Sage Advice - Cybersecurity Blog

Everyone uses credit and debit cards (CC) to make purchases. It has become an expected form of financial transaction that is part of the economy around the world.  Those very convenient set of numbers on plastic are now being stored as data digits in our ‘virtual’ wallets - on websites like Amazon.com and on our phones in Android Pay and Apple Pay. CC numbers are attached to our subscription services for things like Netflix, iTunes, Dunkin Donuts, and Uber.  Today, businesses that do not accept credit cards post notices on their storefronts and at the cash register.  For a business with a virtual retail presence it is unheard of to not accept a CC.

The sheer volume of transactions makes the payment card channel an attractive target for cybercriminals. Between 2008 and 2012, $127 billion dollars’ worth of credit, debit, and prepaid card transactions were effected.