Aug. 13, 2010 (Business Wire) -- Heartland Payment Systems has confirmed with the United States Secret Service that it is not a target in the investigation of data theft at one Austin, Texas-area restaurant.
”The intrusion, which is specific to this merchant and occurred prior to reaching Heartland’s processing network, is being investigated,” reported Steve Elefant, chief information officer at the payments processor. “The intrusion likely occurred in the third-party point-of-sale system used at the merchant location or as a result of other fraud. The Heartland system has not been compromised in any way.”
Unfortunately, data breaches at merchant locations – particularly in the hospitality industry – are occurring with increasing frequency, which is why Heartland has been vigilant in educating business owners and the payments industry about the importance of credit and debit card security – as well as rolling out its end-to-end encryption technology (E3™) that protects cardholder data.
Heartland officials will continue to work closely with the business owner to help identify the source of the intrusion and help the merchant undertake remediation efforts.
About Heartland Payment Systems
Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. (NYSE: HPY), the fifth largest payments processor in the United States, delivers credit/debit/prepaid card processing, gift marketing and loyalty programs, payroll, check management and related business solutions to more than 250,000 business locations nationwide. A FORTUNE 1000 company, 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. The company is also a leader in the development of end-to-end encryption technology designed to protect cardholder data, rendering it useless to cybercriminals. For more information, please visit HeartlandPaymentSystems.com, MerchantBillOfRights.org, CostOfABurger.com and E3secure.com.
Vault Communications
Erin Mulholland, 484-753-4384
EMulholland@VaultCommunications.com
or
Heartland
Payment Systems
Nancy Gross, 215-519-7367
Nancy.Gross@e-hps.com
