Case Study: Payment Card Data Breaches Target Corp., a major retailer in the Uni

Question

Case Study: Payment Card Data Breaches Target Corp., a major retailer in the United States, disclosed a breach in December 2013. Global Payments, an Atlanta-based payments processor, disclosed a data breach in March 2012. Research both events and answer the following questions:

A. Target Corp.

1. What are the dates of the incident?

2. Who first reported the breach?

3. What information was compromised?

4. How many cardholders were affected?

5. How did Target notify cardholders?

6. Is there any indication of how the data was acquired?

7. Is there any evidence that the criminals used the card data?

Explanation / Answer

Ans:

1) major data breach that spanned November 27 through December 15, 2013.

2) Confirmed fraud involving the compromised card information was detected by multiple card processing companies on or before December 18, 2013, when the breach was first reported.

3) Hackers hijacked sensitive information — including PIN numbers — residing on the magnetic strip of both debit and credit cards.

4) Forty million Target Corporation in-store shoppers were victimized

5) Target notified law enforcement and the financial institutions that issue the credit and debit cards. The retail chain also posted a note on Target.com notifying consumers of the data breach: “You should remain vigilant for incidents of fraud and identity theft by regularly reviewing your account statements and monitoring free credit reports.”

6) The breach occurred as a result of malware installed on Target’s point-of-sale terminals in each of its 1,797 store locations.

7) Reuters reported that Target, itself, did not detect the intrusion but was alerted by credit card processors who detected a surge in fraudulent transactions involving cards used at Target.

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