Dec. 19, 2013 8:29 a.m. ET
Target Corp. TGT +3.08% Target Corp. U.S.: NYSE [SUP]$[/SUP]63.55 +1.90 +3.08% Dec. 18, 2013 4:01 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 8.23M AFTER HOURS [SUP]$[/SUP]63.29 -0.26 -0.41% Dec. 18, 2013 7:39 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 79,079 P/E Ratio 16.90 Market Cap $40.17 Billion Dividend Yield 2.71% Rev. per Employee $204,452 12/19/13 Target Hit by Credit-Card Brea... 12/19/13 Target Hit by Credit-Card Brea... 12/17/13 Target Canada Hopes to End 201... More quote details and news » TGT in
Your Value Your Change Short position was hit by an extensive theft of its customers' credit-card and debit-card data during the busy holiday-shopping season, a brazen breach of the major retailer's information security.
The company early Thursday said a data breach may have affected about 40 million credit card and debit card accounts between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15. Target said it alerted authorities and financial institutions immediately after it found out about the unauthorized access. It added that it is joining with a forensics firm to conduct an investigation into the incident.
The Secret Service is probing a breach of Target's credit-card reading devices. Michael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency
"We take this matter very seriously and are working with law enforcement to bring those responsible to justice," said Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel in a statement.
The Wall Street Journal reported the breach Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The theft was national in scope and happened in stores, not online, and may have involved tampering with the machines customers use to swipe their cards when making purchases, people familiar with the matter said.
The data affected in the breach included customer names, credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates and CVV security codes, according to a notice posted for customers on the Target website.
Target officials were able to determine and resolve the unauthorized access on December 15, though it remains unclear who conducted the data breach and how.
"This was obviously a very sophisticated crime," said Molly Snyder, a Target spokeswoman.
The Secret Service is investigating the breach, a spokesman said, but wouldn't discuss details of the incident while the investigation is ongoing. Secret Service often investigates significant hacks of credit-card data, as part of its mission is to safeguard the country's financial infrastructure and payment systems.
The discount chain has 1,797 stores in the U.S. and another 124 in Canada.
The apparent breach occurred during the period when Americans kick off their holiday shopping and store traffic is around its highest of the year. Retailers try to lure shoppers to stores on Black Friday with "door buster" deals and overnight hours that often draw big crowds. The breach may have gone into the Monday after Thanksgiving, one of the people said.
The thieves gained access to data that is stored on the magnetic stripe on the back of the credit and debit cards, according to the people familiar with the breach. The stripe contains data that is valuable for making counterfeit cards, such as account numbers and expiration dates, but it wasn't immediately known which data was vulnerable.
The thieves gained access to data that is stored on the magnetic stripe on the back of the credit and debit cards, according to the people familiar with the breach.
Hackers typically aim to sell such information in bulk on the black market to people who use it to produce fake credit or debit cards. Crime rings can use the fake cards to buy gift cards from major retailers and convert them eventually into cash, according to investigators and former U.S. officials.
One of the biggest incidents to hit the industry took place in 2007, when thieves stole card numbers and personal data on up to 90 million cards belonging to people who had shopped at stores owned by TJX TJX +1.86% TJX Cos. U.S.: NYSE [SUP]$[/SUP]62.50 +1.14 +1.86% Dec. 18, 2013 4:01 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 3.51M AFTER HOURS [SUP]$[/SUP]62.25 -0.25 -0.40% Dec. 18, 2013 5:34 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 109,974 P/E Ratio 20.76 Market Cap $44.45 Billion Dividend Yield 0.93% Rev. per Employee $152,725 12/16/13 Loehmann's Files for Bankruptc... 12/01/13 Heard on the Street: Get Caugh... 11/14/13 Kohl's Earnings: Turnaround Ye... More quote details and news » TJX in Your Value Your Change Short position Cos., parent of T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods and other discount chains.
