Visa reports that more credit card information is stolen at restaurants than at any other type of business. 40% of all credit card information theft is traced back to restaurants. But don’t blame your waiter!

Even though you’d think it would happen when the waitstaff takes your credit card out of your sight, that’s not when it happens. It’s not even the local staff stealing your digits and going on a shopping spree, either.

Most of the theft actually occurs when hackers break into a restaurant’s computer system and download the credit card information. […] Jennifer Fischer, a director in Visa’s payment systems risk and compliance department, said the company was not sure why restaurants were more of a target than other businesses. The running theory, she said, is that once vulnerability is found at a particular well-known restaurant franchise, crooks then exploit that weakness across the entire chain.

It sounds like chain restaurants would be more vulnerable than mom-and-pop locales. But why are restaurants so bad about keeping your personal data sufficiently protected? — MARK ASHLEY

Pasta, Meatballs and Credit Card Theft [ABC News] (Thanks Dr. Vino!)
(Photo: powerbooktrance)

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