After the Home Depot and Target hacks retailers realized the need to get serious about data security not only to meet consumer expectations, but to stem the multi-million dollar costs of breaches. No matter what retailers do, hackers, whether they are or domestic or foreign, will try to breach security measures. Retailers, and any big repositories of data, must be on constant alert, always implementing the latest security measures. To do any less is a disservice to consumers and their companies.

Holidays are the best and government is the focus for the HackWacks today. When you have lots of news on stuff, that is where the hacks go (according to the TRedd Theory of Hacking Report). We had tons of PR and news on retail before the hacks took place. Now with Hillary and her server/cloud data storage issues the focus shifts to the government and hopefully Hillary’s server. Coming soon — sports and entertainment industry hacks. The HackWacks are moving in that direction.

 

Who’s to say they have been checked?

It took the federal government six months to figure out it had been hacked, so it seems to me that hackers are getting more and more sophisticated by the nanosecond.

Of course there will be more rounds of hacking — and not just at the holidays. The reasons are simple: There are folks out there who like to solve problems, like how to get past any form of cybersecurity, and there is another group of folks out there that realizes that more and more of the world’s wealth lies relatively unprotected from cybercrime.

It’s an ongoing battle in what will no doubt become an eternal war. There isn’t much to do except to keep trying to stay one step ahead — or at least even — with the bad guys.

I would have to assume the hackers are waiting for the busiest and most active shopping season in fourth quarter instead of mid-year. Not sure if they are checked, especially with news of activation fraud among mobile wallets occurring since the beginning of this year.

I don’t believe there is ANY decrease in the number of hacks nor hack attempts. They are not all publicized, and many are getting thwarted with the use of new tools available. Bottom line, merchants and brands need to take security seriously and employ the tactics that are driving these hackers to “someone else’s sites.”

There are limits to the value of information. As the personal information being stolen becomes more and more redundant there is less and less value applied to the newer batch of stolen files. Additionally, the consumer is taking steps to increase the security of their own information as a standalone effort. This too reduces the worth of the stolen data files. And a third reason for the evaporating worth of these data files is the poor maintenance performed on these files by the retailer. It is not uncommon for individuals to have several retail accounts in order to apply for promotional perks. And the purging of accounts for deceased members is virtually non-existent. Also there there is the little matter of change in account status resulting from household and business losses from the economic slowdown and subsequent job and salary changes. So what’s a thief supposed to do with a mess like this making the goods increasingly worthless? Why not try government employee files? These people are all working, still alive and in good economic… Read more »

Any CIO who thinks that the data breach threat has passed should turn in his or her building key. If anything, threat actors are more present than ever. Verizon’s security team believes that most major retailers have active penetrations right now.

The smart people I talk to at dinner events around the country either have implemented tokenization and end-to-end encryption or are planning to, in addition to other measures.

I don’t think there’s been much of a drop in the number of breaches. Maybe a drop in publicity, but not necessarily breaches themselves.

I do think that crooks are finding more interesting targets, like the government.

This will never be over. PCI has nothing to do with it.

I just had to replace my Visa card last week. A careful review of my statements revealed three or four random charges that we could not identify. Hackers are not gone, they are just getting sneakier. It’s frustrating and makes me feel distrustful of doing more shopping with this card.

Just because the federal government is getting breached instead of retailers does not mean there is a suspension of activity. The breaches look for easy targets and organizations keep putting up stiffer hurdles. I do not believe there is a decrease in activity and any organization that lets down its defenses is vulnerable.

I think the attacks are always taking place, it is whether the retailers know there is a breach and how well they are actively defending it. As Xmas comes and transaction increases (as well as retailers do year end tech audit to make sure they are ready for the holiday) I think you will see more news coming out on breaches.