debit cards in the wake of a payment-card data breach at The Home Depot Inc., says the Independent Community Bankers of America association, which has more than 6,500 member banks. First publicly known in September the Home Depot …

  Consumer behavior poses just as much of a threat to the proper use of passwords as do the actions of criminals intent on cracking those passwords. That’s the assessment of a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based consulting firm. The “In Search Of A Better …

  Chalk another payment-card data breach up for the bad guys. Payment gateway Charge Anywhere LLC announced Tuesday it discovered a breach of its payments network. It says it has shut down the malware that caused it. South Plainfield, N.J.-based Charge Anywhere said the malicious software, which was discovered Sept. …

What’s that big, juicy new target out there for cyber-hackers? Apple Pay, of course. And don’t forget ATMs, either, since many deployers have yet to upgrade machines running old, increasingly vulnerable versions of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows XP operating system. Apple Pay and ATMs are included on Woburn, Mass.-based data-security services …