1. There were numerous security and control weaknesses mentioned in this case. At first glance, Target had done everything they needed to do to prevent this hack from happening. They had a security staff of more than 300 people and spent over $1M for malware detection software. If anything looked suspicious, Target was to be notified immediately. The minute the malware was detected, the software could’ve been automatically deleted. The Target security team made an executive decision to ignore warnings in November of 2013 of a security breach, leading to one of the most historic data breaches at that time. Looking back, it also appears Target had a major control weakness with their supplier portal – leaving it extremely vulnerable to hackers. Target did not require a login for their vendors and although they had set up firewalls to protect sensitive information, Target obviously “had some holes” in that system.
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The business impact of Target’s data losses and particularly on their customers was astounding, especially since the breach was planned over Black Friday and the subsequent holiday sales that quarter. Profits fell 46% and continued to fall over the next several quarters. At the time of the breach, the damage was estimated to exceed $18 billion, including losses, expenses, investigations, etc.. Just in the first 3 months of the attack, Target had spent more than $61M responding to the breach. More than 90 lawsuits were filed within 6 months of the breach. Although security breaches have happened to many large companies (such as Home Depot and TJ Maxx), Target is a major household name and their losses were severe. Both Target’s CIO and CEO resigned within 6 months of the attack. Customers were advised to closely monitor all charges to all accounts for 2 years after their information had been stolen or to request all new accounts. It will still be years before Target will ever fully regain trust with its consumers and there are some who may never
The business impact of Target’s data losses and particularly on their customers was astounding, especially since the breach was planned over Black Friday and the subsequent holiday sales that quarter. Profits fell 46% and continued to fall over the next several quarters. At the time of the breach, the damage was estimated to exceed $18 billion, including losses, expenses, investigations, etc.. Just in the first 3 months of the attack, Target had spent more than $61M responding to the breach. More than 90 lawsuits were filed within 6 months of the breach. Although security breaches have happened to many large companies (such as Home Depot and TJ Maxx), Target is a major household name and their losses were severe. Both Target’s CIO and CEO resigned within 6 months of the attack. Customers were advised to closely monitor all charges to all accounts for 2 years after their information had been stolen or to request all new accounts. It will still be years before Target will ever fully regain trust with its consumers and there are some who may never