Credit card thieves hacked a database of 70 million customers of Target is a wake-up call. Target (TGT, Fortune 500) said the greatest risk it faces is the negative impact on its reputation "and loss of confidence" of its customers.
The event has put pressure on Target to accelerate implementation of advanced chip-based credit card technology that is considered safer than the magnetic stripes common in the United States. Mulligan said Target will update its system by early next year.
Similar to Target's case, several other retailers have acknowledged breaches of their own, including Neiman Marcus and the arts and crafts store Michaels.
Neiman Marcus chief information officer Michael Kingston, who said hackers installed malware on the company's network and stole payment card data for 1.1 million customers from July until October at 77 of its 85 U.S. stores. It immediately notified customers individually, but didn't make a public announcement for another two weeks.
Card is easy to hack even it is kept in your purse. 2 weeks ago, I am very surprised when receiving the email of fraud alert from Bank of America that I spent USD700 at Walmart and USD600 at Bestbuy while I was sleeping. Funny! Every time going to shopping, restaurants, or pumping gas, I have been asked for my zip code when checking out. Can I refuse to give the stores my zip code and telephone number? Aren't those prerequisites of the transaction? Will they complete the transaction even without that information?
How about you? Should you start using prepaid cards to limited losses rather than debit or credit card for sure especially online?
Sources:
http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/11/technology/security/target-hack-privacy/index.html?iid=EL
http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/04/technology/security/target-senate/?iid=EL
http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/14/news/companies/target-breach/
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/14/business/target-missed-signs-of-a-data-breach.html?_r=0
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101496127
This situation with Target should have been a wake up call for America. The chips have been used in other countries for a while now and should have been started in the US. The chip will cost millions of dollars to switch over to but it will be a lot safer for everyone's information and accounts. My question is why have we not switched over to the chip since we know its better than the magnetic strips?
ReplyDeleteLevi Gaunt
On this pressure, Target officials say the company is investing $100 million so customers can use more secure chip-and-pin cards from Mastercard and Visa at its stores by early 2015.
ReplyDeleteBut I think that why would Target invest in chip tech if they are not a card issuing bank? The ones in charge of implementing chip based technology are the banks and the payment processing companies.
Hue Vu for Digitalpaymentblog
I think Target's reputation and trust was hurt the most through the hacking of credit information. Chip based technology should of been implemented as soon as possible to prevent incidents like this from happening. Unfortunately, it was not implemented fast enough, and now consumers need to continue shopping and purchasing products/services with immense precaution. I would be behind purchasing a pre-paid card especially online! There are so many hackers out in our world that are extremely intelligent! When you purchase a product/service online with a debit/credit card you are basically trusting them that they will charge your card with the correct amount and never any more. Sadly, just the other day I had a conflict with an online purchase. I had purchased a athletic outfit from an online store in February and a couple of days ago I had a charge on my account for $50 from this company. I did not purchase anything, it was odd. I ended up calling the company and cancelling my account because I did not like how they conducted their business. If I would of purchased the outfit with a pre-paid card they could not of charged that $50. I will invest in pre-paid cards for online purchases now on!
ReplyDeleteEmily Teal
I don't know the implementation process is fast or not because it requires the expensive infrastructures from many sides (bank, retailer, customer,.....). However, when using pre-paid card we have the limited losses at least.
ReplyDeleteHue Vu for Digitalpayment blog
It’s unbelievable that shopping at stores like Target and Neiman Marcus could bring potential money loss to our lives. Upon hearing the news on these incidences, I was shocked and did not shop at either store for a very long time trying to prevent my credit card information from thievery. I think that stores need to work on precaution plans to help their customers feel safe and secure, however, this solution will take a while to be put to work and therefore we are on our own in the meantime. By Qi Shi
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Hue and Emily that the use of prepaid cards would help in reducing the losses that we encounter. The example of Emily's is one that I personally never would have thought of doing, but i can see how it would make online purchases so much safer.
ReplyDelete