The Hannaford Breach A Costly Lesson for Retailers

It's prime time for penny-pinching, but skimping can cost you big in the long run. Just ask Hannaford Supermarket. Customers who used their credit or debit cards at a Hannaford store between December of 2007 and March of 2008 might have had their information stolen. Many people blame sub-par security measures for this breach; Trojan software was found on computers in all 300 store locations. How could this happen?
Retailers have a target on their backs, and identity thieves are taking aim. This is the third major retailer security breach in recent months. Thieves use 'Trojan horses' - malicious programs that masquerade as something else in order to infiltrate a network - to gain access to private information. Just clicking an e-mail attachment can set off a Trojan. And since these programs are sneaky and constantly evolving, anti-virus software and firewalls might not be enough to stop them.
Retailers need to educate every employee with access to the Internet about the threat of malware. They should also invest more time and money into beefing up their security. In all of the major breaches, store-level network security failed to detect the problem. Maybe some expert advice is called for?
Card holders should also take a lesson from Hannaford's unfortunate incident: check your credit card statements often. If you see charges you don't recognize, get in touch with your card company. Remember that today's thieves don't necessarily make huge, obvious purchases. These days, they might be nickel and diming your credit limit to the max. It's impossible to predict which retailer will fall prey next time, so keep track of your spending. You could also invest in a one of the new security-conscious credit cards that generates a new number with each transaction, invalidating the old number after you make a purchase.