What happened in the Heartland data breach?
Twingate Team
•
May 23, 2024
In January 2009, Heartland Payment Systems, a Fortune 1000 company specializing in payment, point-of-sale, and payroll systems, experienced a massive data breach. The breach resulted in significant financial losses, a temporary business hiatus, numerous compliance violations, and negative publicity.
How many accounts were compromised?
The breach impacted data related to approximately 130 million individuals.
What data was leaked?
The data exposed in the breach included credit card numbers, cardholder names, expiration dates, and security codes.
How was Heartland hacked?
Hackers breached Heartland Payment Systems by exploiting SQL vulnerabilities and installing malware on the company's systems. The attackers gained access to sensitive data, including credit card numbers and payroll customer information.
Heartland's solution
In response to the hack, Heartland took several measures to secure its platform and prevent future incidents. This included initiating a plan to encrypt card data at the point of being swiped, making it less vulnerable when moving over networks. Heartland also removed the malware and backdoors used by the attackers, and closed any potential security flaws that could lead to more attacks. They collaborated with cybersecurity experts to investigate the issue and increased their internal security and review procedures. Heartland notified affected customers in an honest and transparent manner, as required by law.
How do I know if I was affected?
Heartland notified customers believed to be affected by the breach. If you're a Heartland customer and haven't received a notification, you may visit Have I Been Pwned to check your credentials.
What should affected users do?
In general, affected users should:
Change Your Password: Immediately update your password for the breached account. Make sure the new password is strong and unique, not previously used on any other platform.
Reset Passwords for Other Accounts: If you've used the same or similar passwords for other online accounts, reset those as well. This is crucial as attackers often try using stolen passwords on multiple sites.
Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Activate 2FA on the breached account. Consider enabling this additional security feature on all other important online accounts to significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized access.
For more specific help and instructions related to Heartland's data breach, please contact Heartland Customer Support directly.
Where can I go to learn more?
If you want to find more information on the Heartland data breach, check out the following news articles:
Rapidly implement a modern Zero Trust network that is more secure and maintainable than VPNs.
What happened in the Heartland data breach?
Twingate Team
•
May 23, 2024
In January 2009, Heartland Payment Systems, a Fortune 1000 company specializing in payment, point-of-sale, and payroll systems, experienced a massive data breach. The breach resulted in significant financial losses, a temporary business hiatus, numerous compliance violations, and negative publicity.
How many accounts were compromised?
The breach impacted data related to approximately 130 million individuals.
What data was leaked?
The data exposed in the breach included credit card numbers, cardholder names, expiration dates, and security codes.
How was Heartland hacked?
Hackers breached Heartland Payment Systems by exploiting SQL vulnerabilities and installing malware on the company's systems. The attackers gained access to sensitive data, including credit card numbers and payroll customer information.
Heartland's solution
In response to the hack, Heartland took several measures to secure its platform and prevent future incidents. This included initiating a plan to encrypt card data at the point of being swiped, making it less vulnerable when moving over networks. Heartland also removed the malware and backdoors used by the attackers, and closed any potential security flaws that could lead to more attacks. They collaborated with cybersecurity experts to investigate the issue and increased their internal security and review procedures. Heartland notified affected customers in an honest and transparent manner, as required by law.
How do I know if I was affected?
Heartland notified customers believed to be affected by the breach. If you're a Heartland customer and haven't received a notification, you may visit Have I Been Pwned to check your credentials.
What should affected users do?
In general, affected users should:
Change Your Password: Immediately update your password for the breached account. Make sure the new password is strong and unique, not previously used on any other platform.
Reset Passwords for Other Accounts: If you've used the same or similar passwords for other online accounts, reset those as well. This is crucial as attackers often try using stolen passwords on multiple sites.
Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Activate 2FA on the breached account. Consider enabling this additional security feature on all other important online accounts to significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized access.
For more specific help and instructions related to Heartland's data breach, please contact Heartland Customer Support directly.
Where can I go to learn more?
If you want to find more information on the Heartland data breach, check out the following news articles:
Rapidly implement a modern Zero Trust network that is more secure and maintainable than VPNs.
What happened in the Heartland data breach?
Twingate Team
•
May 23, 2024
In January 2009, Heartland Payment Systems, a Fortune 1000 company specializing in payment, point-of-sale, and payroll systems, experienced a massive data breach. The breach resulted in significant financial losses, a temporary business hiatus, numerous compliance violations, and negative publicity.
How many accounts were compromised?
The breach impacted data related to approximately 130 million individuals.
What data was leaked?
The data exposed in the breach included credit card numbers, cardholder names, expiration dates, and security codes.
How was Heartland hacked?
Hackers breached Heartland Payment Systems by exploiting SQL vulnerabilities and installing malware on the company's systems. The attackers gained access to sensitive data, including credit card numbers and payroll customer information.
Heartland's solution
In response to the hack, Heartland took several measures to secure its platform and prevent future incidents. This included initiating a plan to encrypt card data at the point of being swiped, making it less vulnerable when moving over networks. Heartland also removed the malware and backdoors used by the attackers, and closed any potential security flaws that could lead to more attacks. They collaborated with cybersecurity experts to investigate the issue and increased their internal security and review procedures. Heartland notified affected customers in an honest and transparent manner, as required by law.
How do I know if I was affected?
Heartland notified customers believed to be affected by the breach. If you're a Heartland customer and haven't received a notification, you may visit Have I Been Pwned to check your credentials.
What should affected users do?
In general, affected users should:
Change Your Password: Immediately update your password for the breached account. Make sure the new password is strong and unique, not previously used on any other platform.
Reset Passwords for Other Accounts: If you've used the same or similar passwords for other online accounts, reset those as well. This is crucial as attackers often try using stolen passwords on multiple sites.
Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Activate 2FA on the breached account. Consider enabling this additional security feature on all other important online accounts to significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized access.
For more specific help and instructions related to Heartland's data breach, please contact Heartland Customer Support directly.
Where can I go to learn more?
If you want to find more information on the Heartland data breach, check out the following news articles:
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