Application Security Taking Center Stage for Retailers

In the past year, serious breaches impacting multinational corporations called into question retail software security. The most impactful of these attacks, sustained by Target late last year, was due to a third-party application that was integrated into Target's system without being properly screened. Over 70 million customer records with names and email addresses were stolen from point-of-sale stations, and about 2 million credit cards were stolen and resold on the black market. Similar attacks struck retail giant Neiman Marcus and popular restaurant chain PF Chang's, leading to unauthorized credit card activity and consumer data theft.