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It’s no secret that with so many people doing their holiday shopping at this time of year that large retailers are an appealing target for hackers and thieves. US retail giant Target has recently confirmed that they are currently investigating a data breach involving up to 40 million of their customers’ credit and debit card accounts.<\/p>\n
This breach involves nearly all Target locations nationwide and affects customers who shopped with them from between November 27th and December 15th. It involves the theft of\u00a0 the data stored on the magnetic stripe of cards used at the stores, so it’s unlikely that the breach would affect any customers who’ve shopped at Target’s online stores. Here’s what Krebs on Security had to say about the type of data stolen:<\/p>\n
The type of data stolen \u2014 also known as “track data” \u2014 allows crooks to create counterfeit cards by encoding the information onto any card with a magnetic stripe. If the thieves also were able to intercept PIN data for debit transactions, they would theoretically be able to reproduce stolen debit cards and use them to withdraw cash from ATMs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In a statement Target claims it \u201calerted authorities and financial institutions immediately after it was made aware of the unauthorized access, and is putting all appropriate resources behind these efforts.\u201d But still, any Wii U Daily readers who purchased anything at a Target store during or since Black Friday should closely monitor their credit or debit card accounts, which may have been compromised.<\/p>\n