In July, federal prosecutors unsealed criminal charges in a continuing investigation of a group of people believed to have stolen more than 160 million credit and debit card numbers from companies including J.C. Penney Co. JCP +0.73% J.C. Penney Co. Inc. U.S.: NYSE [SUP]$[/SUP]8.26 +0.06 +0.73% Dec. 18, 2013 4:01 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 12.49M AFTER HOURS [SUP]$[/SUP]8.29 +0.03 +0.36% Dec. 18, 2013 7:59 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 256,283 P/E Ratio N/A Market Cap $2.52 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $103,112 12/17/13 Easy Money Delays Retailing Sh... 12/16/13 Easy Money Delays Retailing Sh... 12/12/13 HEARD ON THE STREET: Penney Pi... More quote details and news » JCP in Your Value Your Change Short position , 7-Eleven, Nasdaq OMX Group, NDAQ +0.73% NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. U.S.: Nasdaq [SUP]$[/SUP]39.59 +0.28 +0.73% Dec. 18, 2013 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 1.59M AFTER HOURS [SUP]$[/SUP]39.61 +0.01 +0.03% Dec. 18, 2013 4:34 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 22,517 P/E Ratio 19.90 Market Cap $6.64 Billion Dividend Yield 1.31% Rev. per Employee $1,243,020 12/16/13 NYSE: Clear Winner on 2013 IPO... 12/15/13 Exchanges Near Infrastructure-... 12/12/13 Chicago Fed's Evans Backs Scru... More quote details and news » NDAQ in Your Value Your Change Short position JetBlue Inc. JBLU +0.71% JetBlue Airways Corp. U.S.: Nasdaq [SUP]$[/SUP]8.55 +0.06 +0.71% Dec. 18, 2013 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 6.10M AFTER HOURS [SUP]$[/SUP]8.55 0.00 0.00% Dec. 18, 2013 6:10 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 130,376 P/E Ratio 19.72 Market Cap $2.41 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $498,439 More quote details and news » JBLU in Your Value Your Change Short position and others over several years.
Dow Jones Inc., a unit of News Corp. NWSA +0.86% News Corp Cl A U.S.: Nasdaq [SUP]$[/SUP]17.50 +0.15 +0.86% Dec. 18, 2013 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 2.49M AFTER HOURS [SUP]$[/SUP]17.50 +0.00 +0.02% Dec. 18, 2013 4:28 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 52,488 P/E Ratio N/A Market Cap $10.10 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $367,917 11/26/13 Rebekah Brooks Described How t... 11/21/13 NBCUniversal Close to Minority... 11/21/13 The Celtic Tiger Purrs: Irelan... More quote details and news » NWSA in Your Value Your Change Short position and publisher of The Wall Street Journal, was among the companies affected.
Penney, 7-Eleven, and JetBlue didn't respond to requests for comment. Dow Jones and Nasdaq declined to comment.
Target reported $1.6 billion in profit on $51 billion in sales in the nine months ended Nov. 2.
One of the most recent big breaches occurred last year at Global Payments Inc., an Atlanta-based company that processes card transactions on behalf of merchants and banks. In that case, the company disclosed that thieves were believed to have stolen data from up to 1.5 million card accounts.
—Ben Fox Rubin contributed to this article.
Write to Robin Sidel at [email protected], Danny Yadron at [email protected] and Sara Germano at [email protected]
Target Corp. TGT +3.08% Target Corp. U.S.: NYSE [SUP]$[/SUP]63.55 +1.90 +3.08% Dec. 18, 2013 4:01 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 8.23M AFTER HOURS [SUP]$[/SUP]63.29 -0.26 -0.41% Dec. 18, 2013 7:39 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 79,079 P/E Ratio 16.90 Market Cap $40.17 Billion Dividend Yield 2.71% Rev. per Employee $204,452 12/19/13 Target Hit by Credit-Card Brea... 12/19/13 Target Hit by Credit-Card Brea... 12/17/13 Target Canada Hopes to End 201... More quote details and news » TGT in
Your Value Your Change Short position was hit by an extensive theft of its customers' credit-card and debit-card data during the busy holiday-shopping season, a brazen breach of the major retailer's information security.The company early Thursday said a data breach may have affected about 40 million credit card and debit card accounts between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15. Target said it alerted authorities and financial institutions immediately after it found out about the unauthorized access. It added that it is joining with a forensics firm to conduct an investigation into the incident.
The Secret Service is probing a breach of Target's credit-card reading devices. Michael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency
"We take this matter very seriously and are working with law enforcement to bring those responsible to justice," said Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel in a statement.
The Wall Street Journal reported the breach Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The theft was national in scope and happened in stores, not online, and may have involved tampering with the machines customers use to swipe their cards when making purchases, people familiar with the matter said.
The data affected in the breach included customer names, credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates and CVV security codes, according to a notice posted for customers on the Target website.
Target officials were able to determine and resolve the unauthorized access on December 15, though it remains unclear who conducted the data breach and how.
"This was obviously a very sophisticated crime," said Molly Snyder, a Target spokeswoman.
The Secret Service is investigating the breach, a spokesman said, but wouldn't discuss details of the incident while the investigation is ongoing. Secret Service often investigates significant hacks of credit-card data, as part of its mission is to safeguard the country's financial infrastructure and payment systems.
The discount chain has 1,797 stores in the U.S. and another 124 in Canada.
The apparent breach occurred during the period when Americans kick off their holiday shopping and store traffic is around its highest of the year. Retailers try to lure shoppers to stores on Black Friday with "door buster" deals and overnight hours that often draw big crowds. The breach may have gone into the Monday after Thanksgiving, one of the people said.
