A spate of consumer data theft is being caused by the reliance of restaurants and retail stores on outsourced credit-card processing and other information-technology functions.

Verizon Communications says that retail chains with thousands of restaurants might have only 100 employees in information technology, and make up the shortfall with outside vendors. However, according to Bryan Sartin, director of the investigative response team at Verizon Business, there is a lack of accountability by the third party.

Verizon's unit investigates a quarter to a third of the big, publicly announced data breaches that occur each year, as well as hundreds of smaller cases. In the last few years restaurant and retail businesses have accounted for more than half of Verizon's case load.

Most of the time, the culprits are insiders at service vendors. Apparently, data-stealing gangs visit call centres, web development companies, content development companies, business partners and the people who pick up the backup tape. They will offer cash for the data - no questions asked.

Verizon's report advises companies to keep a tighter rein on contractors, including by limiting partners' access to only the data they need. X

Check Out
AP