Max Thielen Last year Target fell victim to a massive cyber attack that compromised data on

The system does so by creating a virtual image of the machine, which makes attackers think they are breaking into the actual machine when they are not. As a result, attackers expose their tactics and can be stopped before any damage is done (Whitney). The software is very clever and in this case, did detect intruders in the system before the attack. It can be concluded that the main cause for Target’s hack was human error. It is unknown why Target failed to act on the warning signs from their software. One journalist suggests that because testing on the new system had just ended a few months prior, there may have been some skepticism about it (Whitney). The fact that the manager at Target’s security operations center, Brian Bobo, had recently left the company with no replacement could also have been a factor. Target aimed to compensate customers by offering them a free credit monitoring service. The compensation package has done little to calm customers’ nerves, as it does not do anything to protect against fraud, just report it (White). Target found out the hard way, how important information security is. Strong public outcry is to be expected when millions of customer’s financial information is leaked. To add insult to injury, there is nothing the retailer can do to recover or protect the lost data. There are many ways Target can prevent future catastrophes from happening, however. Target needs to (and surely will) take security