At the time of this writing, the Target breach is in the news, and the magnitude of the Target breach has jumped from 40 million to as high as 110 million.
More recently, we’re now hearing about a breach of Neiman Marcus.
Of course, another retailer will be the next victim. It is not so important to know who that will be, but why.
Retailers are like herds of gazelles on the African plain, and cybercriminals are the lions who devour them.
As lions stalk their prey, sometimes they choose their victim early and target them. At other times, lions run into the herd and find a target of opportunity: one that is a little slower than the rest, or one that makes a mistake and becomes more vulnerable. The slow, sick ones are easy targets, but the healthy, fatter ones are more rewarding targets.
As long as their are lions and gazelles, there will always be victims.
As long as there are retailers that store, process, or transmit valuable data, there will always be cybercriminals that attempt to steal that data.
Peter H. Gregory 