Essay Sample on Adidas' Corporate Security Profile

Introduction

Adidas is a multinational corporation which designs and manufactures accessories, clothing, and shoes (1). It was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Germany (1). The company's website shows that it has divided its products into various categories to make it easy for its potential customers to find the products that they need. There are men's, women's, and kid's clothes, and there are also sports clothes and brands. The different categories are then organized into a featured category which includes; new arrivals, best sellers, and release dates. Shoes are grouped into different categories such as originals, running, soccer, among others. The clothing is also grouped into categories such as pants, tracksuits, sports bras, dresses, and skirts, among others (2).

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The corporation's contact information is also available where the firm's address is provided together with the phone numbers. Incidentally, its address is Adi-Dassler-Strasse, 191074 Herzogenaurach Germany (3). Additionally, there is a field where one can send a message to the management directly on the website. The firm's website also provides information on how one can order customized products. The miTeam.com requires individuals to create a mi Adidas account and tailor their products by clicking on 'configure your product.' They then finalize their order details by entering their team roster, quantities, sizes, and any other relevant information and then assign their order requests to mi Adidas retailers (4).

When purchasing a product, customers have to provide personal information such as email information and home address. The Fair Billing Act usually protects the credit card information. One then receives an online receipt after paying for the products. Adidas protects its users' passwords by encrypting them to ensure that non-authorized personnel cannot gain access to the data (5).

Adidas has a strict privacy and security policy and is committed to protecting the privacy of its customers' personal information which is collected from the website. The firm states that it does not rent, give away, trade, or sell its customers' personal information to any firm which is outside of the Adidas group (5). The firm strives to limit the amount of information collected from its customers. The firm also does not collect personal data from children who are aged 13 and below (5). The firm stores its data safely using secure sockets layer software which aids in data encryption. It faced a security breach in June 2018 where a data breach led to the data of millions of its customers being exposed (6). The data that was exposed was the customers' usernames, their encrypted passwords, and their contact information (6). After analysis, the firm stated that their customers' credit card information had not been breached. The firm alerted the affected customers and worked with the authorities to find the hackers. It also requested the affected customers to change their websites within 72 hours (7).

There are various security threats that the firm should be aware of. First, ransomware is a threat that has become prevalent. It is a rogue software which is designed to prevent anyone from accessing the website until a given ransom amount is paid to the attacker (8). Another threat is malware which is a software which aims to disable or damage computer systems and websites (9). Phishing is also a common security threat which involves the sending of fake emails to people with the goal of gaining their personal information by acting on behalf of a real company. Finally, data breaches lead to the access of customers' personal information by hackers who gain access to company servers and applications (8).

Firms can ensure increased security for their customers by using various strategies. First, they should keep their software up to date at all times both for their websites and server operating systems (10). Second, they should use queries that are parameterized to ensure that attackers cannot gain access to their database by using a web field form. Finally, companies need to ensure that they use passwords that are strong to the website admin area and their servers (11). Additionally, they should emphasize to their customers the need to use strong passwords in a bid to protect their own accounts' security.

Works Cited

1. Adidas. Adidas Company History. [online] 2019. www.adidas-group.com. Available at: https://www.adidas-group.com/en/group/history/ [Accessed 4 Feb. 2019].

2. Adidas. product categories. [online] 2019. www.adidas.com. Available at: https://www.adidas.com/us [Accessed 4 Feb. 2019].

3. Adidas. Adidas Company Profile. [online] 2019. www.adidas-group. Available at: https://www.adidas-group.com/en/group/profile/ [Accessed 4 Feb. 2019].

4. Adidas. miteam. [online] 2019. www.miteam.adidas. Available at: https://www.miteam.adidas.us/ [Accessed 4 Feb. 2019].

5. Adidas. Adidas' privacy policy. [online] 2019. www.adidas.com. Available at: https://www.adidas.com/us/what-is-the-privacy-policy.html [Accessed 4 Feb. 2019].

6. Bhasin, K. Adidas Says Millions of U.S. Customers Being Alerted of Breach. [online] 2018. Bloomberg.com. Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-28/adidas-says-millions-of-u-s-customers-being-alerted-of-breach [Accessed 4 Feb. 2019].

7. Leyden, J. Adidas US breach may have exposed millions of customers' info. [online] 2019. Theregister.co.uk. Available at: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/06/29/adidas_breach/ [Accessed 4 Feb. 2019].

8. Changchit, C. Security Systems Framework, Security-Related Research, Web Threats. Journal of Information Privacy and Security, 2011.

9. Jouini, M., Rabai, L. and Aissa, A. Classification of Security Threats in Information Systems. Procedia Computer Science, 2014. 32(2014), pp.489-496.7(4), pp.1-2.

10. Peroli, M., De Meo, F., Vigano, L. and Guardini, D. MobSTer: A model-based security testing framework for web applications. Software Testing, Verification, and Reliability, 2018. 28(8), p.e1685.

11. Rizov, V. Information Sharing for Cyber Threats. Information & Security: An International Journal, 2018. 39(1), pp.43-50.