Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Banks assess data breach
Posted on Fri, Jan. 19, 2007
Banks assess data breach
By Garrison Wells
The Sun News
Coastal Federal Bank is the local bank hardest hit by a security breach of Visa debit cards at TJX Cos. Inc.
The bank had to fire out 3,000 letters to customers who may have been affected by the breach, and each will receive a new debit card.
Other local banks were also hit, but not as heavily as Coastal Federal. That's because Coastal Federal has the largest local market share and more local Visa debit cardholders than other banks.
"This is a pretty sizable [national] breach," said Steve Sherry, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Coastal Federal.
TJX is "not sure what data and how much data was taken," he said. "They just know some data was taken. They don't know to what extent."
TJX in a news release said its computer systems were hacked late last year. The intruder got into the company's network that handles credit card, debit card, check and merchandise return transactions for customers of its T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and A.J. Wright stores in the U.S.
T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods all have presences on the Grand Strand.
The company said the full extent of the intrusion is not yet known, but it is conducting a full investigation.
"Our first concern is the potential impact of this crime on our customers, and we strongly recommend that they carefully review their credit card and debit card statements and other account information for unauthorized use," TJX Chairman Ben Cammarata said in a statement.
The break-in was discovered in mid-December but kept confidential upon the request of law enforcement officials.
TJX said it has hired General Dynamics Corp. and IBM Corp. to upgrade its security system.
Some Beach First National Bank cardholders were affected, but not many, said Barbara Marshall, the bank's marketing director.
"We had a limited number of customers affected by it, and we notified them," Marshall said.
Crescent Bank customers were not affected because the bank uses MasterCard.
Customers of Plantation Federal also were unaffected for the same reason, said Mary Kathryn Aldridge, branch operations manager for the Pawleys branch.
Conway National Bank was also not hit, said Pat Catoe, vice president of credit cards and merchant area.
"Visa is really on top of things like this as far as fraud goes or anything like that," Catoe said. "At this time it hasn't greatly affected us. The more cards you have out there, the more likely you are to be breached."
Visa cardholders who are affected won't be liable for fraud, Sherry said.
"They have what's called Zero Liability fraud protection," he said. "In today's world, you have to have that."
Sherry added that customers should peruse their statements for irregularities.
"If there are any issues, they can call the customer service number on the back of the card or go online," he said.
Banks assess data breach
By Garrison Wells
The Sun News
Coastal Federal Bank is the local bank hardest hit by a security breach of Visa debit cards at TJX Cos. Inc.
The bank had to fire out 3,000 letters to customers who may have been affected by the breach, and each will receive a new debit card.
Other local banks were also hit, but not as heavily as Coastal Federal. That's because Coastal Federal has the largest local market share and more local Visa debit cardholders than other banks.
"This is a pretty sizable [national] breach," said Steve Sherry, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Coastal Federal.
TJX is "not sure what data and how much data was taken," he said. "They just know some data was taken. They don't know to what extent."
TJX in a news release said its computer systems were hacked late last year. The intruder got into the company's network that handles credit card, debit card, check and merchandise return transactions for customers of its T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and A.J. Wright stores in the U.S.
T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods all have presences on the Grand Strand.
The company said the full extent of the intrusion is not yet known, but it is conducting a full investigation.
"Our first concern is the potential impact of this crime on our customers, and we strongly recommend that they carefully review their credit card and debit card statements and other account information for unauthorized use," TJX Chairman Ben Cammarata said in a statement.
The break-in was discovered in mid-December but kept confidential upon the request of law enforcement officials.
TJX said it has hired General Dynamics Corp. and IBM Corp. to upgrade its security system.
Some Beach First National Bank cardholders were affected, but not many, said Barbara Marshall, the bank's marketing director.
"We had a limited number of customers affected by it, and we notified them," Marshall said.
Crescent Bank customers were not affected because the bank uses MasterCard.
Customers of Plantation Federal also were unaffected for the same reason, said Mary Kathryn Aldridge, branch operations manager for the Pawleys branch.
Conway National Bank was also not hit, said Pat Catoe, vice president of credit cards and merchant area.
"Visa is really on top of things like this as far as fraud goes or anything like that," Catoe said. "At this time it hasn't greatly affected us. The more cards you have out there, the more likely you are to be breached."
Visa cardholders who are affected won't be liable for fraud, Sherry said.
"They have what's called Zero Liability fraud protection," he said. "In today's world, you have to have that."
Sherry added that customers should peruse their statements for irregularities.
"If there are any issues, they can call the customer service number on the back of the card or go online," he said.
Labels: Coastal Federal Bank
# posted by raveneye @ 9:24 PM 
