3 chapters across the catalog
Target stores worldwide experienced a massive technical outage on June 15, 2019, preventing cashiers from scanning merchandise and forcing some locations to close. The company attributed the two-hour disruption to an internal technology issue rather than a data breach. Media coverage of the event is criticized for overusing the word "glitch" without providing substantive technical details regarding the point-of-sale failure.
Chipotle Credit Card Hack, Fraudulent Gift Card Charges
A fraudulent charge at Chipotle triggered a security freeze on a primary credit card during international travel. The breach appears linked to a wider hack of Chipotle's point-of-sale systems in June 2017, where stolen data was used to purchase online gift cards. The resulting card cancellation caused widespread failures for various automated digital services and transportation apps like Uber.
C-SPAN Call-In Pranks, Target Data Breach Update
A retrospective of C-SPAN call-in pranks is briefly mentioned before shifting to an update on the Target data breach. A technician's email suggests that Target was replacing all point-of-sale units nationwide just before the breach. The hosts speculate that the new units, manufactured in China, may have had skimmers pre-installed, which would implicate the manufacturing process in the theft of customer data.
