In the midst of the 2013 holiday season, Target learned that the security of their internal system had been breached and that the debit and guest card information of up to 70 million of their customers was compromised. The information that was illegally accessed was highly personal in nature, containing customers’ names, their telephone numbers, even their home addresses.
Target became aware of the breach on December 15 and quickly responded by employing a third-party forensics firm to investigate, as reported on their corporate website. Target also decided to push forward plans to implement chip-enabled technology in their stores and on the company’s REDcards to lower the risk of similar security breaches in the future. An estimated $100 million will be spent by Target in order to fast-track the chip-enabled smart card technology. The newly protected REDcards and store card readers will be in place by early 2015 across Target’s nearly 2000 locations across the nation.
What happened to Target could just as easily happen to small businesses. Unauthorized access to business data security is a crime that modern businesses may all be vulnerable to, if the proper preventative action isn’t taken. Once this sort of breach has occurred, the resulting damage is enough to harm a business’ reputation, credibility, and leadership (Target’s CEO and CIO resigned in the aftermath of their breach). The technology that the hackers used that was enough to cause serious losses for Target could also be used against any business.
Technology can be your friend, though: malware detection software can help protect businesses from hacking attempts. It is worth it to make sure that your data and the information of your customers is safeguarded. In the instance of a data breach, it’s important to be prepared to respond and lessen the risk of losses. Additionally, we’ve discussed RFID technology and how it effectively tracks inventory for businesses; by simply scanning RFID technology, you can find out exactly where your merchandise is. ID Edge has a variety of options of customizable RFID items on our website. Risk management is not something to take lightly.
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