• Credit
• Data Breach
• Fraud
• Identity Theft
• Other News
• Privacy
• Reviews
• Scams
• Tips
• Truston

« Previous Post | Blog Home | Next Post »

Banks Fight Back Against TJX in Data Breach

Posted on Feb 16, 2007 by Tom Fragala

The Canadian Privacy Law Blog (great blog, not just about Canada) pointed me to this eye opening story in a CIO Magazine blog. It is important because a bank seems to have tied the TJ Maxx security breach directly back to a surge in fraud. Banks might use this as a wedge, now and in the future, to push back against the companies that are responsible for the losses, rather than just write it off and absorb the loss themselves.  This could be an important shift in thinking. If those responsible for the security of our data fear the wrath of lawsuits and monetary loss, then the inventive to improve security will greatly increase. This could indirectly result in a more secure environment for consumer privacy.

Here is an excerpt from the CIO article:

The Massachusetts Bankers Association (TJX is based in Framingham, Mass.) claims it has connected the dots. A small bank that is an MBA member linked a spike in fraudulent credit card purchases last month to the TJX break in. If so, that’d be huge. Until now, there has been no smoking gun, and it remains to be seen whether the MBA, or a bank acting on its own, or Visa or Mastercard can make such a connection.

The banking industry is becoming exasperated by being the one left holding financial bag, and TJX may be the first to feel the industry’s wrath. We’ll have to wait and see. But without a higher likelihood that a company could get caught for not notifying customers of a security breach or for not following standard, industry-accepted security procedures to protect personal information, the breaches will continue to occur.