Robert Siciliano, McAfee's online security analyst, discusses the massive Target data breach and what it means for the retailer's reputation. He covers JPMorgan's response, pending lawsuits, and what consumers should do to protect themselves, from monitoring cards to securing their devices.
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Wondering where that beautiful Christmas tree is? Right here at Bloomberg's world headquarters. You have to stop by and check it out. Another place you may have checked out this weekend, Target. Well, their Nightmare Before Christmas is becoming even more treacherous. In response to that breach that exposed the credit and debit cards of some 40 million shoppers, JPMorgan Chase imposed spending limits on 2 million debit cards that were swiped at Target stores, an attempt to stave off fraud. Fraud with the stolen numbers. 3 class action suits have already been filed in response to the breach, seeking— get this— $5 billion in damages. I want to bring in Robert Siciliano. He's an online security analyst for McAfee. He's been looking at the massive data breach, and he joins me now from Boston. Robert, I was in a Target over the weekend. I can't say I even thought about the security breach going in. And when I got an extra 10% off at the end, which they offered all customers this weekend, I thought to myself, I was going to shop here anyway. This is going to hurt them that for offering these additional discounts. What do you make of it all?
Well, certainly the 10% gratuity, as it may, is nice. You know, the public directing their anger towards Target is funny to me because they're a victim of a crime. You know, while they're supposed to have systems in place to protect their customers, which they do, there's something called an advanced persistent threat, which means that they are under attack 24/7, 365, like most retailers, and it's not a matter of if but when for a lot of these big companies.
So should we be blaming Target, or should we say This is just a case of what's happening in this new world where cyber hacking is a day-to-day threat.
Cyber hacking is a day-to-day threat. Certainly Target takes some responsibility, of course, but you know, this is not a victimless crime. This, this is happening to our government, to major corporations. They are being targeted 24/7, 365, and while they have systems in place, you know, somebody at some point is going to get breached again in the next week, and we're going to be talking about them too.
So those of us who are blaming Target, saying they didn't have have the right systems in place? Do you think we should lay off? Because again, this could have happened to anyone, including the U.S. government.
Well, certainly, you know, you want to keep on these corporations to make sure that they are in fact, you know, keeping our data secure. Because, uh, once you back off, you know, they may not spend the right funds on information security technology and so forth. So you always have to be on them, and there has to be checks and balances. But in the end, you know, uh, you— if you were assaulted, you're not to be blamed for being victimized. Say, same if you're Home was broken into. Uh, and I don't think this is negatively going to impact them in the long run.
So what does Target need to be doing? Do they need to be saying I'm sorry and offering discounts, or is this just the price of being a major retailer? If you think about the value of customer data, it's tremendous.
Yeah, well, certainly offering an apology is definitely the right thing to do. Uh, offering discounts is certainly the— a nice thing to do. Uh, and in the end, you know, they will learn from this, as many others will.
So for victims, for those who this has happened to, what's their course of action?
Plain and simple, pay close attention to your credit card statements. Some do it monthly with their paper statements, others do it weekly online. My cousin got breached for $250 for a Coach bag that she didn't buy. And so you have to be paying attention via your mobile apps. I recommend every day this time of the year.
Should we not be using our smartphones to be buying things though? Because because there is so much hacking, because clearly we don't have the proper protection in place yet. Should we slow down how we're paying for things and go the old-fashioned route?
So if you wanna use your mobile phone as a, for an application to pay, I think it's perfectly fine as long as your device itself is secure. Same thing with your PC.
How do people know? How does the average consumer know if their device and their PC is secure? I mean, I haven't done anything to actually check, but when I'm on my phone and I see something on Amazon, I buy it. How do I really know if I've got a secure device?
So as long as you have updated operating systems, updated antivirus— if you have an Android, you want to have antivirus— making sure that your PC itself has antivirus, anti-spyware, anti-phishing, and a firewall. So basic cybersecurity 101. If you have that in place, then you are generally safe and secure to shop online.
And is Chase doing the right thing here?
So the retailers and the credit card companies, they generally have the systems in place as well.
All right, well, Robert, thank you so much for joining us. People need to be paying attention to your advice, not just the advice from stores offering great deals. You want to be protected when you're out there shopping. Nobody wants to get hacked. And Robert's saying, give Target a break, could happen to anybody. Robert Siciliano, he's McAfee's online security analyst. Thank you so much for joining us. And when we come back, the offer wasn't suitable, pun intended. Joseph A. Bank rejects takeover offer from Men's Wearhouse.
