Target: 40 million credit cards compromised - Allie Gonzales

http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/18/news/companies/target-credit-card/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Summary:
Late Wednesday, the Secret Service, which is charged with safeguard the nation's financial infrastructure and payment systems, confirmed it was investigating the breach. Spokesman Brian Leary declined further comment. The breach first came to light via a report from respected security researcher Brian Krebs that said Target had suffered a data breach around the time of Black Friday last month "potentially involving millions of customer credit and debit card records." The retailer said it notified authorities and financial institutions immediately after it was made aware of the unauthorized access, and had hired a forensics team to thoroughly investigate how the breach may have happened. "Target's first priority is preserving the trust of our guests and we have moved swiftly to address this issue, so guests can shop with confidence," said CEO Gregg Steinhafel in a statement. "We regret any inconvenience this may cause." The thieves reportedly gained access to data on the magnetic strips of shoppers' cards, potentially allowing them to produce counterfeit versions, according to Krebs. The thieves could also potentially withdraw cash from ATMs using counterfeit debit cards if they were able to intercept PIN data from Target, he said. "This is an ongoing investigation," an AmEx spokeswoman said, declining to comment further.

Analysis:
This is horrible! I hope they catch the thieves ASAP! I could only imagine the horrible impact this could have on many families.