April 17,2009
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An Obvious Credit Card Leak, Pt.3
Where the buck stops.It's important to note here, that the fault for the initial problem is not with the credit card associations nor with the credit card lenders. But, by Jove, it certainly makes them vulnerable. Also, the reality is that they're the only ones connected on the industry side of things. They can hardly expect the dispersed credit card holders themselves to police the internet alone. Millions of consumers would be expected to act in concert. How practical is that?
Independent security experts have tried repeatedly to even inform the credit card issuers directly connected to compromised accounts and then, later, followed up with the credit card holders themselves. What they found was that, of the four major card associations, only Amex had followed up and notified their clients of the breach. Even with the "good Samaritan" approach, when caring independent security experts tried to report actual card numbers still exposed, they had to wait on hold for a long time just to make their reports. That doesn't ring as a very effective measure for credit card protection. The kicker of it all is that the fix is not all that difficult. All it involves is to write a few Google search scripts, inserting actual card numbers that fit the known offending eight-digits templates. The owners could, then, be easily notified and replacement cards could be issued.
To boot, there are public tools available to remove offending screens from the web. Once such a page is located, Google is quick to respond. It may take a few days but how much better is that then waiting four years? Even this is not a fix, however. Once they cards have been exposed to the world, even for a short time, those credit card accounts can never be made safe again. The only cure is replacement. This comes back around to the lenders and associations, doesn't it? Only they can close old accounts and issue new cards.