My Apple News app recently served up some targeted marketing that really hit home. There before me was the opportunity to purchase a limited-edition 11 Herbs & Spices Firelog from KFC and Envirolog, sold through Walmart.

In addition to the advertising and sales mechanisms that brought me to this point, there are also all of the other logistics, shipping, warehouse, and inventory systems that are involved in any sale. All of this coming together just in time for the holidays to bring me a fried chicken-scented yule log.

Today all these processes are expressed as apps. As industries continue to build out new digital experiences, they are moving very quickly, creating ever-expanding organisms consisting of dozens, hundreds and even thousands of applications spanning this entire landscape of functions.

This means there is risk of malicious actors targeting any given insertion point connecting any app or piece of infrastructure, anywhere. With so much personal information—including high-value targets like financial data and account information—flowing through such dispersed channels, the prime CHEW motivation for attacking the retail organism is of course criminal intent.

Read the full article published January 8, 2020 here: https://www.securityweek.com/attacking-organism-retail by SecurityWeek.