Security Breaches Reported at Visa and Equifax

The more we rely on technology, it seems, the more technology bites us in the tuchas. In the continuing saga of security breaches and compromised consumer data, let?s meet our two newest players, VISA and Equifax.

Visa USA confirmed on Tuesday that an ATM security breakdown exposed consumers to potential malfeasance, while Equifax said a laptop computer containing employee names and Social Security numbers was stolen from a worker traveling on a train near London. These are just the latest in a long line of lapses that have illuminated the often flimsy controls over the personal information entrusted to businesses, schools and government agencies.

In recent years, a virtual panoply of businesses and bureaucrats have fumbled away Social Security numbers and other sensitive information that could be used to tap into the finances and credit records of unwitting consumers.

In one of the most far-flung breaches to surface so far, the Social Security numbers and other personal information of 26.5 million U.S. military veterans was stolen last month when an employee took some digital data to review at home.

Such ?stumbles? can prove disastrous not only to the company?s in charge of the data, but to consumers as well. Stolen data can be used in identity theft, costing consumers and the credit industry thousands of dollars in ill-spent monies and slap-dash fixes.

To read about these recent data breaches, go to Visa Says ATM Breach May Have Exposed Data and Equifax says laptop with employee data was stolen.