Target - Data stolen

This has been big in the news, haven't posted anything here because it wasn't really anything abnormal from day to day in this country.

It apparently just "got worse".

Target's Data Breach Just Got Much Worse

By Kyle Stock January 10, 2014

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Target’s (TGT) massive data breach in November and December may have been 75 percent larger than earlier estimates indicated, according to a statement from the retailer this morning. The company said personal information was stolen from as many as 70 million customers, compared with its previous estimate of 40 million.
Much of the swiped information was “partial in nature,” though that will be scant comfort for the 30 million people who are realizing today that they might, in fact, have something to worry about. Target said it’s attempting to contact those whose information may have been pilfered. Meanwhile, the company is still helping the U.S. Secret Service hunt for the perpetrator.
The breach, according to Target, spooked would-be customers in the critical sales days just before Christmas. Business was buzzing ahead of expectations until Dec. 19, when the retailer announced the theft, which allegedly occurred from Nov. 27 to Dec. 15. The company now expects to report a 2.5 percent decline in fourth-quarter sales at stores open more than a year, down from a prior estimate of mostly unchanged revenue.
Story: Target Tries to Find Its Place in the Big City
Target also ticked down its profit forecast and said it may have to write down additional charges related to the data breach in the past quarter, costs that will no doubt swell as the company grapples with more than two dozen lawsuits, mostly from compromised customers.
Anyone who’s ever been blindsided by a computer virus can probably muster at least a little sympathy for the Minnesota-based retail empire, but Target is struggling with the basic tenet of crisis management: Get ahead of the news.
It discovered the fraud relatively late and has sent a stream of updates in the weeks since, including today’s major increase in the number of estimated victims. Making a conservatively large estimate at the outset and then reducing it may have sapped some of the momentum from the PR fallout. Instead, Target is dealing with an accelerating crisis.
Story: Is Target to Blame for Its Data Breach? Let the Lawsuits Begin
In short, the company could have taken a page from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s playbook yesterday: Talk about the scandal immediately and for so long that at least a few people start changing the channel.
Here’s the apology Target Chief Executive Officer Greg Steinhafel offered in this morning’s release: “I know that it is frustrating for our guests to learn that this information was taken, and we are truly sorry they are having to endure this.”
Compromised customers, we’d bet, would choose a much more colorful adjective than “frustrating.”
Target, meanwhile, said it would offer its customers one year of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection. Shoppers will have three months to enroll in the program, which no doubt involves giving Target their personal data.

Several states' attorneys' general are going after Target suddenly as well.

Target: Data breach caught up to 70M customers
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By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AND ANNE D'INNOCENZIO / AP Business Writer / January 10, 2014

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NEW YORK (AP) — Target’s December security breach was significantly more extensive and affected millions more shoppers than the company reported last month.

The nation’s second largest discounter said Friday that personal information — including names, phone numbers as well as email and mailing addresses — was stolen from as many as 70 million customers as part of a pre-Christmas data breach.

Target Corp. announced in December that about 40 million credit and debit cards may have been affected by a data breach that happened between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15 — just as the holiday shopping season was getting into gear.

According to the company’s investigation, criminals also took non-credit card related data for some 70 million shoppers who could have made purchases at Target stores outside the late Nov. to mid-Dec. timeframe. Some overlap exists between the two data sets, the company said Friday.

‘‘I know that it is frustrating for our guests to learn that this information was taken and we are truly sorry they are having to endure this,’’ said Gregg Steinhafel, Target chairman, president and CEO, in a statement.

The chain also indicated that holiday sales were hurt by the breach. Target cut its forecast for fourth-quarter earnings, a key sales barometer.

Target’s stock slipped just 67 cents, or 1 percent, to $62.67 in morning trading Friday.

The theft from Target’s databases is still the second largest data breach on record, rivalling an incident uncovered in 2007 that saw more than 90 million credit card accounts pilfered from TJX Cos. Inc.

Target said in December that customers’ names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates, debit-card PINs and the embedded code on the magnetic strip on the back of cards had been stolen.

The company said late last month that it has been working with the Secret Service and the Department of Justice on an investigation into the breach.

The company said customers won’t be liable for the cost of any fraudulent charges that stemmed from the breach.

Target said it will try to contact customers it has email addresses for to provide tips on how to safeguard against consumer scams. The company won’t ask customers for any personal information during its email communications.

It’s also offering a year of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection to customers that shopped at its stores. Individuals will have three months to enroll in the program. Target said it will provide more details on the program next week.

To woo scared shoppers back to stores on the last weekend before Christmas, Target offered a 10 percent discount on nearly everything. But Customer Growth Partners LLC, a retail consultancy, estimated that the number of transactions at Target fell 3 percent to 4 percent on the Saturday before Christmas, compared with a year ago.

‘‘You have violated that person’s trust. And it’s going to take time to regain that trust,’’ said Brian Sozzi, CEO & Chief Equities Strategist of Belus Capital Advisors.

Target lowered its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $1.20 to $1.30 per share, down from $1.50 to $1.60 per share.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect earnings of $1.24 per share.

The Minneapolis company also said that it now foresees fourth-quarter sales at stores open at least a year will be down about 2.5 percent. It previously predicted those sales would be about flat.

This figure is a closely-watched indicator of a retailer’s health.

Target cautioned that its fourth-quarter financials may include charges related to the data breach. The chain said the costs tied to the breach may have a material adverse effect on its quarterly results as well as future periods.

The company has 1,921 stores, with 1,797 locations in the U.S. and 124 in Canada.

Glad I don't shop at Target. Once every 5 years, tops.

I haven't been to Target in years. Well, we've walked through looking for things, but it's been a long time since we bought anything there.