The thieves gained access to data that is stored on the magnetic stripe on the back of the credit and debit cards, according to the people familiar with the breach. The stripe contains data that is valuable for making counterfeit cards, such as account numbers and expiration dates, but it wasn't immediately known which data was vulnerable.
The thieves gained access to data that is stored on the magnetic stripe on the back of the credit and debit cards, according to the people familiar with the breach.
Hackers typically aim to sell such information in bulk on the black market to people who use it to produce fake credit or debit cards. Crime rings can use the fake cards to buy gift cards from major retailers and convert them eventually into cash, according to investigators and former U.S. officials.
One of the biggest incidents to hit the industry took place in 2007, when thieves stole card numbers and personal data on up to 90 million cards belonging to people who had shopped at stores owned by TJX TJX +1.86% TJX Cos. U.S.: NYSE [SUP]$[/SUP]62.50 +1.14 +1.86% Dec. 18, 2013 4:01 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 3.51M AFTER HOURS [SUP]$[/SUP]62.25 -0.25 -0.40% Dec. 18, 2013 5:34 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 109,974 P/E Ratio 20.76 Market Cap $44.45 Billion Dividend Yield 0.93% Rev. per Employee $152,725 12/16/13 Loehmann's Files for Bankruptc... 12/01/13 Heard on the Street: Get Caugh... 11/14/13 Kohl's Earnings: Turnaround Ye... More quote details and news » TJX in
Your Value Your Change Short position Cos., parent of T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods and other discount chains.In July, federal prosecutors unsealed criminal charges in a continuing investigation of a group of people believed to have stolen more than 160 million credit and debit card numbers from companies including J.C. Penney Co. JCP +0.73% J.C. Penney Co. Inc. U.S.: NYSE [SUP]$[/SUP]8.26 +0.06 +0.73% Dec. 18, 2013 4:01 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 12.49M AFTER HOURS [SUP]$[/SUP]8.29 +0.03 +0.36% Dec. 18, 2013 7:59 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 256,283 P/E Ratio N/A Market Cap $2.52 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $103,112 12/17/13 Easy Money Delays Retailing Sh... 12/16/13 Easy Money Delays Retailing Sh... 12/12/13 HEARD ON THE STREET: Penney Pi... More quote details and news » JCP in
Your Value Your Change Short position , 7-Eleven, Nasdaq OMX Group, NDAQ +0.73% NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. U.S.: Nasdaq [SUP]$[/SUP]39.59 +0.28 +0.73% Dec. 18, 2013 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 1.59M AFTER HOURS [SUP]$[/SUP]39.61 +0.01 +0.03% Dec. 18, 2013 4:34 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 22,517 P/E Ratio 19.90 Market Cap $6.64 Billion Dividend Yield 1.31% Rev. per Employee $1,243,020 12/16/13 NYSE: Clear Winner on 2013 IPO... 12/15/13 Exchanges Near Infrastructure-... 12/12/13 Chicago Fed's Evans Backs Scru... More quote details and news » NDAQ in Your Value Your Change Short position JetBlue Inc. JBLU +0.71% JetBlue Airways Corp. U.S.: Nasdaq [SUP]$[/SUP]8.55 +0.06 +0.71% Dec. 18, 2013 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 6.10M AFTER HOURS [SUP]$[/SUP]8.55 0.00 0.00% Dec. 18, 2013 6:10 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 130,376 P/E Ratio 19.72 Market Cap $2.41 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $498,439 More quote details and news » JBLU in Your Value Your Change Short position and others over several years.Dow Jones Inc., a unit of News Corp. NWSA +0.86% News Corp Cl A U.S.: Nasdaq [SUP]$[/SUP]17.50 +0.15 +0.86% Dec. 18, 2013 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 2.49M AFTER HOURS [SUP]$[/SUP]17.50 +0.00 +0.02% Dec. 18, 2013 4:28 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 52,488 P/E Ratio N/A Market Cap $10.10 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $367,917 11/26/13 Rebekah Brooks Described How t... 11/21/13 NBCUniversal Close to Minority... 11/21/13 The Celtic Tiger Purrs: Irelan... More quote details and news » NWSA in
Your Value Your Change Short position and publisher of The Wall Street Journal, was among the companies affected.Penney, 7-Eleven, and JetBlue didn't respond to requests for comment. Dow Jones and Nasdaq declined to comment.
Target reported $1.6 billion in profit on $51 billion in sales in the nine months ended Nov. 2.
One of the most recent big breaches occurred last year at Global Payments Inc., an Atlanta-based company that processes card transactions on behalf of merchants and banks. In that case, the company disclosed that thieves were believed to have stolen data from up to 1.5 million card accounts.
—Ben Fox Rubin contributed to this article.
Write to Robin Sidel at [email protected], Danny Yadron at [email protected] and Sara Germano at [email protected]