In the News
Another online retailer suffers data exposure. In 1-800-Flowers Becomes Latest Payment Breach Victim, Tara Seals at ThreatPost discusses how 1-800-FLOWERS Canadian customers may have had their financial information exposed in a recent breach. Seals explains that information typically found on a credit or debit card was exposed in this breach. Seals elaborates that customer information has been exposed for four years and that the company is taking measures to increase security on their website.
Our Take
When making online purchases, consumers trust that the platform will keep their payment information secure. However, with the frequency of payment breaches, this trust is often broken. Online retailers need to improve the identification and prevention of such exposures before they impact such a large number of customers. The 1-800-FLOWERS breach affected 75,000 customers who may appear small compared to the millions that are impacted from other data breaches making headlines, but the result of such a breach is that these 75,000 individuals are not at risk for identity theft and financial damage. On the consumer end, it is vital that we identify and research online retailers before making purchases and opt to make a payment with payment systems like PayPal which offer customer protection whenever possible.
Recommendations
How can you protect your personal and financial information from data breaches?
- Understand the risks of putting your personal information into the world, and only share what you have to
- Minimize the number of accounts that have direct access to your bank account or card numbers
- Don’t reuse your account passwords, and take advantage of multi-factor authentication whenever possible
- Track your finances closely to notice suspicious transactions before they become dangerous
- Stay up to date on the news regarding recent data breaches and exposures to see if you may have been affected