Keeping your credit card information safe from hackers just got even more difficult following a new data breach at a payment gateway provider affecting approximately 17 million people

As with other recent data breaches, as reported by BleepingComputer, your sensitive financial information can fall into the hands of hackers through no fault of your own This is because hackers have successfully gained access to Slim CD's network, which provides payment processing services to online and offline merchants

Worse, the hackers in question had access to the company's network for almost a year However, they were only able to steal credit card information between June 14 and 15 of this year

Here is everything you need to know about this latest data breach and some steps you can take to prevent your credit card numbers from being misused online

In mid-June, Slim CD first discovered that unauthorized users were accessing its systems The company then conducted an internal investigation and discovered that hackers first broke into its network last August

Fortunately, however, the hackers behind the breach were only able to see and steal credit card information between June 14 and 15, 2024, according to data breach notices sent to affected individuals

As for the stolen data, Slim CD says that names, addresses, credit card numbers, and card expiration dates were all obtained as a result of the breach However, according to the company, no card verification numbers or CVVs were stolen

Without the CVVs that accompany all of the stolen credit card data, hackers cannot make fraudulent transactions with your credit card However, the risk of credit card fraud still exists

Usually, after a major data breach, affected companies offer the best identity theft protection services or at least free access to credit monitoring Unfortunately, however, Slim CD does not do this for affected individuals

In other words, it is up to you to take the necessary steps to protect yourself For starters, if you receive notification of a data breach, you should contact your bank or credit card company to have a replacement card issued From there, you will also want to monitor all of your financial accounts for signs of fraud If you find any, notify your bank immediately

Slim CD does not offer compensation or free access to identity theft protection, but the company has put additional safeguards in place on its network and reported the incident to federal law enforcement and regulatory authorities

This probably will not change anytime soon, as data breaches have skyrocketed in recent months and are quite lucrative for hackers Data breaches are now an everyday occurrence, and one hopes that governments around the world will take immediate action to prevent data breaches and hold affected companies accountable