Rippleshot Blog

Zach Walker

Zach is an alumnus of the University of Missouri-Columbia. After earning his B.A. in International Studies, he moved back home to Chicago before joining Rippleshot. When he's not managing marketing, he enjoys cheering for the Chicago Bulls, Blackhawks and Bears, improving his culinary skills, or discovering a new favorite restaurant in Chicago.
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Recent Posts

One Month After EMV - Where Do We Stand?

Posted by Zach Walker on Oct 29, 2015 11:07:17 AM


It has been almost a month since EMV’s adoption began here in the United States, and many consumers are still unaware of this massive change in the payment ecosystem. While you would be hard-pressed to find a payments expert who would classify the EMV shift as a disaster, when it rains, it pours.

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Topics: Industry News, EMV

Data Breach Ripples: Week of October 23

Posted by Zach Walker on Oct 23, 2015 1:30:00 PM

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In this week's issue, Russian hackers breached the DOW Jones, a new survey shows 1 in 5 American households are victims Of a data breach, EA studios denies data breach after data dump discovered online, another EMV exploit has been discovered by security researchers and for this week's Rippleshot content, we look at the effect EMV is having on small businesses and how it's grabbed the attention of Capitol Hill.

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Topics: Data Breach Ripples

Data Breach Ripples: Week of October 16

Posted by Zach Walker on Oct 16, 2015 1:00:00 PM

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In this week's issue, the FBI issues a warning about EMV's security, America's Thrift Stores suffers a data breach, retail and healthcare premiums increase for cyber insurance, Uber exposes its users' information in another data breach and this week, we discuss the problems with score-based decline rules.

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Topics: Data Breach Ripples

Data Breach Ripples: Week of October 9

Posted by Zach Walker on Oct 9, 2015 1:30:00 PM

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In this week's issue, Scottrade announces that it has been breached, compromised identities are used at a greater frequency for fraudulent attempts, the company behind SamsungPay has been hacked, an IP address linked to the Uber data breach allegedly connected to Lyft's CTO and in this week's blog post, we continue our blog series on cybersecurity and foreign affairs. 

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Topics: Data Breach Ripples

Walking A Tight Rope Between Cybersecurity and Foreign Affairs - China

Posted by Zach Walker on Oct 7, 2015 10:35:33 AM


Welcome to the second part of our blog series on cybersecurity and foreign affairs. Last week, we covered the recent data breaches and security incidents involving Russian-based hackers that have targeted organizations here in the United States, including the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the White House. 

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Topics: Compromises, Industry News

Data Breach Ripples: Week of October 2

Posted by Zach Walker on Oct 2, 2015 1:00:00 PM

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In this week's issue, a potential card breach is being investigated at Hilton Properties, mobile payments data breaches continue to grow, T-Mobile announces a data breach, a former CVS employee steals the personal information of 55K Members and for this week's Rippleshot content, we start our two-part blog series on cybersecurity and foreign affairs.

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Topics: Data Breach Ripples

Walking A Tight Rope Between Cybersecurity and Foreign Affairs - Russia

Posted by Zach Walker on Oct 1, 2015 11:44:19 AM


In 2014, over 1 billion records were stolen due to data breaches and other security-related incidents. Some of the most well known brands here in the United States were the target of cyberattacks, making it nearly impossible to not be affected, or know of someone who had been.

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Topics: Compromises, Industry News

Data Breach Ripples: Week of September 25

Posted by Zach Walker on Sep 25, 2015 2:00:00 PM

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In this week's issue, the cost of retail fraud increases by 94%, an ex-Morgan Stanley adviser pleads guilty In connection with data breach, a total cost required to recover from a data breach has been identified, the OPM data breach is worse than expected...again, and for this week's Rippleshot content, we ask if consumers and merchants are ready for the EMV migration. 

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Topics: Data Breach Ripples

Data Breach Ripples: Week of September 18

Posted by Zach Walker on Sep 18, 2015 1:00:00 PM

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In this week's issue, the Department of Energy has been hacked over 150 times, nearly 80 percent of SMBs are not ready for EMV, more news surrounding the Ashley Madison breach, the cyber insurance market is expected to reach $7.5 billion by 2020 and this week, we look at the recent court ruling making it easier for consumers to sue businesses over data breaches.  

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Topics: Data Breach Ripples

It's Now Easier For Consumers To Sue Over Data Breaches

Posted by Zach Walker on Sep 17, 2015 2:30:21 PM

 

In 2013, the Target data breach had everyone from consumers, businesses, financial institutions and those who sit somewhere in-between, trying to navigate following a catastrophic data theft. Consumers frustrated by the retailer’s data security standards attempted to bring Target to justice through class action lawsuits. However, a recent court ruling has made it much easier for organizations that suffer a data breach to be sued by affected customers. Up until late July, breached companies were able to use a legal rule to shield them from potential damages related to class action lawsuits.

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Topics: Industry News, Lawsuits

Data Breach Ripples: Week of September 11

Posted by Zach Walker on Sep 11, 2015 2:00:00 PM

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Today is the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Our thoughts are with all those affected by the tragic events of that day.

In this week's issue: eighty-one percent of healthcare organizations say they have been compromised, Costco's photo center reopens after security concerns, Yahoo ads have been used to spread malware, California State University suffers a data breach and for this week's Rippleshot content, we get you up to date on everything you need to know about card cracking.

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Topics: Data Breach Ripples

Data Breach Ripples: Week of September 04

Posted by Zach Walker on Sep 4, 2015 1:16:50 PM

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In this week's issue: the Utah Food Bank suffers a data breach, the Obama administration is drafting possible sanctions for China, a new strain of iPhone malware has been discovered, the U.S. government will pay at least $133 million for the OPM data breach and in this week's Rippleshot blog post,  Rippleshot CEO Canh Tran looks at the 2015 holiday season and if consumers will be impacted by data breaches. 

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Topics: Data Breach Ripples

Data Breach Ripples: Week of August 28

Posted by Zach Walker on Aug 28, 2015 1:22:00 PM

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In this week's issue: extortionists have begun targeting Ashley Madison users, one-third of employees would sell their company secrets, FTC can now fine companies for poor data security, phishing attacks can cost organizations millions and in this week's Rippleshot blog post, Rippleshot CEO Canh Tran compares the major mobile payment platforms to determine if any of these will win the battle against fraud.

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Topics: Data Breach Ripples

Data Breach Ripples: Week of August 21

Posted by Zach Walker on Aug 21, 2015 12:00:00 PM

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In this week's issue: Ashley Madison's users have their personal information exposed, Target and Visa reach a settlement regarding the retailers data breach, the Illinois Department of Corrections exposes employee personal information,  the IRS data breach is worse than initially reported, and we take a look atBeware Of Public Cellphone Charging Stations

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Topics: Data Breach Ripples

Cellphone Charging Stations: The Next Avenue In Data Theft?

Posted by Zach Walker on Aug 20, 2015 10:30:00 AM

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One of the latest trends in the security industry is experiencing resurgence, involves a device that nearly everyone with a smartphone has used at least once in the last twelve months. They’re in nearly every airport, your favorite restaurant or bar, conferences; it’s nearly impossible to miss the charging stations that keep our lifelines to the world charged. These charging stations are manufactured and distributed across the country by a variety of a vendors, however there is a serious security threat that dates back as a far as 2013.

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Topics: Industry News