During the 2013 holiday season, Target was involved in a major credit card hacking scheme which affected millions of consumers. There were approximately 70 million customers that had their debit and credit cards compromised. The company announced that hackers somehow manipulated the payment system and stole debit and credit card data. The hackers were able to retrieve consumer names, card numbers, expiration dates, and the three digit security code on the back of the cards (Kassner, 2014). While the breach may not have given hackers access to customers personal banking and credit card accounts, it created a great risk for identity theft and the possibility for the hackers to use the information and create accounts in the consumer’s name. …show more content…
Hackers could have also used this information to sell to other people through the underground market and make phony functioning cards. Although the store has been victim to other incidences of fraud, this particular incidence was extreme.
For many years, Target has been hesitant to change credit card security and has shown little to no motivation to make changes. Due to the lack of security measures, hackers were able to steal the identities of many consumers. When credit cards are swiped, the transaction goes through the process of authorization, clearing and settlement. Each phase of the process entails the exchange of transaction data and money that needs to be settled and balanced. This process concludes when the cardholder pays for the goods or services listed on the monthly credit card statement. This is the current system that is used by Target. The company uses a customized version of the Hypercom Optimum L4150 High-Performance Multi-Lane Payment and Advertising Terminal which features a color glass touch screen that offers the brightest and the clearest interface for efficient interactive advertising at the point of sale (POS). “Global payment technology leader Hypercom Corporation delivers a full suite of high security, end-to-end electronic payment products and services” (CARTES & Identification, 2007). The benefits of this device and terminal included an advanced security structure which simplified hardware and application authentication, various privacy options which eliminated the need for add-on physical privacy shields that interfere with terminal usage by the consumer (CARTES &
Identification, 2007). Obviously the security wasn’t high enough or else this breaching incident would not have been so extreme or happened at all. Target also uses the M-Dex (Merchant Direct Exchange) payment authorization network to complete transactions. Target has been at the top of technology on front and back end systems. Most of the technology operates in the back end. The organization was one of the first retailers to adopt electronic signature pads instead customers having to sign paper receipts. This technology created a new concept in retail. Consumers want to get through checkout in an efficient way and prefer to have a fast checkout experience. The organization developed the process to help craft the best possible experience for customers. To be prepared to respond to a data breach Target needs a comprehensive data breach response plan and a new payment system. Target will need to develop a system that only accepts more advanced chip-based cards which is an EMV (Europe Mastercard Visa) technology. “Many countries in Europe, Asia and elsewhere have already replaced magnetic strips with chips, which are harder to duplicate” (NY Times, 2014). Chip-and-pin payment systems will be implemented because this method will guarantee stronger security and also encrypt consumer information at checkout. This will help in eliminating the use of cards with weak security features, leaving hacker and retailers with no access to consumer information. These particular cards will have a built in chip in which the machine will read. The main objectives are to improve system performance, increase system efficiency, improve the organization, and minimize errors.
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.
Issa utilizes statistics to suggest ideas. He says, “The Office of Personnel Management’s security breach resulted in the theft of 22 million Americans’ information, including fingerprints, Social Security numbers, addresses, employment history, and financial records” (Issa). Issa also adds that, “The Internal Revenue Service’s hack left as many as 334,000 taxpayers accounts compromised‑though just this week, the IRS revised that number to o...
Hacking into large companies or agencies to steal one’s card information has become simple. Lewis (2013) says that, “Hacking is incredibly easy; survey data consistently shows that 80 to 90 percent of successful breaches of corporate networks required only the most basic techniques“(p. 1). On November 27, 2013, Target’s security was breeched when forty million credit and debit cards were stolen. The breach lasted from November 27 to December 15, 2013.
