Another Heartland Data Breach? Firm Denies Texas Incident Involvement

Heartland Payment Systems, which last year suffered the largest ever data breach involving payment card data, is downplaying reports out of Austin, Texas linking the payment processor to a data breach at a local restaurant chain. Heartland’s CIO told Computerworld by e-mail August 10 that the reports out of Austin point to a “localized intrusion initiated within the stores, either in their point-of-sale system or as a result of other fraud.” He added that Heartland officials will work closely with business owners to help identify the source of the breach, and help with remediation efforts. The Austin Statesman reported on August 12 that an “accounting network” at Tino’s Greek Cafe, a local restaurant chain with four locations in Austin, had been breached. The story, which quotes a local police spokesman, said the intruders had hacked into the network connecting Tinos with Heartland Payment Systems. The spokesman is quoted as saying that somebody had hacked into a computer system “somewhere between Tinos’ point of sale and their credit card clearinghouse company.”

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