When news broke of the Home Depot credit card breach, it felt like we were having déjà vu. Large-scale security breaches are proving that getting hacked is possible, maybe even likely, and it must not be that difficult, especially if the same old tricks work. As Senators start to look into the Home Depot breach, it has already been discovered that this was done the same way that Target was hit.
The Home Depot credit card breach was caused by a piece of malware that was used to infect POS systems, only a couple months after Target’s massive attack led to the resignation of the CEO. This has some thinking that the same group can be to blame for both attacks. Getting into the systems is all too easy and security systems are not putting up enough of a fight. When a malware strain has been discovered, security systems can be trained to recognize and find it. Think of it like a malware vaccine.
However, evolution exists in technology, as well. Cybercriminals alter existing malware strains to go unnoticed by tweaking baseline code. This lets them stay a step ahead and quickly strike. The full reach of this attack is not yet clear. Home Depot says that the breach may have gone back to April and affected shoppers at 2,200 stores.
Home Depot has already started to offer fraud protection to all customers that used a credit card at one of its stores from April 2014 onward. Security breaches are possible for companies of all sizes, not just megastores. All businesses owe it to their customers and clients to keep private data secure.
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