It 205 Week 5 Checkpoint Tjx Companies University of Phoenix

After reading the story of TJX I can say they had the worst security crisis possible. Some of TJX's subordinate companies were using outdated SQL software which allowed the hackers to 'trick' the database by simulating data input into the tables and rows, this is called SQL Injection (SQLi). Alongside old database management software, they had no firewalls set up, they were using WEP encrypted connections instead of WPA/2 connections, they were not using a secure socket to transfer the sensitive data to and from card companies, they set up some security software poorly, and retained customer information much long than they were supposed to. Personally, I used to use SQLi on websites, crack WiFi connections, and implant sniffers onto servers so I know how bad their security was with all of this combined.

All TJX really needed to fix up their security was an update on their database management software, upgrade to WPA/2 security, switch from an open socket to a secure socket layer, and get a firewall for their server. A modern firewall-like software which is great for servers is called Cloud flare, they have a free edition, but is also rather cheap for their business. Cloud flare stops and D/DoS attacks, blocks unwanted access to the servers root, and can even block specific ip (ranges too!).

Because of the flaw in their security systems TJX had to recover and this cost them a lot of money. Not only in the price of paying for their upgrades and fixes. But they had to pay people to manage their security for 20 years, they paid settlements to people whom had lost money, and a lot more. Banks lost a lot of money because of this as well, with credit cards and debit cards, the hackers had free reign of the funds of the bank. They had to pay back any fraudulent payments! TJX knowingly let their security be as flawed as it was, their morals must have been tainted to allow this to go on. They could have spent only a small amount of money (compared to what they had to)...