Data breach of Target

Nov. 12, 2013, a group of attackers gain access to target network with a username and password

stolen from Fazio Mechanical services. Target had provided a portal through which third-party

vendors could access data. Unfortunately, a compromise to this third-party solution made it

possible to jump into Target own network. Cybersecurity experts have said the hacker, identified

in court as ‘profile 958,’ and his real name is Andrey Hodirevski and he is from Ukraine. Target

was a fault in this solution because it happened because of a basic network segmentation error.

The hacker stole detailed information for about 40 million credit and debit card accounts, as well

as personal information on about 70 million target customers.

Target had to pay 18.5M for the data breach the affected 41 million customers. Target

lost 3.2M customers after this happened. Target new cybersecurity legislation the target breach

was the first of many high profiles hacks the process of raising awareness and concern about the

state of cybersecurity. The data breach made target increase security spending as cybersecurity

awareness began to, the amount of money organizations was willing to invest in solutions rose as

well. Concern for the future perhaps the most significant effect of the target breach and

subsequent hacks was the impact it had on the public’s collective psyche. Target had to pay all

their customers that was affect by this data breach back. Target did issue more secure chip-and-

pin cards. They discover that chips alone weren’t enough to secure many of the cards that had

been compromised, although consumers learned a lesson, too – credit cards are much more

secure than debit cards.

Target announced April 29, 2014, that it would switch its debt and credit cards over to a

more secure technology by early next year, most likely making it the first major retailer in the

country to do so. Target also said that it hired a new chief information officer to oversee the

company’s technology team and data security. They made a new debit and credit card
technology, called ship and pin. Target is still making up for this mistake that happened long ago

they promise their customer that they will upgrade their security every 2 years and that this will

never happened again.

Target issue more secure chip-pin cards, they discover that chips alone were not enough to

secure many of the cards that had been compromised. Target could have prevented this breach

but because they did not, they lost over 200 million dollars. Target figure out that they been data

breach 4 days after it happened and they informed their customers to cancel the credit card used

at target change all your online passwords for banking and credit card accounts they also say try

to use strong passwords, they wanted you to work with your credit card companies to remove

any fraudulent charges. Some of target customers made a lawsuit and they all got 10,000 dollars

from it.

In 2020, Phishing attack skyrocketed by 718% in Europe, with over 2 million phishing sites

detected by google. Today, ID theft is one of the most common types of fraud in Sweden.

According to statistics, there isa victim of ID theft every three minutes. People with a stable

income and no records of unpaid debts are usually targeted. Sweden make it were if ID theft

happened to you then you can get everything you lost if you have proof. Sadly, the United States

are the worse when it comes to ID theft due to its large population, the large number of

companies and its adoption of technology, the United States easily surpasses all other countries

in terms of the number of identities stolen. In 2006 research showed that federal authorities arrest

only 0.14% of the criminals (one person in 700 identity theft suspects). In contrast, nearly 45%

of violent crime and 16% of property crime suspects were arrested.

You can track the person that stole your identity by going to IdentityTheft.gov, is where you will

find detailed instructions on dealing with various forms of identity theft. To be safe, you will also

want to review your credit report for any information that is appearing as a result of fraud.

Studies have found that 4.5% of people in the US become victims of identity fraud every year.

Americans are much more likely to have their identity stolen when compared to other people.

One million children also become victims of fraud crimes every year.

Works-Cited

https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/taking-action/settlement-reached-with-target-following-major-

consumer-data-breach/

https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R43496.pdf