Retailer Forever 21 recently suffered data breach. Affected information includes credit and debit card information at some Forever 21 locations. Third party notified the company about the breach.
“We immediately began an investigation of our payment card systems and engaged a leading security and forensics firm to assist us,” the company mentioned.
Forever 21 has encryption and tokenization solutions. It mentioned that only some point of sale (PoS) devices where affected. The company do not know the affected location.
Obsidian Security CTO Ben Johnson mentioned that the breach is a reminder that every retailer is a target. “Holiday shoppers should be diligent in monitoring their account activity, and should consider Apple Pay or cash if they are feeling less confident about the security of the retailers’ systems,” he said.
“Retailers should understand that any areas of weakness, such as those few systems without multi-factor authentication or encryption, will eventually find themselves victim of compromise,” Johnson added. “In some ways things are improving on the defensive side, but we cannot forget that the attackers often innovate faster.”
Recent survey by SiteLock shows that there is growing concern for online shopping. The findings are as below –
Twenty seven percent worry about the information being compromised
Sixty-five percent mentioned that they will not return to the website after it got hacked
Fifty two percent say a store which provides a secure payment network makes them confident
Another survey conducted by Paysafe has below findings –
Fifty nine percent of U.S. consumers believe fraud is an inevitable part of shopping online
Fifty eight percent said that they are willing to accept any security measures needed to eradicate fraud
Thirty nine percent of US businesses believe their customers would prefer increased security
“For years, consumers have had to overcome the apprehension that businesses know too much about them — from shoe sizes to food preferences,” Paysafe CEO Todd Linden said in a statement. “But as the payment world evolves, it is this knowledge that will make individuals more secure.”
“The evolution of big data will make payments smarter and easier and help to redress the balance between security and convenience,” Linden added. “Big data will be the ultimate key to tightening up security at PoS, online and in brick and mortar environments.”
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AlertSec ACCESS is a patent pending technology designed to check that devices are encrypted before access to a network is granted. Encrypted devices secure your data even if they are lost or stolen.