In recent months a number of well known retailers have suffered devastating data breaches at the hands of cybercriminals. In January it was revealed that Target, one of the biggest retail chains in the US, suffered a breach where the data of an estimated 70 million customers was compromised and, closer to home, Tesco recently announced a data breach affecting around 2000 of its Club Card users.
As a result of these attacks it was announced on Tuesday that Attorney General Eric Holder has called upon Congress to require retailers to immediately report data breaches to customers and law enforcements.
However there are still a lot of questions around whether this law will be passed and whether it will even encourage retailers to improve their customer security.
Phil Lieberman, CEO and founder of Lieberman Software, is currently offering briefings around the ramifications of data breaches against retailers. During the briefings Phil will explain the common mistakes retailers make when it comes to securing their customer’s data and the impact a data breach law will have.
Mr Lieberman said: “The common practice in the retail industry is to outsource as much IT and security operations as possible to the lowest cost vendor(s). And in security, as with everything else, you get what you pay for. Low cost / low price retailers have a real challenge when it comes selling their goods at slim margins, while also running information technology shops on tiny budgets. Unfortunately, being a low-cost retailer sometimes means running an IT operation with inadequate security. Higher margins at upscale stores is no guarantee of security either, but at least these retailers have no excuse when it comes to their IT budgets.
Target will most likely face a rash of lawsuits brought on by the Attorneys General in just about every US state where the store operates. The credit card issuers will also slam Target with fines that will, in all likelihood, have no long-term consequences for the retailer.”