Via Dr. Anton Chukavin's post, I found the 2009 Verizon Business Data Breach Investigations Report. The document is a fascinating read to get an idea of the state of things last year. Chances are that this year will build on last year.
The targeting of financial institutions by organized crime entities is surprising to me and yet not surprising. Based on the behavior of would-be fraud perpetrators I have observed, there are a lot of credit card numbers out in the wild with little rhyme or reason to them. Compromising a financial institution or a merchant account provider, e.g. Heartland, would be an easy way to get credit card numbers into the open. However, the interest in account numbers and PINs is more disturbing and provides less recourse for the victim. This trend can be seen even in the US where ATM skimmers are becoming more prevalent.
The major thing I come away from the report with is: The big fish have a lot more to be worried about in the past. But that doesn't mean the small fish are safe in the water.
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