Hope nobody here was affected by this. Thankfully, I don't shop at Target but know plenty of people who do and a few of them have been affected.

Supposedly their are three other major retailers that have been breached as well besides Target And Neiman Marcus. That has not been confirmed yet.

Wife's credit card was involved and had fraud from somewhere in Virginia. The folks were pretty smart trying out the card for $2 at a McDonald's but were then denied for $50 at a WalMart. Credit card folks are really monitoring out of state purchases right now. Better call ahead if you are traveling (should anyway)

Wife's credit card was involved and had fraud from somewhere in Virginia. The folks were pretty smart trying out the card for $2 at a McDonald's but were then denied for $50 at a WalMart. Credit card folks are really monitoring out of state purchases right now. Better call ahead if you are traveling (should anyway)

Yup mine was used in Florida at Walmart then tried again and the bank shut it down.

Alright, I just received an email from Target. I don't have a Target card, don't remember ever charging anything there, but I might have used my credit card. Would that have put me at risk? Here is a short part of the email. "I am truly sorry this incident occurred and sincerely regret any inconvenience it may cause you. Because we value you as a guest and your trust is important to us, Target is offering one year of free credit monitoring to all Target guests who shopped in U.S. stores, through Experian’s® ProtectMyID® product which includes identity theft insurance where available. To receive your unique activation code for this service, please go to creditmonitoring.target.com and register before April 23, 2014. Activation codes must be redeemed by April 30, 2014.".
They don't ask for, and in fact told me not to share any information via email, phone, or text. It looks legitimate but where did they get my email address and other information?
Thanks,
C. T.

Alright, I just received an email from Target. I don't have a Target card, don't remember ever charging anything there, but I might have used my credit card. Would that have put me at risk?.
Yes. The breach occurred at the POS terminal level. The only technique I've read about that was used is RAM Scraping. But use of any credit or debit card within the period puts one at risk.

A friend's Discover card was used and someone was attempting to change the mailing address for instance.

Flintysooner,
Thanks, I would have used my Discover card but for the life of me, I don't remember ever purchasing anything at Target that I didn't/couldn't pay cash for. I guess I will go to the web site and sign up for the free protection.
C. T.
Yes. The breach occurred at the POS terminal level. The only technique I've read about that was used is RAM Scraping. But use of any credit or debit card within the period puts one at risk.

A friend's Discover card was used and someone was attempting to change the mailing address for instance.

Flintysooner,
Do you (or anybody) know the "period"? About three years ago, maybe four I used my card when I was traveling in New England. I think it was Massachusetts.
C. T.
But use of any credit or debit card within the period puts one at risk.

Flintysooner,
Do you (or anybody) know the "period"? About three years ago, maybe four I used my card when I was traveling in New England. I think it was Massachusetts.
C. T.Originally it was reported to be from Black Friday (11-29-2013) thru about 12-15-2013. But recently I've read other reports that there is some consideration being given to a longer period during which the criminals were testing the depth of penetration.

I've just been watching my transactions very closely and have had no issues so far. However, I do know someone who had an account practically emptied because of a debit card used at Target. I know several others who've had different kinds of issues, too; so, it pays to be very vigilant. I already monitor all activity related to my identification and card usage so I'd definitely recommend that in any event.

And just to clarify the initial breech report had to do with data from point of sale terminals. The second report had to do with a different set of data that was apparently compromised.

Really it isn't just Target but also Neiman Marcus and at least 3 other unreported retailers.

This was such a large scale intrusion and so well done that we probably do not know but a small part of the whole story. I've wondered to myself it it could have been some kind of terrorist attack.

I used to like Target (back in the day) . . . when they had little stores (easy to walk around in, etc.).
Then, later, Target got real big and all Walk-Around/Kiddo Advertising/etc.
This may simply be another mis-translation of "The Art of [Retail] War" c/o The Chinese Masters.
Yet, probably it isn't (ain't really so).

Welcome to The Third World.
Their Local Headquarters is in Minnesota.
Dayton, instead of DuPont.

Their wholly owned subsidiary is in Arkansas, near Bentonville =)
God Forbid that The Governor of New Jersey gets involved in all this.
It would slow down traffic.

Article in the Wall Street Journal
Target Hackers Wrote Partly in Russian, Displayed High Skill, Report Finds (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304419104579324902602426862?mod=WS J_hps_LEFTTopStories)


The holiday data breach at Target Corp. appeared to be part of a broad and highly sophisticated international hacking campaign against multiple retailers, according to a report prepared by federal and private investigators that was sent to financial-services companies and retailers.

...


Investigators wouldn't say how Target's network was breached, but the software virus injected into its payment-card devices couldn't be detected by any known antivirus software, according to the report. The virus's authors included additional features to hide that they were collecting copies of data from the magnetic stripes on Target customers' payment cards and concealing it within Target's systems.

Experts warning cyber attacks like Target?s now taking aim at more major stores | KFOR.com (http://kfor.com/2014/01/20/experts-warning-cyber-attacks-like-targets-now-taking-aim-at-more-major-stores/?ak_action=reject_mobile&redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fkfor.com%2F2014%2F01%2F20 %2Fexperts-warning-cyber-attacks-like-targets-now-taking-aim-at-more-major-stores%2F)

All this was done by a 17 year old high school student? This is so friggin crazy. NSA better snatch him up quick!

Hackers got my best friend's wife's card. This crap pisses me off!!!!

All this was done by a 17 year old high school student? This is so friggin crazy. NSA better snatch him up quick!

How do you know he wasn't working for the NSA already?

MasterCard, Visa plan group focused on security | News OK (http://newsok.com/mastercard-visa-plan-group-focused-on-security/article/feed/659684)


Visa and MasterCard want banks and retailers to work together on securing customer data and stop blaming each other after a massive data breach during the holiday season.

The two payment networks announced Friday that they are bringing together large and small banks, credit unions, retailers, makers of card processing equipment and industry trade groups in a group that aims to strengthen the U.S. payment system for credit and debit cards.

The initial focus of the new group will be on banks' adoption of embedded digital chips for storing account information on debit and credit cards. Compared with the current magnetic strips, it's a system that typically makes data theft harder and is common in other countries. While it's not clear whether the chips would have prevented the Target breach, experts say they make it tougher for thieves to make counterfeit cards using stolen credit and debit card numbers.

Many retailers want the chips, but they also want each debit or credit card transaction to require a personal identification number instead of a signature. Experts say it's harder for criminals to steal personal identification numbers than to forge signatures. Some retailers are resisting the switch to PINs — planned to take effect by the fall of 2015 — because they'll be forced to buy newer, more expensive card readers.