Target breached: 5 defensive steps shoppers should take now

[JMH]

As you may have heard from the copious news coverage (including our own post this morning) Target’s stores in the US were the target of a security breach which has given criminals access to the data from the magnetic strips on customers’ credit and debit cards. This data includes the customer’s name, credit or debit card number, the card’s expiration date and CVV (the three-digit security code).

Indications are that this breach began near the end of November, though some sources say it may have begun as early as mid-November, and it was closed on December 15. If you shopped in a Target store during that period of time, you may be wondering how to identify or mitigate problems caused by this breach.

Target breached: 5 defensive steps shoppers should take now

 

[JMH]

Cards Stolen in Target Breach Flood Underground Markets

Credit and debit card accounts stolen in a recent data breach at retail giant Target 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, KrebsOnSecurity has learned.

Prior to breaking the story of the Target breach on Wednesday, Dec. 18, I spoke with a fraud analyst at a major bank who said his team had independently confirmed that Target had been breached after buying a huge chunk of the bank’s card accounts from a well-known “card shop” — an online store advertised in cybercrime forums as a place where thieves can reliably buy stolen credit and debit cards.

Cards Stolen in Target Breach Flood Underground Markets ? Krebs on Security