When many consumers shop using their credit or debit cards, they do not realize that they could potentially become victims of security breaches and identity theft. Recently one of the nation’s largest retailers, Target, had a security breach, which put millions of consumers’ information at risk. The cybercriminals were able to access all the information seen on credit cards such as names, credit card account numbers, security codes as well as expiration dates. Consumers tend to think that their information is secure, mainly based on the presumption that large corporations have reliable security measures. When the breach was first discovered, Michael Sutton, a vice president for research at ZScaler expressed his knowledge regarding cybercriminals. Sutton states that that, “There’s not a great deal customers can do…if they’ve been informed of a breach”, and continues to insist, “No one is immune.”
During the early stages of investigation into the breach, JPMorgan Chase assisted customers who could have been potential victims by placing caps on daily purchases and withdrawals. Shortly after, it was discovered that the cybercriminals were able to access encrypted PIN numbers although they were initially assumed to be safe. Citibank, however, seemed to disagree that the PIN numbers were compromised. They stated that the PIN numbers were all still “safe and secure”. Despite the PINs being safe and secure, they also took the initiative to replace debit cards for customers who may have been impacted to reassure customers of their safety.
It seemed that the cybercriminals were merely looking to steal credit card account numbers and gain access to bank accounts. In the midst of the security breach, customers discovered that Target had access to information that they may have not recalled sharing with the corporation. Professor Musheno had mentioned during lecture that someone from Target had sent him an email notifying him of the breach. Professor Musheno was unaware that he had provided the company with his personal email address. It seems a mystery how these companies store information about their consumers. More often than not, it seems that people are quite willing to share their personal information since they assume it is safe to do so, and the store might even offer an incentive if they share a bit of information.
The fact that hackers were able to acquire such personal information raises concerns for the safety of consumers’ information. While the banks and corporations work together to attempt to protect customers by issuing new cards, consumers should still be quite careful when using credit cards. It seems impractical in this day and age to carry around large amounts of cash when it can be easily accessed directly from one’s bank account from a piece of plastic. Every time consumers swipe their credit cards or enter the numbers online, they should realize that they are at risk (no matter how minimal) of having their information viewed by people who are not authorized.
During the early stages of investigation into the breach, JPMorgan Chase assisted customers who could have been potential victims by placing caps on daily purchases and withdrawals. Shortly after, it was discovered that the cybercriminals were able to access encrypted PIN numbers although they were initially assumed to be safe. Citibank, however, seemed to disagree that the PIN numbers were compromised. They stated that the PIN numbers were all still “safe and secure”. Despite the PINs being safe and secure, they also took the initiative to replace debit cards for customers who may have been impacted to reassure customers of their safety.
It seemed that the cybercriminals were merely looking to steal credit card account numbers and gain access to bank accounts. In the midst of the security breach, customers discovered that Target had access to information that they may have not recalled sharing with the corporation. Professor Musheno had mentioned during lecture that someone from Target had sent him an email notifying him of the breach. Professor Musheno was unaware that he had provided the company with his personal email address. It seems a mystery how these companies store information about their consumers. More often than not, it seems that people are quite willing to share their personal information since they assume it is safe to do so, and the store might even offer an incentive if they share a bit of information.
The fact that hackers were able to acquire such personal information raises concerns for the safety of consumers’ information. While the banks and corporations work together to attempt to protect customers by issuing new cards, consumers should still be quite careful when using credit cards. It seems impractical in this day and age to carry around large amounts of cash when it can be easily accessed directly from one’s bank account from a piece of plastic. Every time consumers swipe their credit cards or enter the numbers online, they should realize that they are at risk (no matter how minimal) of having their information viewed by people who are not authorized.
As we have already discussed, it is clear that convenience plays an important role in the choices that we make. It is less convenient to have cash on us, and even then we can’t carry so much cash for safety reasons. This makes us think more carefully before we go out and decide to purchase something. Given the case that we do purchase something with cash, there is for the most part no trail left behind. With a credit/debit card, the piece of plastic is right there and allows for us to purchase many things on the spot. Thus, we are less likely to think carefully about the purchases that we make. All it takes is a swipe of the card and not only is it a purchase that we make, but we are also depositing our personal information found in these plastic cards to these companies. This all has plenty to do with the idea that we are increasingly becoming consumers rather than citizens. Although it is more of a hassle to carry cash because it takes up more space in our pockets than a card and we have to go get it from the bank, it might be worthwhile to do this rather than to continuously put ourselves at risk for things such as identity theft.
ReplyDeleteLiliana Vazquez
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing and at the same time disturbing to know how my data is gather, stored, share and sell by private companies. I was always thought that the government was the one doing those kind of things; it never crossed my mind that by using my credit I was giving (without knowing) personal information to make my profile.
After reading Super Vision and taking this class, I am learning how to be more careful when I use technology. I do not want people to know everything about me. As you mentioned before, we do not need to carry cash and our sensitivity information on us to be robbed. It is sad to know that we cannot have some privacy when we use technology.
Dylan Tong
ReplyDeleteAlthough we live in a day and age where technology makes the world a lot more convenient, the limit to this "convenience" seems to be ambiguous. I think it is eerie how much information companies can extract from just one use of your credit/debit card number. I had a similar experience to Professor Musheno insofar as I received an email about my credit card being used in another part of the country while I was quietly sitting at home. What was really odd about the email was that it wasn't just one email, but it was about seven emails sent to seven different email accounts. I've switched between emails in the past few years and I used each one for a different online order or purchase whenever they ask to provide an email address to send the receipt/for more information. However, I never expected my bank to gain access to all the emails that could potentially be linked to the email, since I have only one email linked to my online bank account. It just goes to show how much we really know about what information is being recorded and what information is being released to other "private" companies.
