Target hit expanding

Revelations over the theft of financial data from Target and other retailers keeps blanketing the news.  With more and more businesses added to the list of companies who are part of the massive data breach, at least one-third of Americans have been affected with the list growing.  Because the internet was built on the naïve assumption that no one would use it for criminal acts, the information technology we depend on everyday for our financial system is inherently vulnerable.  As threats of this nature have increased in frequency, the tech and banking sectors have been in a race against technologically sophisticated criminals to protect our personal and financial data.  Like a nuclear bomb getting into the hands of terrorists, this massive breach may represent a catastrophic turning point in that struggle to safeguard our financial system and our identities.  As such, we can probably expect this drama to continue for some time while we will likely have to see some radical changes in public policies regarding the handling of financial data and personal information.