Target admits hackers stole personal information of up to 70 million people

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/10/target-admits-hackers-stole-personal-information-of-up-to-70-million-people/

Target admits hackers stole personal information of up to 70 million people
By Charles Arthur, The Guardian
Friday, January 10, 2014 14:21 EST

Hackers stole personal information with details of up to 70 million people – a third of American adults – including phone numbers, email and home addresses, the US retail chain Target admitted on Friday.

The management said that the extent of a 19-day pre-Christmas breakin to its computer systems was far greater than it had thought when in late December it estimated the number of credit and debit cards affected at 40m. It hadn’t previously said how many people were affected.

Analysts reckon it will affect more people than the card-skimming operation at TJX Cos Inc in 2007, which was reckoned to affect 90m cards over an 18-month period. “I think they still have no idea how big this is,” David Kennedy, who runs the consulting firm TrustedSec told Reuters. “This is going to end up being much larger than 70 million and end up being the largest retail breach in history.”

The chain previously disclosed to customers that names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates, PINs and the embedded code on the magnetic strip on the back of cards had been stolen. It has assured customers that they won’t be liable for any fraudulent charges that result from the breach.

[Shrike47]

1. I used a credit card at Target during the time when the computers were compromised.

I decided not to close out the credit card, which I monitor daily and rarely use, but my lender decided I was at risk and cancelled the card.