Despite the fact that PCI DSS has been in effect for over a decade, and most merchants are achieving compliance, some of the world’s largest retailers have been hit by to data breaches. The sad truth is that achieving compliance doesn’t guarantee data protection, even for large organizations. For example, more than five million credit card numbers were stolen in 2018 hacks of two major retailers.
The recent hack on British Airways is alarming to say the least, and it’s not just because roughly 380,000 payment cards were compromised. British Airways is a huge company earning millions each year. These sorts of companies are heavily regulated and are required to be Level 1 PCI complaint (the highest level of compliance).
A consumer electronics retailer has confirmed a data breach attempt to compromise the details of 5.9 million payment cards. On 13 June, Dixons Carphone released a notice disclosing its investigation into an instance of unauthorized data access. The company came across the suspicious activity while reviewing its systems and data. Subsequently, it contacted security experts to help determine what happened.
