Target Hackers Have More Data Than They Can Sell

itwbennett writes "The hackers who stole millions of credit card numbers from Target customers are probably 'laying low knowing that everyone is looking for them,' says Alex Holden, who runs cybercrime consultancy Hold Security. But it's also likely that they can't sell them: 'You can imagine that having a lot of stolen credit cards will not net the hackers, say $35 per card for all 40 million,' said Holden. 'Even if the hackers are willing to sell cards for $1 a card, no one will buy the stolen goods in these amounts.'"

Comments

It has arrived!

[Ol Olsoc]

Security through Ubiquity!

Re:What me worry?

[TheloniousToady]

Actually, the merchant eats it - at least that's been my experience as a merchant. The ingestion process is called a chargeback. It's one reason why credit card issuers are so glad to make refunds to consumers. Merchants live in fear of chargebacks because not only do they lose the revenue, they also have to pay a penalty.

As a merchant, you quickly figure out that it's best to accommodate any request for a refund, even if you think you're being treated unfairly. For example, I recently had a customer in another country who asked me to pay his local taxes on the sale I had just made to him. So I gave him a refund for the amount of the tax. Easy decision.

(I shouldn't be telling you folks this, it's supposed to be a dirty little secret. Don't tell anybody else.)

Re:Uh, it's not 40 million...

[cusco]

Our banks are run by people who play "executive musical chairs". If something will save the bank a million dollars over the next ten years, but nothing for the first three years, it won't get implemented because the executives will have rotated out to another company by the time the savings could affect their quarterly bonuses. Chip and pin would cost the banks money to implement, so it won't happen until you get a set of executives who can see further than the next board meeting.