(MONEY Magazine) – We've long agreed with the prevailing wisdom that the threat of Internet credit-card fraud is minimal. Then came the January case in which an unidentified computer hacker, thought to be based in Eastern Europe, swiped some 300,000 credit-card numbers from online music retailer CD Universe and demanded $100,000 or the numbers would be posted on the Internet--a threat the hacker eventually followed through on. The case has since fallen off the front pages, but given our past assurances about the safety of e-commerce, we wondered what came of the matter. Well, now we know--and our position hasn't changed.

Why not? For one thing, this case has little to do with Internet security per se. Most people fear that credit-card data will be intercepted while traveling over the vast network of computers that make up the Internet. But in this case, the information was taken from a CD Universe computer server, a form of cybertheft to which virtually any company that processes credit-card transactions is susceptible, not just e-commerce sites.

Moreover, even though this case did represent a worst-case scenario of sorts--private credit-card information that was suddenly made available, not just to one but to every dishonest soul with an Internet connection--mayhem did not ensue. Illegal purchases were indeed made with the stolen credit-card information, and the victims had to go through the hassle of clearing illegal charges from their bills. But none of them suffered any financial losses. The bottom line is still that credit-card holders are legally liable for, at most, $50 of illegal purchases.

--ART JANIK