ARLINGTON, Va. — Card security took a page out of a Dickensnovel this year, beginning with the infamous TJX breach butculminating in increased efforts to strengthen information securitystandards when it comes to plastics.

The year started off on a bad note as the TJX Companies, theparent firm for TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and several other retailchains, announced in January that its computer systems had beenintruded upon for more than a year. The biggest-ever securitybreach resulted in the compromise of millions of credit cardnumbers as well as other consumer information and wound up costingcredit unions and its insurer CUNA Mutual Insurance Group millionof dollars in losses.

But as bad as that card breach was, it spurred both the cardindustry and the credit union industry to audit their card securitystandards and to make necessary changes.