"It could have been an inside job."
Say what?
"Target looking into security breach" by Nicole Perlroth | New York Times, December 19, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO — Target is investigating a security breach involving stolen credit card and debit card information for millions of its customers, according to a person involved in the investigation.
The breach, which was first reported Wednesday by security blogger Brian Krebs, began the day after Thanksgiving and may be ongoing, according to the person involved in the investigation who was not authorized to speak about it.
It is unclear whether Target’s online customers were affected. Cybercriminals appear to have targeted the point-of-sale systems in Target’s retail stores, which collect information from customers’ credit and debit cards and potentially personal identification numbers, or PINs.
Target representatives did not return requests for comment.
The breach is being investigated by Target and major card companies, the source said.
By breaching point-of-sale systems, cybercriminals can create counterfeit cards. If they are able to intercept the PIN information as well, thieves might also be able to withdraw money from a customer’s account through an ATM....
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The solution is clear: miss the Target this holiday $ea$on.
"Target data breach sets off alarms" by Deirdre Fernandes | Globe Staff, December 20, 2013
The giant retailer Target is facing a maelstrom of criticism and regulatory scrutiny following its acknowledgment Thursday that credit and debit card information from as many as 40 million customer accounts was stolen at the height of the holiday shopping season.
It was one of the largest data breaches in US history, and frustrated Target Corp. customers sounded off on social networks, blogs, and online comment pages, as well as in conversations in offices, coffee shops, and malls across the country. Twitter buzzed with anger and disbelief packed into 140 characters.
“Gotta call 5 different banks/credit card companies,” one tweeter lamented. “Grr,” concluded another.
Eric Hill, 45, of Newton, who shopped at Target recently, said the theft “blows me away” and has him thinking that using cash might be safer.
Especially since you aren't paying u$urious intere$ts and fees.
“Ninety-five percent of my transactions are on credit card,” he said. “This has me rethinking that.”
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Target said financial data were stolen between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15, a period that included Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
State regulators from both the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation said they had contacted Target to find out details of the breach.
Under state law, Target must notify the officials about how many Massachusetts customers are affected, but it had yet to do that Thursday, a Consumer Affairs spokeswoman said.
Attorney General Martha Coakley said her office will work with regulators in other states “to determine whether the company had proper safeguards in place to protect consumer information.”
Customers who shopped at Target during the period could be at risk of having their cards used fraudulently for months to come and should closely monitor their bills for the next two years or request new accounts, Coakley advised.
Some banks are already issuing new cards to customers.
So far, Target has offered scant details on how hackers were able to infiltrate and grab the customer data.
The Minneapolis-based retailer, however, tried to reassure customers wrapping up their Christmas shopping that credit card transactions will be safe. It has hired a forensics firm to investigate and prevent future breaches.
“It’s an ongoing investigation,” said Jessica Carlson, a spokeswoman for the retailer, who acknowledged that Target has been flooded with customer calls. “People should shop with confidence at our stores.”
Who cares if someone $wipes your information, just get out that charge card!
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The scale of the breach stunned consumer advocates and security experts, raising questions about the strength of Target’s data protection and whether the chain followed industry standards.
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Some specialists speculated that cybercriminals introduced malicious software by getting an unsuspecting employee to click on an infected e-mail or found a weakness in the computers system’s security. Others said it could have been an inside job.
Oh, my, had that term been applied to other things like 9/11 it would be right on target!
Data breaches, however, are far from uncommon. In 2007, cybercriminals broke into the computer system of TJX Cos. and stole up to 94 million customer credit and debit card numbers. TJX operates TJ Maxx and Marshall’s stores.
Turns out that kid worked for the government. Gonzalez was his name.
That breach was estimated to have cost the Framingham company about $200 million.
While businesses have spent millions to protect sensitive data in recent years, specialists said, malicious software has grown more complex as underground syndicates trade secrets and sell the software needed to execute attacks.
Yup. So when is the false flag that crashes the banking system?
And who benefit$?
“The community of criminal hackers that focus on swiping credit cards is vast and global,” said Nick Levay, chief security officer of Bit9 Inc., a Waltham cybersecurity company.
And we know which governments like to hire them.
The breach is likely to damage Target’s reputation during a critical period and could ultimately cost the company at least $100 million in legal and other costs, said John Kindervag, a credit card expert with Forrester Research Inc., a global advisory firm with offices in Boston.
“There’s nothing that can happen to you as dangerous as a credit card breach,” he said.
Some customers weren’t deterred. Taylor Minore, 24, shopping at the Target in the South Bay Center in Dorchester, said financial fraud is just a risk of using credit cards.
The breach “makes you aware for five minutes,” Minore said. “But it’s just more convenient to use cards.”
Yeah, it won't happen to you!
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Ready to go shopping, readers?
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Target says nearly 1m cards breached at Mass. stores" by Deirdre Fernandes | Globe Staff, December 21, 2013
Nearly 1 million of the credit and debit card accounts whose information was stolen from Target during the holiday shopping season belonged to customers who made purchases at the retail giant’s three dozen Massachusetts stores, the company said Friday.
The disclosure, required under Massachusetts law, was made as the aftershocks of the massive data breach spread to customers, financial institutions, and Target itself. The Minneapolis-based chain, reacting to a backlash from customers, consumer advocates, and regulators, said it would offer free credit monitoring for the estimated 40 million accounts affected by the theft of financial data and a 10 percent discount to shoppers this weekend.
“We recognize this issue has been confusing and disruptive during an already busy holiday season,” Target chief executive Gregg Steinhafel said in a statement.
Well, it has not been that bu$y.
Consumers and banks, meanwhile, grappled with whether to cancel credit and debit accounts, and deal with the hassle — and cost — of doing so.
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Bank of America, the largest retail bank in Massachusetts and one of the largest in the country, said it will replace the cards of customers that the bank believes may have been compromised. It costs banks $3 to $5 for each replacement card .
Banks can be reluctant to replace cards because of these costs, which can quickly run into the tens of thousands of dollars or more.
Yeah, the poor, poor banks. You won't be getting that record for Christmas, I'll tell you that.
Customers also often dread the headaches of changing accounts and updating automatic billing.
And jwho does the Globe talk to?
Lloyd Schwartz, 72.
Related(?):
Six Zionist Companies Own 96% of the World's Media
I think so.
Target on Thursday said that the data theft occurred between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15 — a period that included Black Friday — but so far has offered scant details on how hackers were able to infiltrate and steal the customer data.
I went into all that above, and it turns out the BIGGEST HACKERS on the PLANET is the GOVERNMENT ITSELF! Thus the $urveillance $tate is the $olution to a problem that the government -- once again, as we have seen with actual mass-murdering wars -- $elf-$ervingly created.
The breach compromised the financial data of customers who made purchases by swiping cards at terminals in Target’s 1,800 US stores, exposing their names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates, and the security code on the cards’ magnetic strips.
Target said that it knows of only a few reports of actual fraud.
Massachusetts law requires companies to report data breaches in the state as well as the number of residents affected. In its filing with the state Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, Target said it couldn’t identify how many state residents had financial information exposed by the breach, but estimated that holders of 947,000 stolen accounts shopped in Massachusetts stores.
Barbara Anthony, who leads the state agency, said the breach means that Target customers need to monitor their credit carefully over the next year or more because their financial information could turn up months from now and thousands of miles away in another country. The cost of a monitoring service, she said, should be borne by Target.
Could even be implicated in a suicide hijacking plot! Stolen identities are good for that, too!
“Why should consumers suffer any other inconvenience?” Anthony said.
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