New Form of Credit Card Theft Discussed by Computer Forensics and Security Expert

Online, March 13, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Credit card theft is nothing new. It continues to be widespread and, for a large part, out of control. As new ways of protecting our credit card data become available, criminals are developing new techniques to bypass these security measures.

On this week's Marketplace, which airs on Friday March 12th, a new episode titled "Who's Minding the Store?" describes how thieves are using new techniques to gain access to credit and debit card information. The episode features computer forensics and security expert Ryan Purita of Sherlock Forensics.

"Individuals may be surprised to find out just how easy it is for criminals to get their hands on your credit and debit cards along other information," states Mr. Purita. The newest way employed by thieves is to steal actual point of sales terminals. These are the machines used to pay for your goods at various retailers, restaurants, and department stores among others. Once a thief has possession of a point of sales terminal, they can simply access whatever contents or information it contains. What may shock people is the fact that corporations do not have to disclose incidences of security breaches or data loss. There are no disclosure laws within Canada that require companies to disclose security breaches or data loss. In other words, if your credit card data is ever stolen from a company's point of sales terminal or otherwise, you may never know.

Mr. Purita, who is based out of Vancouver, Canada, explains that "companies can easily protect your data from being vulnerable to these types of crimes". One solution company owners can invest in is the encryption of the systems that store sensitive data. In this case, the systems would be point of sales terminals and the data would be credit and debit cards. If company owners were to install some type of encryption software on their point of sales terminals, they would be secure from these types of attacks, even if the system was in the hands of a criminal or identity thief. Computer forensics and data security are essential to corporations that handle customer's financial data. Mr. Purita further explains that "companies should invest in this type of protection just as they would with insurance or CCTV systems".

It's quite scary to think of how vulnerable our personal and financial data is. The next time you pay for something using your debit or credit card, will you question the security of the machine processing and storing your information?

To learn more about this new form of credit and debit card theft, tune in to CBC on March 12 for an all-new episode of Marketplace. Or view it online anytime at www.cbc.ca/marketplace/. In addition, you may read more about data protection and computer security by visiting www.SherlockForensics.com.