Sophie Park
ReplyDeleteI think Erica demonstrates a really good point here in terms of the pros and cons of using credit cards or cash. As some of you already pointed out as well, the convenience of carrying credit cards for the daily purchases is where we find letting those credit card companies collect our personal information inevitable. We like when things are easy, simple, and convenient; especially, when repeating the same tasks such as purchasing goods in a daily basis, we would rather carrying a single plastic card than carrying and counting all the dollars in my wallet. However, I started to wonder if the convenience of using credit card is the only reason we take the risk of our personal information being leaked. Probably not. I think it comes to the point how much information we actually AGREE or DISAGREE to give out when we decide to provide our information at first place. When we request a new credit card, we AGREE to provide our personal but “basic” information to be benefited from the convenience of using the credit card; such as our names, home address, phone number, and social security number. Because we ourselves think and consent that this much of information is OKAY to be collected by the company, we voluntarily give out the information when understanding that they will retain our information and the records of my transactions. So, I personally think that we have been unwittingly agreeing on providing a certain amount of information that we do not always see the risk behind or we ignore the risk that can be resulted from that one time agreement. Therefore, not only it is a question of those companies who illegally use our information without consent, or the breach that they are not aware of, but also it is a question about how much information we think is okay to be provided at first place. It seems very controversial for me.
Tiarra Pittman:
ReplyDeleteI think that Erica made some really interesting points in her blog post. In fact, It made me realize something else that was very interesting. As a society, we have evolved from being ruled by cash to being ruled by plastic. It used to be that paying with cash was "cool" and carrying it around was form a status. Now, owning multiple credit cards with outrageous, or even limitless, credit limits is of social value. I feel like we switched because we thought carrying cash was unsafe. While we have protected ourselves from more immediate, interactive danger, we have now subjected ourselves to the dangers of cyber criminals and identity thieves. We haven't actually gotten any safer. Danger is still present, its just no longer an immediate, visible threat. I would argue that since the switch, we have actually subjected ourselves to even more danger. The effects of being cyber-hacked, or having your whole identify stolen is way more damaging than having some cash taken from you. Cash can always be replaced, your identity and your credit cannot.
Liliana Guerrero
ReplyDeleteOctober 2014 I got a Target card. I didn't find out about the breach until Christmas because I went home and had access to TV. At first I was not worried, but then I could not access my email, target account or my bank account through my cellphone. For some reason my email would not let me at all log in and I told my mom my stupid email had better security than Target. Until I had access to internet and using my laptop I found out I was not a victim. I was happy Chase was taking making precautions and protecting its clients. They issued me a new card but I was surprised they didn't make us use new pins. Some websites make you reset your password if you forget it and I expected Chase to do the same. Now I know why they didn't.
These data breaches by Target corporation do not surprise me. They have happned before and will continue to happen. Consumers tend to have a false sense of security when using digital forms of currenecy. Also, I belive consumers chose to be oblivious about the data that is collected about them. Of course Target has profiles for indiviuals consumers and tries to track what they buy, this all in an effort to sell more stuff. In this case, Target is using survallence to incerase profits while putting consumers personal information in jeapordy.
ReplyDelete-Jarred Boone
Erica's post brings up a very relevant question in the current economic situation in the U.S. This question can be summed up as whether the convenience of plastic means of payment outweighs the potential harm that it can bring. In the near future, more attention should be given to who collects certain types of private information and how it is collected though plastic means of payment.
ReplyDeleteAlejandro Castellano
I really do think it's astonishing that more than just our credit card information is at risk when we do our shopping in this day and age. As Erica mentioned in this post, email addresses were compromised during the security breach, even when customers like Professor Musheno hadn't provided such information. This raises concerns about what else could possibly be at the disposal of cyber-hackers or, in many ways just as concerning, the Target corporation itself. I think this can also be tied to a theme we raised last week in discussion; the price of convenience is privacy, and as the world becomes more digitized and information access becomes more centralized it is clear that this trade off will become more apparent outside of mere shopping records.
ReplyDelete- Atreyue Ryken
I was also a victim of the Target information breach and received an email from Target to my personal email account. I've always known that through online shopping, most websites kept a history of your credit card information, but I'd never considered the actual store registers to also retain that type of information (looking back on it now... why not?) I'd also never shared my email with Target, so it makes me wonder where they might have gotten that information. Did they make the effort in searching for it? Or did another retailer that I've trusted sell this information to them? And if so who else could gain access to this information?
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I've never really aware of the information I give out most of the time. Now after I read the article, few flashbacks ran into my head including the moment when I'm applying for Target or Wells Fargo card. I gave out my social security number, my income and email without hesitating. I'm now thinking to myself, what makes me trust these companies that much? They didn't even state when I was applying that the information will be confidential. Moreover, even though they state that it's confidential, how do we know that it's really safe? Now we are living in a technological world, everything seems to be easier and convenient for us but also at the same time it comes with a very terrifying crime. Some hackers might even be able to steal your identity from information online or even hack your bank accounts.
ReplyDeleteWarinya Rojanasuwan