A security breach is accessing of data, applications, services, networks and devices by getting into security systems. (Techopedia, 2016) Around the holidays are when everybody is online and ordering items and gifts from online. This means that a lot of people were creating accounts on shopping websites to purchase their items. Some shopping websites require that you make an account to purchase their items so the customer can receive personal promotions and brochures. One database that experienced a security breach was Target. In 2013, around November and December target was hacked and the hackers obtained access to approximately 40 million target credit/debit cards. About 60 million of the users have been affected by having their personal information accessed. (Denzenhall, 2016)
Financial and Reputational Complications There were financial and reputational complications behind this incident. Target’s customer service and their profits were well affected. According to Denzenhall, “Target’s profits dropped almost 50 percent from the same time the previous year while angry customers lashed out at the company’s customer service hotline’s perpetual busy signal.” (Denzenhall, 2016) Not only were their brand’s name tarnished about their customer service but they also lost some
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The company could have caught on to the attack before it happened when they were sent an alert on November 30th and again on December 2nd. In the article, it says, “On both days the big-box store’s malware detection software, made by FireEye, sent an alert to Target's security monitors in Bangalore, India, who then contacted Target's security team in Minneapolis. But for some reason, they apparently didn't respond to either alert.” This shows how carless target was to approach the situation and in the long run it affected their brand. If they would have responded to the alerts on time, their systems would have been saved from the breach