CNN posted a short little article about the hack into Home Depot that has been recently reported in the news. This latest breach, involving over 56 million credit/debit cards, only serves to highlight the need for strong security measures. In addition to that, it also raises some questions. How did it happen? Why was it able to happen for such a long time? What’s going to happen in the future?
According to Home Depot, the breach resulted from “a custom strain its security team had never seen before.” Unfortunately, this is likely to be the future of these kinds of attacks. With changes in technology, and improved methods from the attacker community, this will also be a more common occurrence. Home Depot has said that they are seeking to increase their encryption and security methods, but why did it take a major hack to make those changes? Granted, I don’t know all the facts in the case yet, and it’s easy to judge, but does it really take a 56 million card lost to instigate changes? Target reported a breach of 40 million cards last year, and this should have been a wake up call to any retailer. Instead, the attack was found on September 2, but is believed to have been around since April. This is a long time to be losing information.
There are some lessons that can be taken away from this. We shouldn’t rely on what is in place. Instead, it should be regularly reviewed, tested, and updated. Improvements are constantly made in regards to technology and this should also apply to our defenses. Anytime a client’s information is at risk, companies need to ensure it is protected. Having an effective security plan in place has got to be cheaper then supplying identity protection services for millions of cardholders.
Backman, M. (2014). Home Depot: 56 Million Cards Exposed in Breach. Retrieved from http://
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