MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) – Police say two people trying to enter the U.S. from Mexico have been arrested in South Texas on fraud charges that could be related to the theft of personal data from Target retail stores.
McAllen police Chief Victor Rodriguez scheduled a news conference for Monday afternoon.
Officials say 27-year-old Mary Carmen Garcia and 28-year-old Daniel Guardiola Dominguez, both of Monterrey, Mexico, were arrested Sunday at the Anzalduas International Bridge. Both were trying to re-enter the U.S.
Rodriguez told The Monitor newspaper that police had already obtained warrants for their arrests so they were taken into custody when they crossed the bridge. Officials say both suspects were carrying fraudulent credit cards when arrested and police believe personal information stolen from the Target security breach was used for the cards.
A cyber intelligence company says a teenage boy from Russia may be the key figure in the massive data breach at Target. The incident is creating a push for U.S. companies to adopt a more secure system which is widely used in other parts of the world.
It may be tough for people to swallow this security breach happening all because of a teenage boy across the world. The problem that impacted 70 million people during the holiday shopping season may have been because of an inexpensive “off the shelf” malware known as BlackPOS.
A Los-Angeles based cyber intelligence company, Intelcrawler, says the author of the malware was close to 17 years old and the first sample of it was created in March 2013.
This breach and other recent cases like it are prompting U.S. lawmakers to ask why our companies are not yet using a Smart Chip technology like most of the world.
Target will likely testify before a Congressional committee exploring credit card security and privacy.
Sen. Al Franken talked about it on WCCO Sunday Morning. He said the U.S. is a major target — we have a quarter of the credit and debit card volume of the world, but half the total fraud. He said much of the threat is coming from Russia and Eastern Europe, as was the case in the Target security breach.
“It really calls into question, what are the responsibilities of not just these credit card companies but of people like the Target Corporation, like T.J.Maxx, Neiman Marcus,” Franken said. “All these recent breaches bring this into question. And as chairman of the privacy subcommittee, I’m going to be looking into that.”
Franken said he’s written letters to all the major credit card companies about why they are not yet using more sophisticated technology as is customary in other industrialized parts of the world. He is expecting answers by Feb. 5.
(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
