Breach, Data Security

California DMV investigates possible data breach

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has launched an investigation into a possible data breach of its credit card processing services.

After law enforcement alerted the agency of the potential breach involving online transactions, it has “heightened monitoring” of all website traffic and payment activity, according to a statement released. There is currently no evidence that its computer system has been hacked.

Security blogger Brian Krebs reported on Saturday that MasterCard had sent private alerts to financial institutions regarding fraudulent charges marked “STATE OF CALIF DMV INT.” Considering California DMV locations do not accept fee payments in person, the possible breach would only involve online transactions.

While there is no information regarding the number of individuals impacted by the potential breach, according to statistics released by the California DMV, 11.9 million online transactions were logged in 2012.

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