Short takes on payments

You don't have to tell ISOs or merchant level salespeople things happen quickly in the payments industry. Things seem to change literally over night this business. Here are some significant news items for the payments industry that may have been missed over the holidays:

New security threat

Prolexic Technologies Inc., a San Francisco security company specializing in fighting and preventing distributed denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, issued a threat advisory for a high-risk DDoS tool kit called Dirt Jumper. The toolkit can be used to launch application layer attacks against websites. Dirt Jumper was developed from Russkill malware and is being sold online for $150, according to Prolexic.

Prolexic categorizes Dirt Jumper as a high-risk threat that can spread through spam, exploit kits, and fake downloads. The tool kit is becoming increasingly popular and was updated as recently as the fall 2011. Prolexic has a security-scanning tool that can detect Dirt Jumper command and control services. A free threat advisory and scanner may be downloaded at www.prolexic.com/threatadvisories .

Earnings reports

MasterCard Worldwide will release its fourth-quarter and full-year 2011 earnings report on Thurs., Feb. 2, 2012. The company is hosting a conference call to discuss the results at 9 a.m. that day. To join the call in the United States dial 866-362-4666 and enter the passcode 24950634. The call can also be accessed here: www. mastercard.com .

Payment software manufacturer CSG Systems International Inc. will release its fourth-quarter and year-end earnings report Tues., Feb. 7, 2011. To join the webcast go to: ir.csgsystems.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=113558&p=irol-calendar .

The Green Sheet Inc. is now a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals. Click here for more information.

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