Heartland Payment System, blamed for what could be the largest card data breach in U.S. history, said the fallout has cost the company $32 million so far this year.
In filings for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Heartland said that it lost $2 million in the second quarter of this year, and that the 2008 data security breach cost it $32 million as of June 30. The company had it systems hacked and compromised for months during 2008.
"Over the six months ended June 30, 2009, the majority of these charges, or $22.1 million, related to fines imposed by the card brands in April 2009 against the company and its sponsor banks and a settlement offer made by the company in an attempt to resolve certain of the claims asserted against it relating to the processing system intrusion," Heartland wrote in its filing before the agency.
"Notwithstanding its belief that it has strong defenses against the claims that are the subject of the settlement offer, the company decided to make the settlement offer in an attempt to avoid the costs and uncertainty of litigation." Heartland said it had not yet received a response to its settlement offer.
