Computer crime has been an issue since the beginning of computers. Wherever there is something good, there is always someone who takes advantage of it. This can be seen in cyber crime, which has been on the rise in recent years. According to the Los Angeles Times, the median cost of computer crime to a company per year has risen from $3.8 million dollars in 2010 to $5.9 million. (Rodriguez, 2011) This suggests that computer crime is becoming an even bigger hazard to companies. A recent example of this was the data breach committed against Target in 2013.
Target is a well-known company in the retail industry with 1,778 stores as of 2012, according to the company. In December 2013, it was reported that Target had experienced a data breach that affected more than 40 million debit and credit cards used at Target over a three-week period, starting from November 27, 2013. (Grant, 2013) It was later revealed that not only were debit and credit card numbers stolen, but expiration dates, security codes, names, addresses, and phone numbers were stolen as well. (Rosenblum, 2014) There are a number of things that can be done with information, including creating replica cards to make online purchases.
Information is still coming to light about the Target data breach, as the company is still actively pursuing an investigation. It has been revealed that the hackers involved in the incident began by moving data from the Target networks to Fazio, an HVAC company that Target does business with and sends a lot of digital data to, and out to a number of servers in the U.S. and Brazil. (Mick, 2014) This made it hard to spot the attack initially because a lot data was being sent to Fazio on a regular basis. It also makes the data thieves much harde...
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Newman, L. (2014, March 13). Report: Target could have prevented that enormous data breach. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/03/13/the_target_data_breach_could_have_been_prevented_says_bloomberg_businessweek.html
Rodriguez, S. (2011, August 03). Cyber crimes are more common and more costly, study finds. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/03/business/la-fi-cyber-attacks-20110803
Rosenblum, P. (2014, January 17). The target data breach is becoming a nightmare.
Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/paularosenblum/2014/01/17/the-target-data-breach-is-becoming-a-nightmare/
Target security breach: What you need to know. (2013, December 22). Retrieved from
http://www.abc15.com/news/national/target-security-breach-what-you-need-to-know-
For example credit card transactions and security breaches have occurred which have cost the company million of dollars. Target Corporation must do a better job of securing its data to prevent future loss in profit, sales, and stock values.
According to www.targetcorp.com, Target is an upscale discount retail chain that sells quality products at attractive prices, and prides itself on clean, spacious, and guest-friendly stores. Target is the second largest "general merchandise" retailer (behind Wal-Mart); selling almost anything one would need to complete the "one stop shop", especially with the addition of the SuperTarget stores. The first Target opened in Roseville, Minnesota in 1962. Since then, 1,330 stores located in forty-seven different states, which includes the 141 SuperTarget stores, have opened nationwide. Target also has twenty-two distribution centers located in nineteen states. In addition to the vast number of store locations, Target also has other businesses that include: Target.com, Target Financial Services, Associated Merchandising Corporation, and Target commercial Interiors. Through all the key businesses, Target employs nearly 300,000 people from diverse backgrounds. The current Chairman and CEO of Target is Bob Ulrich.
After the breach, many Target customers refused to shop at their stores due to losing trust in the company. Target’s security breach was not an isolated incident; numerous other companies have faced similar security breaches such as Home Depot, Neiman Marcus, Sony, and this could even happen on your own personal home computer. As a Target cardholder and loyal customer for many years, I believe the company took appropriate actions to notify customers of the breach. Target informed me by email and sent a letter reassuring my information was not compromised. As a valued Target cardholder, I was given the opportunity to apply for the free credit-monitoring program, which I took full advantage of. As an additional measure, Target provided customers with a new online safety feature to monitor suspicious activity by allowing customers to set alerts through email or text when purchases exceeded a specified amount. Consequently, Target is tightening security and making every effort to gain back trust to retain
Target’s collection and possible sale of private information could go against basic principles of confidentiality since people trust that they are not revealing information that is confidential. One expects that their personal information is protected and not just provided to anyone who is willing to pay for it. At the same time, people expect Target not to be buying influence ...
At first report, the data breach was discovered to have compromised all Target stores nationwide, and it involved the theft of credit card numbers and customer stored data within the magnetic strips of cards that were used in the stores. It was believed to have occurred right after Thanksgiving Day and in to December (Krebs, 2013). Apparently, online shoppers were believed to be safe from the hack and that only the stores were attacked. Now, the intrusion was believed to have resulted from a visit to one of Target’s stores by an HVAC company named Fazio Mechanical Services from Sharpsburg, PA. Krebs (2014) stated, “Target told reporters at The Wall Street Journal and Reuters that the initial intrusion into its systems was traced back to network credentials that were stolen from a third party vendor” (para. 1).
