The processing company Global Payments’ CEO Paul Garcia said the breach was “absolutely contained.”

However, that didn’t stop Visa Inc. from dropping Global Payments from its list of approved third party companies that process credit card payments between retailers and banks.

The breach was first revealed on Friday when Visa and MasterCard said they had notified issuers of its credit cards of the breach.

On Monday, American Express said it is still determining the extent to which its card member data may have been affected, and Discover said it will reissue cards as appropriate.

Global Payments has set up a website 2012infosecurityupdate.com/index.html to help cardholders, though it hasn’t provided the names of stores or banks that were affected by the breach.

The company’s stock fell over 3 percent Monday to $46, after plummeting 9 percent on Friday, when trading of the stock was halted.

Global Payments said that though credit card data may have been stolen, cardholder names, addresses and Social Security numbers were not obtained. The company said it continues to work with regulators, industry third parties and law enforcement to help its efforts to minimize the potential impact on credit cardholders. Besides processing cards in the US, Global Payments provides its services to government agencies, businesses and others in Canada, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Global Payments CEO Garcia pledged to spend more on security.

The company also reported its quarterly results Monday — a 20 percent jump in profits to $58 million between December and February. But the company has not yet identified the size of the charge it will take as a result of the breach.

A number of security breaches have taken place in the last couple of years. Last June, hackers stole information for 360,000 credit card accounts at Citigroup. In the past year, there have been high-profile data attacks against the International Monetary Fund, National Public Radio, Google and Sony’s PlayStation Network.

When hackers get consumer information through such attacks, they can then use what they have to mine more data from the Web about those individuals. That makes it easier to send targeted e-mails to individuals that mimic messages from the bank — a process known as “spear phishing,” which takes the bogus e-mail efforts known as “phishing” to the next level by attempting to acquire more personal information that could be extremely damaging.

Data breaches and hacking affects as many as 8 million Americans each year, costing billions of dollars and countless hours to correct the problems it creates.

Yaron Samid, CEO of security company Bill Guard warns that hackers that have access to credit card data usually sell the information on black markets.

“People should be on the lookout for small transactions,” said Samid. That’s because the hackers use these to validate and confirm that a credit card is still active before they charge larger amounts.

Currently, 46 states require companies to notify customers if a breach of security occurs at their place of business and your personal information has been placed at risk. Receiving this notification does not necessarily mean that a person will suffer a fraud. However, data from research company Javelin shows that consumers who received breach notifications in 2011 had a 9.5 times higher risk of identity fraud than those who didn’t receive these types of notifications.

The Consumer Federation of America, an advocacy group made up of more than 300 consumer organizations, has a website that pulls together information and resources from a range of government agencies and non-profits. The site aims to be a one-stop shop for ID theft issues, www.idtheftinfo.org.

The website features information for consumers who are trying to protect their identities and victims trying to clean up the resulting mess. It offers access to a range of resources including consumer hotlines and guidance on how to obtain free counseling, advice and assistance for victims. Also useful are links to form letters from the Identity Theft Resource Center, which can be helpful as victims set about trying to resolve any problems.

Upon request, Federal law requires each of the three national credit reporting companies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — to provide consumers with one free credit report each year. The reports can be obtained at www.annualcreditreport.com or by mail. Consumer advocates recommend rotating requests among the three companies, obtaining a report every four months.

If people believe there may be a problem, they can ask the credit reporting companies to put a fraud alert and possibly a security freeze on the credit information. A fraud alert requires potential creditors to contact you or use “reasonable policies and procedures” to verify identity before issuing new credit in your name.

They are free, but last for only 90 days. They can be renewed repeatedly, but it’s up to a consumer to contact the companies after the first alert has expired.