Visa Inc. Announces Decision to Fund Litigation Escrow Account

Press Release
Source: Visa Inc.
Tuesday June 30, 2009,

SAN FRANCISCO, June 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Visa Inc. (NYSE: V - News) today announced that the Company has decided to deposit $700 million ("Loss Funds") into the litigation escrow account previously established under the Company's retrospective responsibility plan (the "Plan"). Under the terms of the Plan, when the Company funds the litigation escrow, its U.S. financial institutions, the sole holders of Class B shares, bear a corresponding financial impact via a reduction in their as converted share count. As a result, the deposit of Loss Funds has the effect of a repurchase by the Company of $700 million of Class A Common Stock on an as converted basis. The deposit of the Loss Funds will be conducted in accordance with the Company's Certificate of Incorporation currently in effect.

About Visa: Visa operates the world's largest retail electronic payments network providing processing services and payment product platforms. This includes consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, which are offered under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands. Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world and Visa/PLUS is one of the world's largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in more than 170 countries. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com

Cebu Business
MLhuillier targets 1,500 outlets nationwide
By Rhia de Pablo Updated July 01, 2009 12:00 AM

CEBU, Philippines – Buoyed by the rapid success of its remittance business, Cebuano financial services company M.Lhuillier Philippines targets to open 1,500 outlets nationwide in the next two to three years to widen its ML Kwarta Padala network all over the country.

MLhuillier Philippines vice president Michael Lhuillier said that they envision to establish the widest reach of financial services to the public.

He said that right now, they are talking to a lot of different interested partners in Macau and other locations abroad that will expand their reach to Filipinos overseas.

Lhuillier said that last year, they have opened an office in Los Angeles, California and they are looking at strengthening this to service the remittance requirements of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) stationed in North America and in Canada, which still has the highest number of Filipino workers.

He said that right now they have established 1, 200 different MLhuillier locations nationwide and they target to open 1,500 outlets for the next two to three years of operations.

“We always want to work harder and continue doing business. Amidst the financial crisis, we strive to be better for there is always a need to send money and to borrow money. We want to make sure that our systems are good so that we can service more people,” said Lhuillier.

He said that the take up of their loans have always remained on a steady trend as they have done this service for three generations already; however, their remittance segment has so far been gaining the fastest growth.

MLhuillier started their ML Kwarta Padala in 1996 initially targeting students and with that they have pioneered the electronic money transfer in the country and remodelled the old send out practice because now, a lot of Filipinos from different walks of life are already utilizing this service.

“Now, the whole industry is moving towards electronic money transfer but since we have pioneered this service, this now serves as our key advantage against our local and even multinational money transfer competitors,” said Lhuillier.

But getting at the level of success that MLhuillier is enjoying right now has not been an easy feat because it entailed a lot of hard work and investments on their part, according to Lhuillier.

He said that just last year; they have poured in more than two million pesos investment to purchase servers for their data center to maintain and upgrade the quality of their systems.

After they have opened a back-up office in Manila, they are also looking at setting up another back up office in either Hong Kong or in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, aside from their plans of putting one MLhuillier branch in every municipality, they are looking at also opening up more 24 hours and seven days a week MLhuillier branches nationwide to provide more ease and convenience to their widely segmented clientele, said Lhuillier.

He added that they are also currently mounting up another value added feature in their ML Kwarta Padala service through utilizing cards that can be accessed through ATM machines.

Lhuillier outlaid plans of further diversifying their services to become a full pledged financial services institution.

He also said that they are looking at putting up their own bank in the near future “whenever opportunity would present itself.”

“Profit is the reward that comes later because we first look at the employment that we can generate from our investments. We are proud of being a Filipino company specifically a Cebuano company and we will constantly invest and throw back our resources to the country’s economy as well as provide employment to as many people,” said Lhuillier.

To learn more about MLhuillier, visit their website: http://www.mlhuillierinc.com/products_and_services/mlkwarta.asp

MLhuillier, Cebu, Philippines, MLKwarta Padala

Zoompass-Prepaid-MasterCard

Not to worry – instead, just Zoom your friends and ask them to cover the cab fare, then use your Zoompass Prepaid MasterCard to pay for your ride.

