Missing Link

Missing Link, also known as Missing Link Networks, operates as a credit card processor and point‑of‑sale vendor. Its primary market consists of wineries, particularly those located in Northern California. The company’s flagship offering is the eCellar Systems platform, which integrates payment processing with point‑of‑sale functionality. Through eCellar Systems, Missing Link handles consumer names, credit/debit card numbers, billing addresses and dates of birth for its winery clients. The organization is headquartered in the United States of America. In response to a 2015 data breach, Missing Link began transitioning the eCellar Systems platform to tokenization technology to eliminate the storage of card numbers.

The 2015 incident involved a month‑long intrusion that exposed payment card data of winery customers, though driver’s licenses, Social Security numbers, CVV codes and PINs were not accessed because they were not stored. After discovering the breach, Missing Link identified and secured the intrusion vector and initiated notifications to both its winery clients and the affected consumers. The company worked closely with law enforcement agencies and the relevant card associations throughout the response process. This event highlighted Missing Link’s role as a payment processor that must adhere to industry security standards and prompted a strategic shift toward tokenization. By focusing on tokenization, Missing Link aims to reduce the risk of future card data exposure in its POS environment. These actions underscore the organization’s specialization in securing payment transactions for the wine industry and its commitment to improving data protection practices.