The Daily Press
February 27, 2014
The recent theft of customer data from Target has had serious impact on the company's profits. Target is now making roughly half of what it made one year earlier. This is largely due to consumers' loss of trust in the company. Some good may come out of the event, however. Other companies may view it as a warning to increase their security. Some people think that the theft might be the impetus needed to spur the U.S. into the adoption of chip-and-PIN style credit cards (see earlier blog post).
In my opinion, making the switch to more advanced credit cards can only be a good thing. The United States is woefully behind the rest of the world in credit card technology. We need to make the switch in order to keep up with other countries. On another note, I think that it is rather silly for customers to lose so much faith in Target for its sales to drop by half. It could very easily have been some other store whose data was hacked. It isn't really Target's fault. Also, not shopping there now won't make a person any safer if his or her data has already been stolen.
The recent theft of customer data from Target has had serious impact on the company's profits. Target is now making roughly half of what it made one year earlier. This is largely due to consumers' loss of trust in the company. Some good may come out of the event, however. Other companies may view it as a warning to increase their security. Some people think that the theft might be the impetus needed to spur the U.S. into the adoption of chip-and-PIN style credit cards (see earlier blog post).
In my opinion, making the switch to more advanced credit cards can only be a good thing. The United States is woefully behind the rest of the world in credit card technology. We need to make the switch in order to keep up with other countries. On another note, I think that it is rather silly for customers to lose so much faith in Target for its sales to drop by half. It could very easily have been some other store whose data was hacked. It isn't really Target's fault. Also, not shopping there now won't make a person any safer if his or her data has already been stolen.
This incident could impact other businesses and the economy in a number of ways. For one, other companies have most likely felt the need to strengthen their defenses in the wake of the theft. They will not want their reputations to be tarnished as Target's is currently. Also, the push to switch to chip-and-PIN credit cards may be felt more strongly because this has happened. This would be a major shift because of the sheer number of new credit cards that would need to be issued. Businesses would need to acquire the means to accept the new type of card.
rainbow
rainbow
The credit card issue must be resolved in order for the U.S. to if anything meet world standards. As for a primary goal, I suppose more things are important at the time. Great follow up on the other post, and Miracle Mask is awesome
ReplyDeleteI agree with Daniel. The credit card issue must be resolved for us to meet world standards.
ReplyDeleteI understand why it would be difficult but the US should begin transitioning to the chip-PIN credit cards. It would provide more security and people would feel safer buying things. And the more people buy things the better our economy will get right?
ReplyDeleteI agree that advanced credit cards would make things easier. These cards would be safer and people would not have to worry as much. Technology is advancing and it is bound to happen sometime. It could be a rough start in the beginning because all businesses might not take them but they need to start somewhere.
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