An Australian IT worker has discovered a cache of 22,000 credit cards, according to a report by iTnews. The discovery was made thanks to the power of Google and its cache feature. However, the blame would land square on the head of the person responsible for the server security. iTnews reported that the cached directory contained 19,000 cards believed to be active.
The discovered information, including card numbers, expiration dates, names, addresses, and CVV codes, could be the result of an outdated card processing server, or a simple storage space used by criminals. Google has since taken measures to block the cache of the directory listing where the discovery was made.
iTnews said it viewed the entire listing, 22,000 cards in all, and said that 19,000 of them could be active. Most of the cards are owned by citizens in the U.S. and Britain.
The cards were a mix of Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Solo, Switch, Delta, and Cirrus accounts. The URLs for the cached directories included U.K. retailers of lab supplies, sporting goods, clothing, and more. This leads to the conclusion that if it wasn’t a storage of stolen accounts, it was a poorly secured payment processing server, or one that is no longer in use.
The person who discovered the cards, known only as “benjee”, told iTnews that the discovery came as the result of a Google Alert for a name.
“The alert started with a bunch of other numbers, so I went to the web page and it was just a virtual directory listing with a bunch of directories underneath and a load of files inside,” he explained.
“It looks like the site might have been a payment processing gateway that handled credit card transactions for a bunch of websites before it went belly-up.”
In an online post, benjee said he tried to contact Visa and MasterCard, as well as American Express, with little luck.
“I found on the internet 9,500 VISA numbers and 4,500 MasterCard numbers from a site that was incorrectly configured,” the post starts. “I called Visa who put me to the US, who then put me on hold, screw that. And I called MasterCard and the rude Yankee lady said it's not their business; I have to contact all of the issuing financial institutions. No way!”
Neither Visa nor MasterCard could be reached for comment. iTnews said the card details and other information were being handed over to the police for investigation.
{TheTechHerald}
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