Most wire-transfer businesses in Los Angeles and Las Vegas were infected with viruses capable of stealing financial information in a study by Spanish security software vendor Panda Security, which, of course, has a vested interest in the matter.

The businesses provid a way for immigrants to send money to their home countries, among other uses.

Of 300 businesses studied, some 60 percent had PCs infected with keyloggers and other malicious programs that give hackers backdoor access to the compromised machines, reports The Associated Press in a story on Newsvine.com. Because the businesses often sell products and other services, some machines held all kinds of personal information, including Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and tax documents.

Said Carlos Zevallos, who led the study:

It's the equivalent of having a store with a broken window in a bad neighborhood with a bunch of stuff in there - sooner or later someone's going to come by and pick it up.

But David Landsman, executive director of the National Money Transmitters Association, defended the industry's security practices in a story on redOrbit, adding that most transfers are for less than $300. He said:

If an identity thief is looking for waters to troll in, these would not be very rich waters. It's not that we're not concerned about our customers' data being secured. We just don't think this is a likely target. It wouldn't make sense.