Americans worried about their credit card security heard for the first time Tuesday from executives at hacked retailers, and their message was two-fold. First, they’re sorry. And second, the attacks on computers at Target, Neiman Marcus, and many other retailers are different than any other they’ve faced.
Target Chief Financial Officer John Mulligan and Neiman Marcus Chief Information Officer Michael Kingston testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in front of a packed hearing room — some frustrated would-be observers were left out in the hallway. The hearing was the second of three to be held by Congress this week that will examine the ongoing massive credit card heists. On Monday, the payments industry spoke before the Senate Banking Committee; on Tuesday, retailers had their turn.
Target’s Mulligan began by saying his firm was “deeply sorry…we know this breach has shaken (consumers’) confidence.” He offered a brief accounting of the attack, but provided no new details.
Kingston didn’t offer many insights into the still-burning questions around the hacks — who did it, and how. But he did try to cast the retailers as victims of an attack that few, if any, companies could have withstood.
“No system — no matter how sophisticated — is completely immune from cyber attack,” Kingston told the committee. The malware used “had a zero percent anti-virus detection rate.”
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