As a follow up to my post on the stolen Mastercard/Visa data , here is a New York Times article Black Market in Stolen Credit Card Data Thrives on Internet  (via Rob Hyndman).

Masrtercard and Visa seem to be taking a pragmatic approach: this is a cost of doing business. Keep it quiet, if there are losses the customer won’t pay. But these attacks go to the integrity of the system and consumer confidence.