The Zoompass Prepaid MasterCard is a contactless payment card that is linked to the funds in your Zoompass account so you can make purchases or withdraw cash. The Zoompass Prepaid MasterCard can be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted electronically, including online. You can also Tap & Go™ at the checkout using the PayPass™ feature for small, everyday purchases like coffee and movie tickets. It’s like having exact change wherever you go. What’s more, there are many PayPass-ready locations across Canada.

To get your Zoompass Prepaid MasterCard:

* Sign up for a Zoompass account at Zoompass.com
* Link your bank account to your Zoompass account and verify your information
* Make sure there is $15 in your Zoompass account by either transferring money from your bank account or requesting money from a friend or family member
* Request a Zoompass Prepaid MasterCard

It’s so easy – you’ll never be stuck with an empty wallet again. And there’s no cost to request the card.

Be on your guard: ATM skimming will likely grow due to poor security - News - PC Authority

Be on your guard: ATM skimming will likely grow due to poor security:  by Daniel Long on Jun 30, 2009

ATM security is so poor worldwide, that many more machines are likely to be easily compromised in the future, warns Kaspersky

As the growth of ATM fraud increases around the world exponentially in recent times, anti-malware researchers are keen to solve a crisis in the making.

The bad guys are getting smarter, they're growing distinctively more sophisticated , warns Sergey Golovanov, senior malware Analyst for Kaspersky Lab in Moscow, who is speaking at the 10th Virus Analyst summit in Croatia. Golovanov is an expert on the cyber criminal groups who utilise ATM fraud. And in his work, he's seen some interesting trends pop up.

The problem says Golovanov, is not that security experts aren't looking for a way to solve the multitude of ATM security flaws; it's that their hands are tied. And then placed in a trench of concrete, so to speak.

"We haven't got very far yet...the systems used by banks are closed and they are not going to let outsiders access those systems", insists Golovanov, conjuring up a world where ATMs become easier to break into, because the good guys can't inspect the systems at the root of the cause.

Some ATMs in Russia and other Eastern localities have been found to infected with internal malware scripts that can capture the users details from within, without physical skimming props; a go-to cash making machine that spurts out easy money for criminal networks.

Continue Reading at PC Authority

CBA takes NetBank offline as phishing activity spikes
Commonwealth Bank of Australia's online banking operations have suffered multiple outages, sparking speculation that the bank has fallen prey to a massive Denial of Service attack by hackers.

NetBank began experiencing problems over the weekend before falling over Monday morning. The bank got the service back online early afternoon only for the system to stumble again later in the day.

CBA's Netbank has been the subject of fierce phishing activity since introducing a major upgrade last month.

Speaking to local newspapers, NetBank CEO Micahel Harte said the bank took the site offline when performance issues started to affect service quality early Monday.

Continue Reading at Finextra

phishing, CBA, Commonwealth Bank, NetBank

Almost a third of internet users are too frightened to hand over their credit details while shopping online, a report published by The Office of Fair Trading has found.

Among the people who do shop online, 37.8 feel it's as safe as shopping in a store.  That means that 62.2% don't feel secure when doing so. 

"Ifconsumers are not confident online, demand will grow at a slower rate.So we must tackle these concerns right now if the online market is togrow at its full potential."

The OFT said 30 per cent of internet users do not shop online because of a lack of trust. It added that, although consumer confidence is gradually improving, online markets cannot reach their full potential because it is still too low.

Minister for Consumer Affairs Gareth Thomas said: "UK consumers buy almost twice as much over the internet compared to their European neighbors.  "It's encouraging that the OFT's survey shows increasing consumer confidence when buying online - but people still have concerns.  "That's why we will be setting out proposals in our forthcoming consumer White Paper to better protect people from fraudsters and increase their consumer knowledge when shopping online."

The Interactive Media In Retail Group estimates that £43.8 billion was spent on online retail in the UK in 2008.  Consumer Direct released separate figures today which found that more people are seeking guidance about internet shopping transactions. Inquiries about online purchases now account for 10 per cent of calls to the consumer advice helpline compared with 6 per cent in 2006.

