i-net blog

I see that TJX have taken a $12 million charge costs to “investigate and contain the intrusion, enhance computer security and systems, and communicate with customers, as well as technical, legal, and other fees.”

According to some reports this is actually no where the total cost which is estimated at some $25 million once provisions have been made for all the lawsuits that are coming round the corner from various banks a individuals.

Now the initial breach seems to have been tracked back to an insecure wifi setup at one of there stores in Minnesota. Investigators told The Wall Street Journal they believe the thieves aimed a telescope-shaped antenna at the store and used a laptop to snatch data transmitted between hand-held price-checking devices, cash registers and the store’s computers. The exploit eventually led them into the central database of Framingham-based TJX, where they would repeatedly rob the system of sensitive customer data.

Seeing as the company has been so lax in its approach to securing customer data and adhering to some pretty basic security principles etc. they deserve everything that comes there way. This is not just a case of making a simple mistake, but gross miscompetence.