A group of Saudi hackers published on Monday the credit card information of 400,000 Israelis and said they are making use of the information they stole.
The same group hacked the Israeli sports information website One on Monday evening and posted a file containing the details of some of the cardholders. Channel 10 News, which first reported on the hacking, said that the details published include names, email addresses and, worst of all – credit card numbers, including three-digit security codes.
According to the group, which defines itself as a Saudi branch of the Anonymous hackers group, the file contains 400,000 accounts. The group said it intends to continue to publish details of more accounts at a later time.
People who tried to enter One on Monday evening were forwarded to the Saudi group’s website and to the file containing the information.
“We decided to give a new year’s gift to the world: the information of about 400,000 Israelis,” the hackers wrote.
The added, “What fun it is for us to see 400,000 people gathered in front of credit card companies and banks and complaining that their credit card information has been stolen. To see Israeli banks destroying 400,000 credit cards and producing new ones (so expensive, huh?). To see people buying things for themselves using the credit cards and damaging the credibility of Israeli credit cards around the world.”
Channel 10 reported that the Bank of Israel has launched an investigation into the hacking, in cooperation with Israel’s three major credit companies, which had been unaware of the hacking until it was reported on Channel 10.
A spokesperson for One confirmed one of the website’s servers had been hacked into, adding the breach was quickly repaired.
{Arutz Sheva/Matzav.com Newscenter}
This is a terrible violation of boundaries. The technology/cyber realm needs strong boundaries as much as the physical world. CEO’s and their System Engineers must be one step ahead of the hackers. Sometimes the best solution is to keep certain servers disconnected completely from other systems. If this sounds non-sensical it isn’t. Too many IT experts under orders from the Board of Directors try and save money by automating everything and cutting down on the troublesome human factor. In the days of the village transactions for goods and services were pretty clear cut and simple. Even in the ancient past of the immediate post war decades cash was the usual way of buying and selling things. (MasterCard had its genesis in 1966.) Why can’t various companies employ more human beings to process new orders and accounts before certain automated processes kick in ? I think there is going to be a marked backlash against paying online due to the security breaches, i.e. Stratfor, happening all around the world. How much is trust worth on a balance sheet ? Historical perspective anyone. People will pay a small percentage extra if they know their transactions are secure. I am not a Luddite. The trick is to combine the best from the present with the best from the past. No matter how you cut and dice it, customer service will always matter. People will spend less if they are not confident of the systems in place to handle their transactions. Confidence and liquidity go hand in hand.
P.S. Was Anonymous designed to test certain boundaries ?