Like retailers who mark up stuff so they can offer a big discount, credit card issuers are beginning to jack up rates and fees ahead of the new regulations that will soon take effect. Some recent examples: Chase, Wells Fargo Financial and Bank of America. Chase announced it is raising its "Balance Transfer Fee" and "Cash Advance Fee" from 3% to 5% effective next month. Chase no longer caps either fee. Chase is also switching from fixed interest rates to variable. However, Chase says it may adjust the rates, fees and fee caps for special offers. According to CardTrak, Wells Fargo Financial is adding a 3% balance transfer fee with a $5 minimum and a $99 maximum to its "Cash on Demand" card next month. WFF also added a $35 annual fee and added a floor interest rate of 20.65%. Earlier this year, Bank of America increased its balance transfer fees. The BofA "Standard Balance Transfer Fee" is 4% with a $10 minimum. BofA ATM cash advances, bank cash advances, and cash equivalent transactions are now 5% with $15 minimum. Will there be more changes ahead of the "Credit CARD Act of 2009"? Duh!

On a side note, Bankrate did a study of the "fine print" involved with credit card company agreements:  2009 Credit Card Study: The fine print

Back in February, in a post entitled Heartland Exposes It's Own Card: I wrote:  Is Heartland was going to take the position that they are a "plaintiff" rather than a "defendant" against claims from cardholders/issuers and V/MC themselves? Will they shoot back or is PCI DSS certification going to shoot down any argument that V/MC may have?  Heartland Payment Systems, Bob Carr shows one of his cards.

In their newly released 4th Quarter Earnings Report  he says that one of the biggest challenges they face in regards to the breach is "defending" claims that the "cardholders" "card issuers" V/MC, regulators (and others) have asserted (or may assert).  For the first time (that I've seen) he implies that:

First AES-encrypted transaction from a merchant card reader to and through a major processor network completed

• Press Release
• Source: Heartland Payment Systems
• On Tuesday June 30, 2009, 7:25 am EDT

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Heartland Payment Systems (NYSE: HPY - News), one of the nation’s largest payments processors, yesterday successfully completed the first phase of its end-to-end encryption pilot project. This first step involved the transmission of live AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)-encrypted card transactions from a merchant to Heartland’s processing platform. AES is the highest level of encryption and is currently on track to replace DES (Data Encryption Standard) and Triple DES as the desired standard for sensitive data.

According to Robert O. Carr, Heartland’s chairman and chief executive officer,  to his knowledge, this is the first time encrypted transactions have been sent from a merchant’s card reader to and through a major processor’s payments network. 

“Yesterday’s transactions involved a Texas-based merchant and multiple credit card, prepaid and signature debit card transactions testing each of the major card brands,” Carr explained. “These cards were read by our newly developed pilot tamper-resistant security module (TRSM) terminal. The data was encrypted as the electronic digits left the magnetic stripe and entered the TRSM hardware device. The data was then successfully transmitted to and through our processing platform for authorization and settlement.

“Typically, cardholder data is unencrypted as it leaves a merchant’s terminal and is not encrypted until it is either tokenized in a gateway or at rest in the processing platform’s data warehouse,” Carr explains. “This means cardholder data in transit is at risk of being compromised should it get in the hands of cyber criminals or hackers via such methods as network or memory sniffer malware. To protect data throughout the lifecycle of a credit, debit or prepaid card transaction, Heartland is developing end-to-end encryption technology we call E3™ that is designed to encrypt the transaction from the card read through our network and ultimately through transmission to the card brands.”

For Heartland, E3 protection involves five payment zones:

Zone 1: From data entry/card read at the merchant to the authorization network of the processor.

Zone 2: From the entry into the authorization network of the processor and through all points in which data is in motion within the network(s) of the processor and its sub-contractors.

Zone 3: While the data resides in a central processing unit (CPU) or a host security module (HSM).

Zone 4: In a direct access storage device (DASD) or archival storage.

Zone 5: From the processor to the authorization and settlement centers of the card brand or issuer.

“Monday’s successful test involved Zones 1, 2, 3 and 4,” detailed Steven M. Elefant, Heartland’s executive director of end-to-end encryption. “We believe that protecting data in these zones alone will significantly impact the protection of cardholder data.

