Tragic to many are the numerous hacking of mercantile websites. Credit cards and debit cards must be replaced or at least re-keyed with a new pass-code. Inconvenience, loss of identity, and loss of treasure are three of the consequences. Distrust of online in-store transactions is a collective consequence.
I have wondered how big companies, say like Target, can be so vulnerable to these ubiquitous hackers. After all, they do pay talented people to keep records secure. Are these folks lax, lazy, or incompetent? Are the hackers that much more talented?
So, I ask three questions.
A. Who is the best hacker? Answer. The one who's hacking doesn't get noticed; the one who doesn't get greedy; the one who remains off the radar screen of big activity.
B. Are there hackers from the outside that enter from the inside? Consider the CTO, Chief Technology Officer, of some company - or even some programmer with high level access. Suppose that person were compromised, personally or financially, in some way, and want the captured secret hidden. Might this person not be willing to give the inside access to the outside visitor? What is your guess?
C. What companies (or governments) have been hacked but don't even know it - for whatever reason.
Update.
The latest from Target (1/17/14) and their hacking debacle is that it has been determine the code was Russian based. Blaming it on those nasty and tricky Russians sells. It's believable. It resolves some aspects of the problem. Goodness, if it was Russians... what then else have they hacked into? But I wonder, really wonder. Some intruders cover their tracks. Some cast aspersions elsewhere. Some deflect the problem. My gosh, it was only yesterday when the Communists were blamed for a spectrum of problems. Some politicians turned this blame-game into a career.
