Target Data Breach Outlines Need for Application Whitelisting, Flaws in PCI-DSS

As I find myself diving deeper down the rabbit hole of the recent Target data breach and the malware writers behind it, I can't help but keep asking "Why were no safeguards put in place to prevent this?"

For those who didn't hear, there has been an arrest of two Mexican citizens in Texas who were using stolen credit card numbers to purchase goods - and that the case possibly leads back to the Target data compromise.

Quite honestly, with today's computer security suites, there is almost no excuse for a static configured system such as a Point of Sale terminal to ever be infected by a virus. With proper implementation of application whitelisting a system can be protected from even unknown malware.

However, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) only requires basic anti-virus coverage to protect against "known" malware, as well as a (network-based) firewall.