Editor's Note:  What? Imagine that, no Zone 5.  This is one helluva clever way to expose Zone 5 as the culprit in the system.  And it sets up their legal defense

“In Q4, Heartland expects to enhance protection in Zone 3,” Elefant continued. ”Protecting data in Zone 5 is contingent on the card brands. We are in active discussions with several of the brands, and our conversations have been very positive. Some card brands have indicated a willingness to pursue accepting transactions from those processors who send encrypted data. While we work on Zone 3 and collaborate with the brands on Zone 5, the next phase of this pilot project involves integrating a set of security-protected chips which we expect will further safeguard the data throughout the lifecycle of the transaction. Heartland plans to pilot this next phase in Q309.”

“We plan to continue to expedite the development of E3 and launch it commercially late this year,” Carr concluded. “We also plan to continue working with the ANSI ASC X9 Committee which is crafting an end-to-end encryption standard and follow that standard as much as practical. We are also working with established US equipment and software manufacturers to implement their TRSM devices into our E3 approach as soon as possible. We believe the marketplace will accept this higher level of payments security and are willing to share our knowledge and learnings with all industry stakeholders via the Payment Processors Information Sharing Council, FS-ISAC and Secure POS Vendor Alliance organizations.”

About Heartland Payment Systems

Heartland Payment Systems, Inc., a NYSE company trading under the symbol HPY, delivers credit/debit/prepaid card processing, payroll, check management and payments solutions to more than 250,000 business locations nationwide. Heartland is the founding supporter of The Merchant Bill of Rights, a public advocacy initiative that educates merchants about fair credit and debit card processing practices. For more information, please visit http://www.heartlandpaymentsystems.com and http://www.MerchantBillOfRights.com.

Juniper Networks Gags "ATM Jackpot" Researcher- Risky Business

Security and networking company Juniper yields to ATM vendor pressure...
June 30, 2009 --

RISKY.BIZ EXCLUSIVE -- A demonstration in which security researcher Barnaby Jack would "jackpot" an ATM live on stage at the upcoming Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas has been pulled by his employer.

Security and network device vendor Juniper Networks forced Mr. Jack to cancel his presentation, an anticipated highlight of the Black Hat event, following pressure from the affected ATM vendor. The demonstration would have seen the researcher hack an ATM live on stage, causing it to spit out cash, or "jackpot".

"The affected ATM vendor has expressed to us concern about publicly disclosing the research findings before its constituents were fully protected," a statement issued by Juniper Networks reads. "Considering the scope and possible exposure of this issue on other vendors, Juniper decided to postpone Jack’s presentation until all affected vendors have sufficiently addressed the issues found in his research."

Continue Reading

“Max has always preferred using his extraordinary computer skills his computer vision, for the good of society and the cyber world, and he hopes that he will be given the  opportunity in the future to once again don the white hat.”

More on Max Vision:

Max Vision charged with hacking -- again
Sep 12, 2007 ... Federal prosecutors charge former security consultant Max Butler, better known amongst security researchers as "Max Vision," alleging that ...

Max Vision: FBI pawn?
May 5, 2001... FBI agents called him 'the Equalizer': a security expert and confessed hacker who infiltrated the electronic underground to help the Bureau. www.securityfocus.com/news/203 - 34k

A 'White Hat' Goes to Jail
"Max Vision," a renowned hacker, security expert and FBI informant, is sentenced to prison in a case that angers many in the hacking and cracking community.

Report: Social Networking Phishing Attacks Up More Than 240%
U.S. extends its lead as No. 1 country hosting phishing attacks, according to MarkMonitor's new brandjacking report

Jun 29, 2009 | 02:39 PM By Kelly Jackson Higgins | DarkReading

Social networks are increasingly becoming a favorite method of attack for phishers as they look for more efficient ways to reach potential victims, according to a newly released report.

Overall, phishing attacks rose 36 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2008, according to a sampling of banking brands used in MarkMonitor's Brandjacking Index report for January through April 2009. And more than 500 organizations worldwide were phished in the first quarter of this year, up 14 percent from the fourth quarter of last year, according to MarkMonitor.

