Thursday, 9 December 2010

Mastercard: We're recovering from Wikileaks related attacks | ZDNet

Mastercard: We're recovering from Wikileaks related attacks

By Larry Dignan | December 8, 2010, 12:12pm PST

Summary

Mastercard said Thursday that it is recovering from a series of attacks related to the Wikileaks flap. The credit card company is under fire from hackers.

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Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News.com. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1995, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. He's a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware.

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Mastercard said Thursday that it is recovering from a series of attacks related to the Wikileaks flap.

In a statement, Mastercard said:

MasterCard has made significant progress in restoring full-service to its corporate website. Our core processing capabilities have not been compromised and cardholder account data has not been placed at risk. While we have seen limited interruption in some web-based services, cardholders can continue to use their cards for secure transactions globally.

Hackers have taken aim at Mastercard in an effort dubbed “Operation Payback.” These attacks are aimed at any company that hampered the Wikileaks effort. Mastercard stopped processing donations for WikiLeaks.

Amazon, who nixed Wikileaks’ hosting, and PayPal are also on the hit list.

These companies are now deemed enemies of Wikileaks leader Julian Assange, who is being held in the U.K. on accusations of sex offensives.

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Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic.

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Larry Dignan has nothing to disclose. He doesn̢۪t hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Biography

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and SmartPlanet as well as Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News.com. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1995, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. He's a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware.

For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.

Talkback Most Recent of 13 Talkback(s)

  • ZDNet Gravatar
    james347
    12/08/2010 12:46 PM

  • such an honorable group of people
    "These companies are now deemed enemies of Wikileaks leader Julian Assange"

    So either you support those you don't want to or we'll take you down. so much for having the "freedom to chose who you want to deal with"

    I'm sure the HollyWoodDogs and economisters will tell us how this is so much better then how the US gov does it.

    ZDNet Gravatar
    cyberspammer2
    12/08/2010 12:51 PM
  • RE: Mastercard: We're recovering from Wikileaks related attacks
    @cyberspammer2
    Is it who they wish to deal with or goverment pressure pushing them in that direction.
    PayPal already let out they cut off WikiLeaks due to goverment pressure.... though what type keeps getting spun out to Neptune and back.....
    ZDNet Gravatar
    zenwalker
    (Edited: 12/08/2010 03:10 PM)
  • Mastercard and Freedom
    After all whats the point of freedom and responsibility and opportunity if you are denied such things only to have the world figured out and sold to you in convenient episodes that so often serve to conveniently serve the indoctrinated/vested power bases and their infomercial packages?

    After all is it really all about freedom as Mastercard so often boasts in its commercials? I wonder...

    http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2010/12/media-transparency-mastercard-and-payback/

    ZDNet Gravatar
    iamandami
    12/08/2010 01:00 PM

  • RE: Mastercard: We're recovering from Wikileaks related attacks
    It's shocking that companies like Amazon, Mastercard, VISA and Paypal are bowing to US govt pressure to completely abandon due-process, free speech and free press. Those companies should all be prosecuted by any means possible for this insult to the values that the US was founded on
    ZDNet Gravatar
    GLComputing
    12/08/2010 01:29 PM

  • RE: Mastercard: We're recovering from Wikileaks related attacks
    @GLComputing What? Why should these companies be prosecuted exactly? When you use the services that these companies provide, you agree by their terms of service. Free speech, due process and free press are not their concern. Take them to court, yes, but I doubt you would win because these companies are merely abiding by the terms of service.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    bobabob
    12/08/2010 01:37 PM
  • RE: Mastercard: We're recovering from Wikileaks related attacks
    @bobabob
    It's not tos they are dealing with, it is goverment pressure.
    PayPal already let that cat out....
    Now we have the Visa doantion issue as a result...

    What scares companies is when the government rolls out the "terrorist" word as it gives them carte blanche to rummage and rampage - just the supposed threat is scary.

    ZDNet Gravatar
    zenwalker
    12/08/2010 03:13 PM
  • RE: Mastercard: We're recovering from Wikileaks related attacks
    This article is incredibly misleading.
    This is not Assange's army, and they were NOT organized by Wikileaks. This is anon. They take up random causes like this all the time. There's no wikileaks organized hit list or anything of the like, just a bunch of bored kids with a cause. They've messed with everyone from Justin Bieber to Scientology. They're (generally) staunchly anti-censorship, so their ideals happen to line up here. But they are NOT directly related to wikileaks.

    Larry Dignan, You should be ashamed. You have absolutely done next to zero background research here.

    ZDNet Gravatar
    stebidri
    12/08/2010 01:44 PM

  • RE: Mastercard: We're recovering from Wikileaks related attacks
    No research? On ZDnet?? What else is new...

    Bloggers just spew out attention grabbing headlines and whatever random thoughts enter their brains. Real research is done sometimes by Mary Jo or Ed but the rest are just blog filler.

    You were expecting different???

    ZDNet Gravatar
    wendellgee@...
    12/08/2010 01:47 PM
  • In my book it is still Wednesday
    "Mastercard said Thursday that it is" ... in a lot of places around the world it is still Wednesday.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    TxM2xTx
    12/08/2010 02:11 PM

  • Time travel
    I have witnessed it myself.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Mister Spock
    12/08/2010 04:46 PM
  • ZDNet Gravatar
    zenwalker
    12/08/2010 05:44 PM
  • RE: Mastercard: We're recovering from Wikileaks related attacks
    Larry, I think that's sex offences not offensives, unless he's planning an all out sex war wink

    I think these companies were wrong to give in to threats and extortion by the US and its allies, just as they'd be wrong to do anything based on these attacks which are much the same thing.

    Next time, they might consider saying NO to extortion, threats and intimidation by governments.

    ZDNet Gravatar
    tonymcs@...
    12/08/2010 03:34 PM

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