Forcht Bank is re-issuing 8,500 debit cards after breach
Technorati Tag: Security Breach
Date Reported:
1/19/08
Organization:
Forcht Bank
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
First Data Corporation
Location:
Lexington, Kentucky
Victims:
Customers
Number Affected:
8,500
Types of Data:
Debit card magnetic strip data
Breach Description:
"Kentucky-based Forcht Bank disabled 8,500 debit cards last week after it learned that hackers had compromised data belonging to a company that processes debit card transactions for merchants."
Reference URL:
Letter from Forcht Bank
WKYT Channel 27 News
WAVE Channel 3 News
Report Credit:
Forcht Bank
Response:
From the online sources cited above:
THE LETTER POSTED TO FORCHT CUSTOMERS:
We have just been informed by our debit card processor, STAR, that a retail merchant processor's information who housed information for several merchants may have been compromised and that some unknown persons are possibly creating duplicate debit cards.
[Evan] This wording is confusing. Who is "a retail merchant processor's information who housed information for several merchants"? Is it Heartland Payment Systems? Is this related to the recent Heartland Payment Systems breach or is this a breach occurring within STAR's network?
This has potentially affected 8,500 Forcht Bank debit cards.
At this time, no fraudulent activity has been reported on any Forcht Bank debit card.
According to STAR, there are several other banks affected and this is not isolated to Forcht Bank customers.
Here's what we are doing to address the situation:
If your card has been compromised, you will automatically receive
a new card within the next week to ten days.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
We are committed to doing everything we can to prevent fraud and to protect your identity and financial information.
Unfortunately, this situation was out of our control.
Please call your nearest Forcht Bank banking center if you have any further questions or concerns.
Commentary:
Some reports are attributing this announcement and action by Forcht Bank to the Heartland Payment Systems breach and others are attributing it to a separate breach occurring within the STAR network. There isn't anything definitive in the reports that I've read.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Date Reported:1/19/08
Organization:
Forcht Bank
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
First Data Corporation
Location:
Lexington, Kentucky
Victims:
Customers
Number Affected:
8,500
Types of Data:
Debit card magnetic strip data
Breach Description:
"Kentucky-based Forcht Bank disabled 8,500 debit cards last week after it learned that hackers had compromised data belonging to a company that processes debit card transactions for merchants."
Reference URL:
Letter from Forcht Bank
WKYT Channel 27 News
WAVE Channel 3 News
Report Credit:
Forcht Bank
Response:
From the online sources cited above:
THE LETTER POSTED TO FORCHT CUSTOMERS:
We have just been informed by our debit card processor, STAR, that a retail merchant processor's information who housed information for several merchants may have been compromised and that some unknown persons are possibly creating duplicate debit cards.
[Evan] This wording is confusing. Who is "a retail merchant processor's information who housed information for several merchants"? Is it Heartland Payment Systems? Is this related to the recent Heartland Payment Systems breach or is this a breach occurring within STAR's network?
This has potentially affected 8,500 Forcht Bank debit cards.
At this time, no fraudulent activity has been reported on any Forcht Bank debit card.
According to STAR, there are several other banks affected and this is not isolated to Forcht Bank customers.
Here's what we are doing to address the situation:
- The affected debit cards have been marked as "Lost/Stolen" to block/prevent any possible fraudulent transactions.
- We are in the process of mailing letters to all Forcht Bank customers who have been affected.
- We are attempting to contact all Forcht Bank customers by phone as we receive the list of names to inform them of the situation.
- Our ATM/Debit department is ordering new Forcht Bank debit cards for all affected customers.
If your card has been compromised, you will automatically receive
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
We are committed to doing everything we can to prevent fraud and to protect your identity and financial information.
Unfortunately, this situation was out of our control.
Please call your nearest Forcht Bank banking center if you have any further questions or concerns.
Commentary:
Some reports are attributing this announcement and action by Forcht Bank to the Heartland Payment Systems breach and others are attributing it to a separate breach occurring within the STAR network. There isn't anything definitive in the reports that I've read.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Posts Atom 1.0
I shared your confusion and got a response from First Data. See my post here. The original news headline in the Times Tribune was wrong, but they never issued a formal correction that I can find.
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OK, now Forcht has updated the alert on the site and explicitly states that their situation is part of the Heartland breach.
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