Search the Internet to find a recent case of a database breach and post the link, summarize the incident, and express your legal and ethical concerns. I chose Home Depot because I am an account and stockholder for this company. Hackers breached Home Depot’s network by installing a malware that stole account holder’s log on credentials, payment data, and email address information. The success of Home Depot had grown significantly since the recession and was the most successful of all stores in the home improvement industry. Somewhere along line of great success, their database was compromised due to insufficient security, which alarmed some 56 million-account holders. The measures to repair the data breach cost Home Depot billions of dollars. The breach affected their stock and daily business transactions. I would think that most customers would use more cash instead of credit card in fear of being part of the breach. Home Depot and Lowes are the Mongols in the home improvement industry so impact on revenues are highly unlikely due the increase in the housing market and economy. …show more content…
One improvement was enhanced encryption measure at the time of purchase to assure customers that their cards transactions where protected. They are also transitioning to EMV Chip-and-Pin technology and eventually eliminate the strip on the back of the cards. The breach did not affect me thus far, so legally I have no intentions to pursue and recoupments. However, if my account is compromised; I will seek legal assistance to protect my claim. I received several letters in the mail informing me of the breach and what measures to take to if my account was compromised. Ethically, I feel the Home Depot reached out to their account holders and kept us up to par on what measures were being taken to protect further damages.