Comparative Analysis of Data Breaches: A Case Study Report

This report analyzes the data breaches at Heartland Payment Systems and Target, providing a comparative analysis of the incidents. It examines the causes, including the injection of malware and third-party vulnerabilities. The report details the financial impact of the breaches, including penalties and losses. Furthermore, it provides insights into the mitigation strategies that can be implemented to prevent future incidents, such as end-to-end encryption, tokenization, and the adoption of chip technology. The report highlights the importance of robust security measures for organizations that handle sensitive customer data and financial transactions. The report concludes by discussing the future of data security and the measures that can be taken to mitigate the risks associated with cyberattacks.

Running head: DATA BREACH OF 21ST CENTURY
Data Breach of 21st Century
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1DATA BREACH OF 21ST CENTURY
Table of Contents
Slide 1.........................................................................................................................................2
Slide 2.........................................................................................................................................2
Slide 3.........................................................................................................................................2
Slide 4.........................................................................................................................................2
Slide 5.........................................................................................................................................3
Slide 6.........................................................................................................................................3
Slide 7.........................................................................................................................................3

2DATA BREACH OF 21ST CENTURY
Slide 1
This slide gives a perfect reflection of the security data breach at Heartland Payment
Systems. The company started to face disruptions in the payment processing systems that are
associated with the customers. In the year 2009, the company first faced this type of
disruptions that lead to the loss of the company information that consisted of personal and
important data of the customers that are associated with the transactions in relation with this
organization.
Slide 2
This section will give a brief idea about how the company was targeted by the hackers
and the methodology that they adapted to hack the network systems of Heartland Payment
Systems. Moreover, in the next slide we will be discussing about a similar security breach at
another organization that is Target Stores.
Slide 3
This slide will give a proper identification of a similar kind of security data breach
that occurred at the Target stores, an innovated departmental store service provider. This
organization also came across this type of data security breach by the year 2013, and this
breach primarily affected more than 70 billion customers. The methodology that the hackers
adapted for creating a vulnerability in the system of Target Stores was different from that of
Heartland Payment Systems.
Slide 4
This slide goes through the comparison of the methodologies used by the hackers to
attack the network systems of the above stated two organizations. Heartland Payment
System’s breach was caused due to the injection of the spywares in the SQL Codes whereas

3DATA BREACH OF 21ST CENTURY
for the Target Stores the breach was caused due to the third party intervention at the HVAC
to its POS which resulted in the exposure of a high amount of personal data to the hackers
and the data of the customers were comprised
Slide 5
This slide deals with the after effects of the security data breaches. In case of
Heartland Payment Systems, the total loss that incurred was about $140 million that the
organization paid as penalties whereas the Target Systems incurred a total loss of $162 billion
regarding this breach. Further, the slide will provide the future mitigation techniques that can
be adapted by these organizations to restrict these kind of breaches in the near future.
Slide 6
Lastly, this slide puts a reflection in the overall security data breach regarding the
organization that deals with such kind of huge level transactions. The organizations that
depends on the high usage of the customer personal information and transacts with the
customer’s financial accounts should use the technologies such as end-to-end encryption,
tokenization or implementation of the chip technology. These technologies can help the
organization to restrict such kind of security breaches in the near future.