Phishing attacks on social networking sites increased more than 240 percent compared to the same time last year, just behind attacks on payment services, which jumped a whopping 285 percent versus the first quarter of '08. "They exploit the trust one user has with another [on a social network]. There's a tendency to open up something from one of your 'friends' on these sites," says Frederick Felman, chief marketing officer at MarkMonitor. "This is the biggest innovation in phishing attacks since RockPHISH, and it's more social than technical exploitation. RockPHISH was an infrastructure play, but this is using someone else's infrastructure to spread the badness."

The good news, however, is that social networks are relatively quick to shut down phishing attacks on their sites, Felman says.

Continue Dark Reading

Glitch snarls CBA's online bank | Chris Zappone
June 29, 2009 - 2:22PM

Commonwealth Bank's web banking service NetBank failed today, in what could be a hacker attack, leaving thousands of customers unable to access their accounts via the internet.

A recorded message on the bank's phone access line acknowledged the problem with NetBank, saying it was ''working to resolve this as a matter of emergency.'' The bank blamed "intermittent network issues" and gave no set time for the entire system to be restored.

"Service is currently beginning to resume and some customers are being serviced," a spokesman for the bank said, although NetBank did not appear to be functioning by mid-afternoon.

The bank apologized to customers for the inconvenience.

Customers who tried to access their accounts online received a message saying, ''NetBank is temporarily unavailable,'' and urging them to try to phone their customer account line.  Customers unable to access their accounts should ring 132 221, the bank said.

Hacker attack?

Commonwealth Bank has attracted a flurry of phishing attempts, fraudulent emails and online scams in recent months, since launching an upgraded online banking portal.

Phishing is the use of fraudulent emails to scam customers out of personal details like bank account passwords.  (Editor's Note:  Again, if consumers were not trained to "type" their log-in details, such as a username and password, and instead, swiped their bank issued debit card and entered their bank issued PIN code, the threat of phishing would be eliminated.  It is how you access the bank's ATM so why wouldn't and shouldn't it be the way you access your online banking account?  Swipe, don't Type).

Although the network issues experienced today are thought to be unrelated, Commonwealth has taken the service down temporarily to run tests on the system to check its integrity, said chief information officer Michael Harte.  "We haven't completely ruled out an attempt to do a denial of service attack,'' he said.

Continue Reading at BusinessDay

Commonwealth Bank, phishing, DoSS, Denial of Service, online banking, Hacker

first data, bank of america, Next Generation Payment Solutions Company, Bank of America Merchant Services, Inc., Thomas Bell

In the latest blow to online gamers in China, Beijing has prohibited the use of virtual money to buy real world goods.

‬‪‬‪Until now, online game players who win virtual currency have been able to use it to purchase all sorts of things, including real money, giving rise to a burgeoning trade in virtual currency, valued at 10 billion to 13 billion yuan in 2008, according to the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC).

But no more. According to new regulations released jointly by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Culture last week, virtual currency should be exchanged only for virtual goods and services provided by the issuer of the currency.

Continue Reading at Wall Street Journal

Editor's Note: SecondLife is a prominent provider of Virtual Currency, to learn more about them, click here

Hackers were not so clever

As technology soars, so too does cyber crime
By: Wassayos Ngamkham
Published: 29/06/2009 at 12:00 AM

Aspate of electronic money transfer scams has raised doubts about the security of state-of-the-art technology banking systems known as E-banking.

Despite the technological advances, bank-to-bank wire transfers are still considered risky because they are vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated hackers, Crime Suppression Division investigator Akkaradet Pimolsri said.

The arrest of two Russian hackers and a Thai man in a bank fraud gang is a case in point.

On June 15, Anton Soldatenkov, 26, Vnuchenko Oleksandr, 32, and Prakiat Bunmo!, 34, were arrested after withdrawing 6.5 million baht in cash from a Krung Thai Bank branch at Siam Eastern Industrial Park, in Rayong's Pluak Daeng district.

Five days earlier, two banks - Krung Thai Bank and Siam Commercial Bank - were allegedly tricked into transferring almost 10 million baht combined into the three men's account through the online banking system.

Continue Reading