I’m speechless…

Despite a market capitalization of almost $13bn, it appears the company couldn’t afford to secure its Wi-Fi network with anything more robust than the woefully inadequate Wired Equivalent Privacy protocol. (The much more secure Wi-Fi Protected Access has come standard on most routers for four years now.) It also failed to use firewalls or install software patches and disregarded requirements imposed by Visa and MasterCard concerning how card information is stored and transmitted.

[…]

All told, the breach could cost TJX $1bn over five years in costs for consultants, security upgrades, attorney fees and damage-control marketing, analysts from Forrester Research estimate.

Significantly, Forrester’s estimate doesn’t include liabilities that may result from lawsuits, such as one recently filed by associations representing almost 300 Northeastern banks in the US.

Plenty of banks have been saddled with costs resulting from the breach. Banking associates are lobbying federal and state lawmakers for legislation that would require companies who suffer security breaches to absorb the costs of issuing new credit cards.

From the Register.