Heartland Payment Systems – Malware

Heartland Payment Systems, the sixth-largest payments processor in the United States, reported on Monday that its processing systems were hacked in 2008, potentially exposing an unknown number of customers to fraud. Meanwhile, Forcht Bank, one of Kentucky's top ten banks, advised its clients that it will begin reissuing 8,500 debit cards after learning of a probable compromise from its own card processor. While Heartland is still assessing the extent of the damage caused by the assault, Robert Baldwin, the company's president, and CFO, says law enforcement has already identified the incident as part of a larger cyber fraud operation.

After infiltrating their system in 2008, the virus was able to steal more than 130 million debit and credit card data, although Heartland didn't realize it until 2009. It was the most costly data breach at the time, with a total cost of $140 million (£112 million), and hacker Albert Gonzalez was sentenced to 20 years in jail for his involvement in the cyberattack.

Source: £112 million