Community Corner

5 Things to Know: A New Shopping Cybersecurity Breach, Polar Vortex Fallout

Here are some interesting and important things to know for the coming week.

From the economic impact of the polar vortex to who will perform at next month's Super Bowl, here are five things you need to know for the coming week: 

1. Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus joined Target as a victim of a cybersecurity attack over the holidays. Neiman Marcus confirmed on Saturday that customers' credit and debit card information may have been compromised, following evidence of hacking in mid-December. And on Friday, Target announced that its data breach over the holidays affected up to 70 million more customers than they first believed. The total number of people who potentially had their data stolen is now 110 million. It’s unclear if the two security breaches are related. 

2. The government may fire CGI Federal, the company that created the troubled HealthCare.gov. According to The Washington Post, federal health officials are preparing to sign a new a 12-month contract worth an estimated $90 million with Accenture, the consulting firm that built California's new health insurance exchange.  

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3.  The Red Hot Chili Peppers will perform during this year's Super Bowl halftime show. The band will join Bruno Mars on the entertainment roster, Fox announced Saturday.  

4. Your doctor asks you about your diet, exercise and smoking habits, but does he or she ask you about your drinking? Probably not, according to new Centers for Disease Control data showing just 1 in 6 adults reported any such conversation. Drinking too much, even if it’s not indicative of alcoholism, can have serious effects on your health and safety. Go here for the CDC’s most frequently asked booze questions.

Find out what's happening in Libertyvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

5. Last week’s polar vortex cost the economy about $5 billion, estimates the business weather intelligence firm Planalytics. The number, which includes everything from frozen water pipes to travel delays, would make the freeze the most expensive weather disaster since 2012's Superstorm Sandy, which cost $65 billion in property damage alone.  


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