The data breach at Target may have been less brute force than a casual observer might imagine, given the language used on Target’s own FAQ which describes the incident as “criminals forc[ing] their way into our system.”1 While this description might conjure an image of hackers sitting in a dimly lit room, running complex software on super powered machines, and attempting a brute force or DDoS style attack to gain access to customer information databases, the reality appears to have been slightly less glamorous. There can be a variety of unintended entries to a secure system, and criminals will go for the weakest link in the chain. This weak link may oftentimes be not a security hole in the software, but instead the users of that software. The term hacking is used as a catch-all for situations where an information system has been compromised, even though the actual attack or breach of security was nothing more than information leaking out from users or corporations not thoroughly versed in good security practices. In these cases, the breaches are more appropriately described as being a result of social engineering. Social engineering is the technique of combining technological and psychological savvy to obtain illegal access to information2. This can involve anything from complaining and pleading with a phone support representative to give out information, to just realizing that many people use the same password for most of their accounts. Phishing is a social engineering tactic where an attractive, familiar, or official looking email is sent out to multiple recipients with the intent of tricking them into clicking a malicious link or downloading malware attachments3,4. While the latter approach may feel more like hacking, because ...
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...id Banking Apps With Malware." McAfee Labs. McAfee, 3 June 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. .
5. Goodin, Dan. "Target Hackers Reportedly Used Credentials Stolen from Ventilation Contractor." Ars Technica. Conde Nast Digital, 5 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. .
6. Krebs, Brian. "Email Attack on Vendor Set Up Breach at Target." Krebs on Security. Krebs on Security, 12 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. .
7. Fazio, Ross E. "Statement on Target Data Breach." Fazio Mechanical Services. Fazio Mechanical Services, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. .
This report will be based on the Target Corporation, and will consist of two sections: 1) long-term financing policy and capital structure, and 2) an acquisition analysis. The first section will include: Target's most recent long-term financing decision; an analysis of the economic, business, and competitive background in which the financing occurred; Target's book value and market value; possible changes that would occur to Target's finance policy and capital structure if it was forced to consider re-organization and bankruptcy strategies; and finally discuss Target's international investment and financing opportunities, as well as foreign exchange risks.
The use of hacking to identify weaknesses in computer security has become an increasingly controversial issue in recent years. Awareness of this issue is important, because our ever increasing reliance on technology means that breaches in computer security have the potential to have wide-ranging and devastating consequences to society, worldwide. This essay will begin by clearly defining the term ‘hacking’ and will examine the type of people who hack and for what reasons. There will then follow a discussion of the moral argument on hacking before examining a few brief examples. The essay will then conclude by arguing against the use of hacking as a means of identifying weaknesses in computer security.
The Minneapolis based Target Corporation announced in December that criminals forced their way into the company’s computer system. The data breach compromised 40 million credit and debit card accounts of customers who shopped during the holiday season between November 27 and December 15, 2013. The data captured was far broader than originally imagined as hackers gained access to 70 million customer’s personal information including names, home addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses. Additionally, expiration dates, debit-card PIN numbers, and the embedded code on the magnetic strip of the card were stolen.
Opportunities: Target has an opportunity to leverage its strength to overcome some of its weakness.
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...
...o city council to vote on whether or not it would be a good idea, but the council voted not to go along with the idea and cancelled the revamping project. They said "the Strip wouldn’t be the same if they got rid of historic stores along 18th street."
In reality, most hackers are ordinary people with a great deal of curiosity, above-average skills with a computer, a good understanding of human nature, and plenty of time to kill. Hackers have no distinguishing characteristics. Your next-door neighbor could be a hacker, as could your niece or nephew, one of your co-workers, or even the kid who serves you coffee in the morning. Not all hackers are dangerous and out to destroy business or damage lives. The view of the general public toward hackers is mixed. A recent CNN-poll shows 33% of respondents labeling hackers as "useful," 17% seeing them "as a menace," and the majority (45%) seeing hackers as "both" useful and a menace (CNN, 1999).
January 31, 2017 marks the official end of the investigation regarding the St. Louis Cardinals’ hacking of the Houston Astros’ database. The investigation revealed that the hacker, Chris Correa, worked alone, using a master password list from former Cardinals employees to gain access into the Astros’ system. Many consequences result from this hacking, so the communications team has provided several recommendations to address stakeholder concerns and to ensure that a similar incident will not occur again.
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,
The length of the hack is still unknown, though evidence suggests that the intrusion had been occurring for more than a year, prior to its discovery. The hacker’s involved claim to have taken over 100 terabytes of data from Sony. [11].
On the off chance that Home Depot had a defencelessness management program, performing monthly vulnerability scans of the POS environment; they could have utilized the consequences of those outputs to show leadership the significance of the gaps in that environment and possibly started to mitigate the risk of that environment before the breach occurred.
There are countless stories of companies falling victim to sophisticated social engineering attacks by some of the best cybercriminals. The war against companies and cyberspace marches on. It is important for organizations to understand what social engineering is, the various types of social engineering attacks, the reason for
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
Eversley, Melanie, Hjelmgaard, Kim. “Target Confirms Massive Credit Card Data Breach.” USA Today, 19 December 2013. Web. 19 December 2013.
Hettinger, Mike, and Scott Bousum. "Cybersecurity." TechAmerica Cybersecurity Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. .