Retailers are an appealing target for hackers during the holidays, and Target may be learning that lesson the hard way. According to Krebs on Security, the US retail giant is investigating a major breach that could potentially involve "millions" of customer credit and debit card records. The sophisticated hack reportedly took place over several weeks — starting on Black Friday and possibly extending all the way through December 15th — and is said to involve "nearly all" Target stores in the United States.
Krebs says the breach "involves the theft of data stored on the magnetic stripe of cards used at the stores." Online orders are said to be unaffected. Still, it sounds like a worst case scenario for Target and its shoppers.