Target: The Largest Data Breach/Attack

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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. How It Happened The December 2013 data breach exposed the underbelly of Target, to not only the nation but to the world. The type of data that was stolen during the data breach was information on guest members. This information included guest members names, addresses (physical and e-mail), and/or phone numbers. This information did not include guest members’ social security numbers. The data breach occurred when hackers, according to Target Corporation (2014), “criminals forced their way into our system, gaining access to guest credit and debit card information.” The Target data breach has affected more than 70 million Target guest members. The breach started through a contracting company called Fazio Mechanical Services, Inc. (FSM). FSM is a HVAC contractor “connected to Target’s systems to do electronic billing, contract submission, and project management.” (Goche & De Metz, 2014) The start of the data breach madness beg... ... middle of paper ... ...om http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/02/email-attack-on-vendor-set-up-breach-at-target/#more-24313 Riley, M., Elgin, B., Lawrence, D., & Matlack , C. (2014, March 13). Target Missed Warnings in Epic Hack of Credit Card Data - Businessweek. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-13/target-missed-alarms-in-epic-hack-of-credit-card-data Target Corporation (2014). Payment Card Issue FAQ: Data Breach FAQ. Retrieved from https://corporate.target.com/about/shopping-experience/payment-card-issue-FAQ#q5888 Timberg, C., Yang, J. L., & Tsukayama, H. (2013, December 19). Target says 40 million credit, debit cards may have been compromised in security breach. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/target-data-breach-affects-40-million-accounts-payment-info-compromised/2013/12/19/5cc71f22-68b1-11e3-ae56-22de072140a2_story.html

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