Forever 21 Reveals Data Breach
Fast-fashion retailer Forever 21 confirmed it's dealing with a major credit card data breach in its retail stores. PC Magazine reports Forever 21 explained how a third party recently informed the company that there may have been an unauthorized access to payment card data at a number of its retail locations. In a press release, Forever 21 shares it's not sure how far the breach extends, but an investigation is taking place.
"The company’s investigation is focused on card transactions in FOREVER 21 stores from March 2017–October 2017. Because the investigation is continuing, complete findings are not available, and it's too early to provide further details on the investigation. FOREVER 21 expects to provide an additional notice as it gets further clarity on the specific stores and time frames that may have been involved," the company said in a statement.
Total Retail's Take: This is troublesome news for Forever 21, especially right before the hectic holiday season. Over recent years, data breaches have become a common threat within the retail industry. If retailers haven’t invested in their IT and point-of-sale security, they should start now to protect themselves from malware, ransomware and other threats. Mark Cline, vice president at Netsurion, a provider of managed security services for multilocation businesses, shares some top tips for retailers to protect themselves from a data breach.
- Run a vulnerability scan, and update all operating system and software upgrades and patches immediately.
- Set up a next-generation security system. Buy, build or borrow the resources to stay ahead of threats and stop ransomware in its tracks by including:
- A next-generation firewall that includes rules you configure to control incoming and outgoing traffic. Manage it 24/7 to make it effective.
- Leverage the power of machine learning with user entity behavior analysis (UEBA). This model will do a deep dive on your logs and reports to get better and better at threat detection over time.
