Massive Target credit/debit card security breach

[Evo]

My bank has a notice of this on their website this morning, they have automatically canceled all cards for anyone that made a purchase at Target during this period.

There are a variety of methods used to steal credit-card and debit-card numbers. In this case, malicious software, or malware, made its way onto Target's point-of-sale terminals—the red credit-card swiping machines in checkout aisles, according to people familiar with the breach investigation.

The affected data included customer names, credit- and debit-card numbers, expiration dates and three-digit security codes embedded in the magnetic stripe, according to a notice posted for customers on the Target website.

Target was thrust into crisis mode Thursday after a massive theft of customer credit-card data threatened to dent the discounter's reputation and hurt sales during the final days of holiday shopping.

News of the data breach broke on Wednesday. On Thursday, after Target disclosed that 40 million credit- and debit-card accounts had been compromised in the breach, which ran from Nov. 27 until Dec. 15, anxious customers clogged the chain store's phone lines, jammed its credit-card website, and left angry posts on the corporate Facebook page.

Target, which discovered the problem Sunday, brought in the Secret Service and alerted card companies. Target also hired a forensics unit at Verizon Communications Inc. VZ -0.08% to investigate the incident, according to people familiar with the matter.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304367204579267992268980478

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Seems like a pretty common occurrence these days. I use a CC for just about everything these days for the reward points.

 

[lisab]

Whew. Last I shopped there was November 26, the day before the theft. I used my debit card and I've been checking my account for mischief but it looks fine so far.

In general, I like Target.

 

[Student100]

It would he hard for them to start funneling out of the accounts right now, they're probably selling them on the black market right now.

 

[AlephZero]

The affected data included customer names, credit- and debit-card numbers, expiration dates and three-digit security codes embedded in the magnetic stripe, according to a notice posted for customers on the Target website.

If the USA wants to stick with third-world card technology like security codes stored in magnetic stripes, you get what you deserve.

With chip-and-PIN cards, either you have to guess the PIN number, and if you want to use the card on the web you need to guess the owner's password check, done direct with the card issuing company not the website you are buying from. And if the card owner resets the PIN to 1234 and the password to "password", they can't blame anybody except themselves! (And the card issuing company would probably refuse to let you use that password anyway)

 

[jtbell]

Our nearest Target is 30 miles away. The last time we bought something there was in late September, so we're safe from this particular attack.

I check all our credit card and bank accounts at least once a week. I've had credit cards compromised a couple of times in the last few years, with new cards issued to replace them. Also our state Department of Revenue system was hacked last year, and we paid our state income tax by direct withdrawal from our joint checking account, so that account is vulnerable. So far there have been no problems, but we now keep only a small amount of money in that account, just in case.

 

[jtbell]

Now we're seeing "phishing" scams targeted at people who are worried about the Target hack:

Email ‘from Target’ to customers is a phishing scam (marketwatch.com)

 

[Astronuc]

http://news.yahoo.com/weak-us-card-security-made-target-juicy-target-143835606.html

Be weary of where you shop.

. . . U.S. credit and debit cards rely on an easy-to-copy magnetic strip on the back of the card, which stores account information using the same technology as cassette tapes.
. . . .
In most countries outside the U.S., people carry cards that use digital chips to hold account information. The chip generates a unique code every time it's used. That makes the cards more difficult for criminals to replicate. So difficult that they generally don't bother.
. . . .
The simple, square, card-swiping machines that consumers are used to seeing at most checkout counters are hard to infiltrate because they are completely separate from the Internet. But as retailers switch to faster, Internet-based payment systems they may expose customer data to hackers.
. . .

 

[Borg]

BTW, your credit reports are available FREE from each of the three credit bureaus once each year. The official site is "www.annualcreditreport.com" . I spread my three reports out and order one in January, May and September so that I never have more than a 4 month window between reports. Don't try to go to the individual credit sites because they will only offer your report for a fee and try to push unnecessary services on you.

if you need motivation, consider it a good New Year's resolution.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I had my SS# stolen 3 years back. I've had credit monitoring ever since.