FBI warns corporations to prepare for wave of cyberattacks

Over the last six months, Target, Neiman Marcus, and at least three other US retailers were the focus of attacks that resulted in millions of credit card details being stolen. Earlier this month the US government sent a 16-page document to retail companies, explaining how the hacks were orchestrated. Now the FBI has stepped in to warn similar corporations that they should be prepared to deal with similar attacks.

The FBI has warned U.S. retailers to prepare for more cyber attacks after discovering about 20 hacking cases in the past year that involved the same kind of malicious software used against Target Corp in the holiday shopping season. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation distributed a confidential, three-page report to retail companies last week describing the risks posed by “memory-parsing” malware that infects point-of-sale (POS) systems, which include cash registers and credit-card swiping machines found in store checkout aisles.