This is a time of year when we reflect on our personal and professional lives, and think about the coming years and what we want to accomplish. I’ve been thinking about this over the past couple of days… yesterday, an important news story about the 2013 Target security breach was published. The article states that Judge Paul A. Magnuson of the Minnesota District Court has ruled that Target was negligent in the massive 2013 holiday shopping season data breach. As such, banks and other financial institutions can pursue compensation via class-action lawsuits. Judge Magnuson said, “Although the third-party hackers’ activities caused harm, Target played a key role in allowing the harm to occur.” I have provided a link to the article at the end of this message.
Clearly, this is really bad news for Target. This legal ruling may have a chilling effect on other merchant and retail organizations.
I don’t want you to experience what Target is going through. I changed jobs at the beginning of 2014 to help as many organizations as possible avoid major breaches that could cause irreparable damage. If you have a security supplier and service provider that is helping you, great. If you fear that your organization may be in the news someday because you know your security is deficient (or you just don’t know), we can help in many ways.
I hope you have a joyous holiday season, and that you start 2015 without living in fear.
http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/target-ruled-negligent-in-holiday/
Peter H. Gregory 