2013-12-18: Target Stores Fall Prey to Black Friday Credit/Debit Data Breach
Level Three Attack
U.S. retail chain Target is reported to have been the victim of a Credit Card and Debit Card data breach on Black Friday (and possibly extending as recently as Dec 15). Millions of customer cards may have been compromised in the breach.
Early descriptions of the breach make it sound like a skimming attack, with Magstripe data stored from Credit and Debit cards and then transferred out of the system (possibly with accompanying PINs) - in other words, it was an attack on the stores themselves and not on their e-commerce system. This does not appear to have affected Target stores in Canada, at least in current reports.
The Secret Service is said to be handling the investigation.