Hackers disclose Israelis' credit card info

Israeli credit card companies say hackers claiming to be Saudis disclosed credit card information of thousands of Israelis on the Internet, Businessweek writes.

The companies, however, disputed the hackers' claims that 400 000 credit card holders were affected. Israel's central bank put the number at 15 000.

Channel 4 reports that, in a message posted on the uncensored text hosting site, PasteBay, the hackers, calling themselves group-xp, urged readers to "enjoy purchasing stuff for yourself in Internet, like VPN, VPS, software licences, commercial e-mails, domains, etc. We even purchased security scanners like Acunetix to hack more servers using these cards!"

The details are believed to have been culled from the servers of an Israeli sports equipment firm. People who visited the company's Web site were redirected to the page containing the hackers' message.

Israel's three biggest credit card companies urged clients not to panic and promised that any victims of identity theft would be fully compensated and that replacement cards would be issued immediately, Irishtimes.com notes.