has indicted the 11 individuals responsible for all of this century’s hacks of retailers such as TJX companies, BJ’s Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, forever 21 and DFW Inc. (well, maybe not all but that is a partial list).
We can all breathe a sigh of relief, especially any retailer that was holding off on investments in IT security. Their gamble has paid off. The US Secret Service
Seriously though, you have to admit that is surprising that so many of these attacks were carried out by one group of linked individuals. The original thinking of many, including myself, was that the retailers were lax, there was an open market for credit cards, and hackers were having a heyday. Now it turns out that a small band of cyber thieves allegedly following the lead of a Secret Service informant (I know it is bizarre, I can’t make this stuff up) just repeated their early success with one retailer to attack any other vulnerable retailer.
Lessons learned?
- Talk to and listen to your peers within your own industry. If one of them says “hey we were attacked through an open WiFi hotspot” think about securing your own infrastructure.
- Listen to advisors. I am not the only one who has been warning you to get secure.
- Law enforcement works.
This last point is important. Ultimately, the only way to impact the rise of cybercrime is to catch the criminals and punish them. Just don’t let this astounding coup on the part of the Secret Service be an excuse for more delays in securing your network.
