Who can forget the news that came from Target in December 2013 telling us millions of customer credit and debit card data have been stolen from its data bases. Later it was revealed that hackers stolen information on more than 70 million customers. Data stolen also includes names and addresses and phone numbers. Target is not alone. Neiman Marcus and several others have been hacked about the same time period.
Bloodletting started immediately after the news. The Congress is asking for an inquiry. Customers are filing law suits. The CEO of Target sent an open letter to its customers apologizing for the mishap.
One bright spot that comes out of the data breach is that many are calling for new secure technologies for credit and debit cards. Europe uses an encrypted smart chip cards and many calling US authorities and card issuers to speed the technology slated for 2015. This technology can help to curb more prevalent counterfeiting scams in the US. At least until that time retailors should find a way to encrypt data they transfer to institutions for processing transactions. Also, they should share data vulnerabilities with others so customer data are well protected.