The Target Corporation has been sued by at least 11 customers over a recent credit card security breach, which saw the details of more than 40 million cards stolen, BBC News reported. Some of the lawsuits were class-action, while at least one was seeking millions in damages, according to CBS News.
"Attorneys general of at least four states - Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and South Dakota - have asked Target for information about the lapse. That is the first step to a possible multi-state investigation," USA Today reported.
Many of the stolen cards "have been flooding underground black markets in recent weeks, selling in batches of one million cards and going for anywhere from $20 to more than $100 per card," according to a post on the security blog, which first reported the breach claims, according to CBS News.
The breach has affected the retailer stores, as Target "has suffered up to a 4 percent drop in transactions over the weekend compared to this thime last year, while transactions at other retailers were strong," as reported by CBS News.
"The challenge we face, as highlighted by the Target breach"is that these cyber security criminals are getting more sophisticated. And it really does call for more sophisticated solutions to prevent these kinds of breaches from happening in the future," said Electronic Transactions Association's Jason Oxman, in a CBS News report.
"The security breach is a particular black eye because it has used its red credit and debit cards as a powerful marketing tool to lure shoppers at a time when the discounter has had an uneven sale performance since the recession. Since 2010, Target has offered shoppers who use its cards 5 percent off on purchases and has rolled out other incentives like free shipping for online customers," The Associated Press reported last week.
"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. We regret any inconvenience this may cause," Chairman, President and CEO Gregg Steinhafel said in a statement last Thursday.
"In terms of how breaches go, this is neither one of the worst we ever heard of nor the least worrisome we've ever heard of. It's right in the middle," said identity theft expert Scott Mitic in an interview with The Los Angeles Times.
"What's been breached in most cases right here... is your actual credit card number, your pin number and your CV2 number along with your name... the risk is here is limited to the potential that someone is going to use your number over again and use your money. The goodness is that your liabilities are limited," Mitic added.
