Homeland Security vs. Credit Card Companies
The United States House of Representative’s Committee on Homeland Security is looking at something other than terrorists. This past week they put their sights on credit card companies like MasterCard and Visa. (That isn’t to imply that the credit card companies are acting as terrorists … though some card holders may feel like they’ve been terrorized by credit card contracts that allow for self-modification.)
The credit card companies created and enforce the Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards that apparently failed to prevent cybercriminals from accessing the information of millions of consumer’s credit card accounts in the Hannaford and Heartland cyber attacks.
According to “Visa, MasterCard In Security Hot Seat” on Forbes.com, Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, suggested the credit card company developed the PCI standards, not to prevent cyberattacks, but to shift the blame onto retailers.
