Yup

A hack by a state actor is not out of the question.

The Sony hack.....

So chants right wing whack jobs. Because if the despot tweets it, they believe it.

move the operation to Targets basement.

down in Santa Margarita , CA. Could be just a coincidence. it was about 2 hrs ago.

my son works there but he left early today. lucky for him I assume.

...and I am glad that never happened when I worked there.

Not many details yet but the words they are using match a bug more than an attack.

I say bug but that is short hand for some hardware probably failed in some sick but not dead fashion and that wasn’t handled because of a software flaw in recovery. Could be more blatant than that.

But that’s a guess based on the little they have said. The attack on Baltimore was very real and recent.

Companies try to do things on the cheap. Sometimes it bites them in the ass.

You remind me of the target used on the "Hit it Here" cafe at the stadium where the Seattle Mariners play, from Ken Griffey, Jr. days!

That's what happened.

just in case it's no obvious:

... there's a lack of backup systems.

Paper and pen can work, as well as using the old "knuckle crunchers" to take credit cards manually. This could also give an opening for a software company to develop an "off-line cash register phone app" that will scan the barcodes and calculate totals that way. This could then be synched up with the main computer systems when they come back online, and sales would not be interrupted so badly.

In my days at American Express, when the authorization system went down (pretty rare but it happens) merchants would call in for an authorization code and everyone (customer service reps, collection agents, etc) would be grabbing pen and paper and issuing authorization codes from an emergency sheet specifically for this purpose.

a crank and crank up the totals. Now it is computerized and you don't have that option. They need a back up battery system.

isn't it truly sad that we all can be so cynical about these things. Our Times are driving us to a place where we have never been before.

..."Whadda ya gonna do?"

And yes we are WAY too dependent on technology. The best design for registers would be with the backup ability to operate manually. But the clerks probably wouldn't know how to enter the prices and total it, and most would be unable to figure out how to count back the change. *sigh*

Basic grammar and punctuation skills are disappearing, too.

I’m amazed people kept standing in line.

if the US does not "re-elect" Donald J Trump.

The good thing is we were able to put our items on hold. We went on to do some other errands in the area, then called back an hour later and the systems were up and running. We got to check out and get our things. You are right however. I wonder how many others never went back.