The number of cyber attacks on retailers fell in recent months, according to Women’s Wear Daily, as hackers have focused on “smaller, softer targets,” in the wake of data security crackdowns by major retailers. According to a report by IBM’s Managed Security Services unit, the number of attacks on U.S. retailers last year was only about half the number of breaches in 2012. The number of hacks in 2014 dropped to about 61 million records from 73 million in the previous year.
“The threat from organized cyber crime rings remains the largest security challenge for retailers,” said Kris Lovejoy, general manager of IBM Security Services. “It is imperative that security leaders and [chief information security officers] in particular use their growing influence to ensure they have the right people, processes and technology in place to take on these growing threats.”