The holidays are the peak time of year for all types of money-making scams, schemes, and trickery. This is true in the physical world, as well as the digital world. Thieves aim to take advantage of anyone they can during this time of year, as there is a lot of money being tossed around just before Christmas.
Data thieves are some of the most dangerous. They will not run up to you in a dark alley, wielding a knife, and demand your cash... No, these thieves are much more cunning. Sometimes, when you have been robbed by a hacker, you won't even know it until creditors start calling you and demanding money.
These cyber-thieves get their loot by accessing credit card numbers and information that is being stored on big data servers. Most of the time, these servers are the servers for retail shops and credit card companies, and clearinghouses. By breaking through the servers' network security, these hackers get a long and detailed list of thousands and thousands of shoppers and their payment information.
Retailers with intense data loss prevention firewalls installed are less likely to receive an attack by these hackers, but the hackers are smart, and they are often able to crack even the most advanced security profiles.
The lesson of the story, is to warn all you Christmas shoppers to be vigilent this Christmas season, be watchful, safe, and pay close attention to your finances, as thieves are targeting you as we speak.
