Hackers Breach Global Payments Network
Credit card payments processing company Global Payments announced last Friday that there was “unauthorized access into a portion of its processing system.” The company identified the problem and reported the situation to authorities, prompting the US Secret Service to launch an investigation. Rumors of the breach caused the company’s stocks to spiral, plunging 9.06 percent to $47.50 by midday, until trading was immediately closed to stop the stock from crashing. The company confirmed the news after the market closed.
Global Payments said they noticed the breach in early March, and they immediately hired information technology forensics people to find out how much of their processing system was compromised and they informed the US federal authorities as well. Although the company has not disclosed further details, estimates say around 50,000 accounts may have been affected. Global Payments Chairman and CEO Paul Garcia highlighted his company’s security system prevented further loss of account information to the hackers.