The first Target store opened in 1962 in the Minneapolis suburb of Roseville. This company grew and became the largest division of Dayton Hudson Corporation, leading the company being renamed as Target Corporation in August 2000. In early 2013, Target expanded into Canada and now operates in more than hundred locations through its Canadian subsidiaries. To be more precise, Target has 1,797 stores in the United States, 127 stores in Canada and 37 distribution centers in the United States. The company employs more than 361,000 people worldwide.
Target bank is called the Target National Bank. It is owned by the Target Corporations itself and all the receivables go into Target has approximately 1,600 million dollars worth of lines of credits from twenty five different banks, approximately half the worth of the line is used and is due back for payment June 2005, with an extension all the way up to June 2006. The other half of the payment is due June 2008. The expected long term rate of securities rate for October 31 2004 was 8.5 %.
The documentary Rise of the Hackers, focuses on the rising criminal use of hacking and how it is effecting multiple areas of technology. The documentary describes simple and complicated situations concerning hacking, but there still questions that must be answered when it comes to hacking and crime. The main question is in trying to determine why a person would choose to commit computer hacking. There are various theories already present within the criminal justice system that may explain at a micro-level and macro-level. These theories would explain why offenders would commit the crimes, but it may not answer the full scope of the question. The Routine Activities Theory would help to explain why offenders offend, why victims are victimized,
In 1995, Target began offering credit which was known as the Target Guest Card (Target Through the Years). This was a big step for the company in establishing customer loyalty and relations through the use of technology. By 2004, the cards were renamed REDcards and were able to create data portfolios to help Target figure out product demands and create different routes to satisfy their customers even more (Target through the Years). This was a huge step for Target and their use of technology to better their
Target business is based on big box centers and supercenters, which are not preferred by many shopper who normally like shopping in small convenience store within the neighborhood.
In December 2013, Target was attacked by a cyber-attack due to a data breach. Target is a widely known retailer that has millions of consumers flocking every day to the retailer to partake in the stores wonders. The Target Data Breach is now known as the largest data breach/attack surpassing the TJX data breach in 2007. “The second-biggest attack struck TJX Companies, the parent company of TJMaxx and Marshall’s, which said in 2007 that about 45 million credit cards and debit cards had been compromised.” (Timberg, Yang, & Tsukayama, 2013) The data breach occurred to Target was a strong swift kick to the guts to not only the retailer/corporation, but to employees and consumers. The December 2013 data breach, exposed Target in a way that many would not expect to see and happen to any major retailer/corporation.
One of Target’s goals is to provide more organic foods. Target is aware of how society is shifting their interest towards organic foods and health. Another one of Target’s goals is to reduce water waste by 10 percent in 2015, whih was met in 2014 by 13.1% (Target Corporate). The company is aware of the possible damage that water waste can cause to the environment and is actively working to prevent them. So far, Target has not had much attention surrounding their social responsibility, but there was one incident in December of 2013 where data of at least 70 million customers were leaked (Target Corporate). This breach allowed criminals to access credit card and debit card information. There is an entire FAQ page on the corporate website answering any questions or concerns that customers may have. Target has recently agreed to a $10 Million settlement in the lawsuit that came after the data breach, in which people will have to provide proper documentation showing their losses during the hack (Parks). Despite this compensation, some customers may not be comfortable shopping at Target
Cybercrimes are on the rise now. People information are constantly getting hacked. Target computers were recently hacked and over a thousand people credit card information was stolen. Every day we
Kharpal, A 2013, Cyber-crime is ‘greatest threat’ to companies survival: EY, CNBC, accessed 12 November 2013, http://www.cnbc.com/id/101155856
The advantages of technology and the internet have led more criminals to use cyberspace to commit crimes. The threat of cybercrime is increasing as globalization continues to spread across the world. While the impact of globalization has led to amazing, new discoveries throughout the world, Internet connectivity has also made cybercrime easier. America and the rest of the world have become more reliant on technology and use it in more aspects of their lives, technology-users make themselves more vulnerable to cyber attacks. Globalization and the growing use of computers in the world have given people a motive to learn more about computing and become more knowledgeable as programmers. As these people learn more, there is a risk that they will use their new intelligence to commit cybercrimes.