ZixIt says credit card database breached

Computerworld - ZixIt Corp., a service provider for secure and private e-mail systems, said yesterday that someone illegally accessed the credit card database of its independent subsidiary, Anacom Communications Inc.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Dallas-based company said it stopped the fraudulent use of the stolen credit card data when it learned of the breach by taking control of Anacom's network and terminating access to its transaction processing system.

ZixIt, which said the breach didn't affect its own systems, also said it asked the FBI to investigate.

"It is important that all ZixIt customers around the world who are using ZixMail or ZixMail.net for secure Internet communications understand that the ZixMail systems and the ZixIt Data Center are entirely separate from those of Anacom," said ZixIt President and CEO David Cook. "No ZixIt technologies or operations are involved whatsoever."

On Monday, ZixIt said it was told of the breach by Anacom management. Paul LaBelle, a ZixIt spokesman, said the FBI is investigating exactly how the breach occurred, and said forensic experts are trying to determine exactly when it happened.

He declined to comment further to avoid impeding the ongoing investigation.

ZixIt said that after taking over Anacom's communication network, it took control of the entire Anacom premises and began forensic data analysis. On Tuesday, ZixIt began notifying merchants of system processing problems at Anacom and followed that up yesterday with calls notifying credit card companies that data was being used fraudulently.

Cook said ZixIt hadn't yet determined the extent of the damage but said the impact on the company's future revenue would be minimal.

Related stories:

• Ninety arrested for Internet fraud in FBI sweep, May 23, 2001



• How to send crackers packing, May 14, 2001



• Victims of credit card fraud tell their stories, March 23, 2001

Read more about networking and internet in Computerworld's Networking and Internet Knowledge Center.