This shows where their priorities lie. This is also the same company that got hacked and lost credit card data of customers through their HVAC system. Bet nothing has really changed there as far as cyber security goes.
A lot has changed on the inside at Target since then. They’ve rolled the whole stack in house (even switching to Linux), locked down, and hardened a lot both inside and out.
I was amused finding out that cashiers basically no longer sign onto the registers using the register. They sign onto a myDevice (a Zebra handheld) elsewhere and keep it with them, then use that to scan a rotating PDF417 on screen on the register to complete signon as a 2FA device.
That’s on top of a lot of built in POS restrictions now to limit where certain transactions (like gift card functions) are completable to avoid people trying to swipe devices or signons from outer area unattended registers.
That signin via device is hilarious because it didn't work the last time I was there; the lady had to find someone else who could sign in for her because her device wasn't connecting or something.
I'm sure you meant the code was changing periodically, but now I'm expecting some pseudo-cyberpunk "rapidly spinning barcode" authenticator to show up in a movie...
a) that puts an upper cap on how much it makes sense to spend on theft prevention (notably target does not indicate how much money it spends on such activities)
B) such activities can reduce revenues in the first place. For example I don’t even bother going to retailers because they have so many obstacles with locked cabinets that online shopping is just a smoother experience.
The markup is around 30% or higher on each item (or at least that was the case back when I last studied business)
I get there are overheads but that’s spread across all products and supermarkets have a lot of products.
So you’d still have to have a lot of theft in a supermarket before you get close to a dent in those 2% margins.
Edit: as an aside, this is also why high value items such as alcohol are usually at the back of the store. It’s easier to identify and catch someone stealing if they’ve attempted to conceal a product for the entirely length of the shop.
kotaKat|1 month ago
I was amused finding out that cashiers basically no longer sign onto the registers using the register. They sign onto a myDevice (a Zebra handheld) elsewhere and keep it with them, then use that to scan a rotating PDF417 on screen on the register to complete signon as a 2FA device.
That’s on top of a lot of built in POS restrictions now to limit where certain transactions (like gift card functions) are completable to avoid people trying to swipe devices or signons from outer area unattended registers.
bombcar|1 month ago
eichin|1 month ago
lotsofpulp|1 month ago
Zigurd|1 month ago
vlovich123|1 month ago
B) such activities can reduce revenues in the first place. For example I don’t even bother going to retailers because they have so many obstacles with locked cabinets that online shopping is just a smoother experience.
nothercastle|1 month ago
hnlmorg|1 month ago
I get there are overheads but that’s spread across all products and supermarkets have a lot of products.
So you’d still have to have a lot of theft in a supermarket before you get close to a dent in those 2% margins.
Edit: as an aside, this is also why high value items such as alcohol are usually at the back of the store. It’s easier to identify and catch someone stealing if they’ve attempted to conceal a product for the entirely length of the shop.
tencentshill|1 month ago