2013 was not a year of pride for retail chain Target. One of the largest data breaches known to date occurred between November 27 and December 15. Not only was it one of the largest such attacks known to date, but it also opened the eyes of many who may not have paid any attention to the world of cybersecurity. The Target hack led to the compromise of 40 million credit and debit card accounts, and that was only the initial known outcome. After some time, research revealed that a total of 110 million Target customers were victims of this gigantic hack. Although cybercrimes often occur in the United States, the biggest problem is that they also attack criminals from other countries overseas. In an initial report, the data breach was found to have compromised all Target stores nationwide and involved the theft of credit card numbers and customer data stored within the magnetic strips of cards used in stores. It was believed to have occurred right after Thanksgiving and into December (Krebs, 2013). Online shoppers were apparently believed to be safe from hacking and that only stores were attacked. Now, the break-in was believed to be the result of a visit to one of Target's stores by an HVAC company called Fazio Mechanical Services of Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. Krebs (2014) stated, “Target told reporters from the Wall Street Journal and Reuters that the initial intrusion into its systems was traced to network credentials stolen from a third-party vendor” (para. 1). More along these lines, the attackers managed to load the stolen card with malicious software into the Target store cash registers...... middle of paper ...... the end of the world against digital crime or maybe it could become a blessing in disguise. It is quite credible that this type of crime and much more will continue and even become more prominent. However, the Target breach could teach the cybersecurity world a lesson or two about exactly what to do to eliminate these attacks where they can or simply mitigate them when elimination isn't possible. Regardless of what the future holds, the most certain outcome that needs to be addressed is that the world of cybersecurity needs to get better at catching these types of attacks before they happen or preventing them altogether. It would be wonderful to be able to say one day that these crimes no longer exist; however, this is more likely a rather far-fetched dream than the reality of permanently coexisting with criminals within future networks.