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 year 2013 was not one marked for pride for the retail chain, Target. They had one of the largest data breaches known to date that occurred between November 27th and December 15th. Not only was this the one of the largest attacks known to date of this kind, it was also quite eye opening to many who may not have paid any attention to the world of information security. The Target hack resulted in 40 million compromised credit and debit card accounts and that was just the initial known result. After some time, the research revealed that a total of as many as 110 million Target customers were the victims of this gigantic hack. Although computer crimes occur within the United States often, the bigger problem is that criminals from other countries across the oceans are attacking as well.
About 15 million United States residents have their identities and information used fraudulently each year. Along the use of their identities, they also had a combined financial loss totaling up to almost $50 billion. Major companies such as Apple, Verizon, Target, Sony, and many more have been victims of consumer information hacking. In each of the cases, millions of consumers’ personal information has been breached. In the article “Home Depot 's 56 Million Card Breach Bigger Than Target 's” on September 18, 2014, 56 million cards were breached due to cyber attackers. Before the Home Depot attack, Target had 40 million cards breached. Company’s information is constantly being breached and the consumers’ are the ones who end up having to pay the price. If a company cannot protect the information it takes, then it should not collect the information.
As we can see now-a-days, there are many replacements to card payments such as MOBILE PAYMENT options like Apple and Samsung Pay. Recently, Apple has launched finger print (TOUCH ID) payment option in its new Mac-book Pro. Almost every application has its own wallet to pay. But still, as we know that technology is any day not secured. It might not be vulnerable today. But, we cannot predict its non-vulnerability because one day or the other, it becomes vulnerable to any type of attack.
credit or debit cards accessible in one easy location and it’s even got the extra security of the
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), a set of 12 requirements that is administered by the Payment Card Indust...
NNN MN an upscale retailer is one of the latest to reveal being a victim of hackers. Many Customers were affected, not just the store itself. Customers cards were being use to make unauthorized purchases. This situation put the retailer at risk of losing current or potential customers. Many individuals would question its security measures potentially bringing the company’s overall goodwill down. Neiman Marcus hack affected everyone involved, also questions the idea of how secured we are when it comes to making credit card purchases and how communication plays a major role overall in the problem.
Digital wallets are quickly becoming mainstream mode of online payment. Shoppers are adopting digital wallets at an incredibly rapid pace, largely due to convenience and ease of use. Tech -savvy shoppers are increasingly demanding seamless, Omni-channel retail experiences and looking for solutions that deliver this. There’s no question 2017 will be a pivotal year as digital wallets gain more widespread acceptance.
5 Tips to Protect Your Credit over the Holidays Credit card fraud, data breaches, and identity theft often seem like only stories in the news that you hear in passing—until it happens to you or someone you know. Cases of these crimes have hit an all-time high, and it seems to get worse as thieves and scammers get more sophisticated, daring, and greedier. Victims are not just large corporations like Neiman Marcus and Michaels or financial institutions such as American Express; individuals lose credit cards, their identities, security numbers, bank balances, passwords, and sensitive personal information at an unprecedented scale today, especially during the holiday season. Fortunately, credit information is not very difficult to secure.
From PayPal to Debit cards, from EFT to Credit cards, this modern world has been inundated with new ways of making business transactions. Instead of the conventional use of dollars and nickels, now there are electronic payment systems. These types of systems allow for better trust and acceptance between consumer and businesses. In the traditional way of buying a product, one would see a product in person, and pay for it with cash or credit. In e-commerce, the business uploads images of its products online and it enables its customers to shop it using any type of electronic payment system.
As established by PCI DSS, our company needs to include different aspects to securely handle and store credit cards information. From the perspective of the Information Security Analyst we must to consider the following points:
Your identity is unsafe in more places than you may realize. Every store you walk in has the possibility or either having someone behind the counter, or someone hacking into a business from outside, readily waiting to steal your identity. Using your credit card in any store is never safe no matter what signs are posted around the store, or how big the company is; it’s not always the people who work there that want your identity. The article Identity theft growing, costly to victims in The Arizona Republic, J. Craig Anderson ...