House says Visa, MasterCard are to blame for security hacks, card compromises

In security breach cases last year, such as Hannaford Bros. supermarket and the card processing firm Heartland Payment Systems, cybercriminals gained access to millions of consumers' credit card details, and those criminals have yet to be identified and punished.

So in a hearing last week, the House of Representative's Committee on Homeland Security turned its attention to the card networks, Visa and MasterCard, which are responsible for creating and enforcing the Payment Card Industry standards that failed to prevent those breaches.

Given that both Hannaford and Heartland had complied with PCI rules, the congressional panel turned the spotlight on the credit card companies, arguing that their security measures need to be redesigned or supplemented with federal laws — a potential crackdown that could require changes on the part of both retailers and financial services companies.