Heartland Payment Systems Joins Crowded Club

The article reports on the Heartland Payment Systems breach—potentially one of the largest credit-card compromises (~100M cards)—and reviews 2008 Data Loss DB statistics (479 incidents, an estimated 83M+ accounts affected, stolen laptops 20%, hacks 17%, SSNs exposed in one third of incidents), stressing that high-profile breaches are only a small visible portion of widespread data-loss events and urging better preventive and detective controls.