HOW DRU CATCH SEES IT

"Temporary" Is Doing a Lot of Heavy Lifting in That Press Release

Hollys wants you to know that hackers didn't steal the real customer database. They stole the temporary copy of the customer database - the one that apparently sat around with 2.76 million people's birthdays, phone numbers, addresses and emails in it, unprotected, like a Post-it note on the front door. The distinction between "active database" and "temporary files from a past overhaul" is doing heroic work in that press statement. If you duplicated every customer's sensitive information into a side file and left it accessible for over a month, the word "temporary" doesn't mean what you think it means.

South Korea's Data Security Is Having a Whole Season, Not an Episode

This is a coffee chain that knows your latte order, your birthday, your home address and your email, and the best defense it could muster is: relax, the hackers only got the backup copy. South Korea's data security apparatus is having a month. Financial firms leaked customer data earlier in October, and now the local coffee shop has joined the party. At some point "the latest in a string of cyberattacks" stops being a news description and starts being a recurring calendar event.

They Apologized for Your Feelings, Not Their Security

Hollys "sincerely apologized for causing customer concern." Not for the breach itself - for the concern. The concern is the problem. Not the five weeks of unauthorized access. Not the 2.76 million records walking out the door. The worry you're feeling right now, that's what they're sorry about. Sleep well, your data is in good hands - well, several pairs of hands now, actually.