Target

Target said cyberthieves stole credentials from one of the retailer's vendors in order to access its system, according to an ongoing forensic investigation into a data breach that may have exposed information from as many as 110 million customers. The company said that since disclosing the hack Dec. 15, it cleared its system of the malware that had been planted. "In addition, since that time we have taken extra precautions such as limiting or updating access to some of our platforms while the investigation continues," Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in a statement Wednesday.

U.S. banks have spent more than $153 million so far replacing 15.3 million debit and credit cards after the huge data heist from Target Corp., and the numbers are only growing. The Consumer Bankers Association announced the numbers Tuesday, saying that as more retailers announce breaches, the price tag for banks could grow to “hundreds of millions of dollars, and possibly billions.” It’s time for Target to step up to the plate and pay some of the costs for one of the largest data thefts recorded in the United States, the industry group said.

There seems to be an announcement almost weekly that a retailer has been the victim of a cyberattack in which consumer information has been stolen. Has this become the next wave of 21st century white-collar crime as the world of electronic credit and payments opens up companies to more and more thefts of financial information? As hackers’ level of sophistication increases, companies have a harder time even detecting whether computer systems have been attacked and the extent of any security breach.

Michaels, the biggest U.S. arts and crafts retailer, said it's investigating a possible breach on its network and advised customers to check financial statements for fraudulent activity. The warning, which comes in the wake of the unprecedented breach at Target Corp. over the holiday shopping season, suggests that hackers may be attacking retailers in a spree the extent of which is yet to be fully understood. Target last month disclosed an unprecedented breach that resulted in the theft of some 40 million payment card records and another 70 million customers’ records. 

Wal-Mart said it's eliminating 2,300 workers at its Sam's Club division as it reduces the ranks of middle managers in a bid to be more nimble. The layoffs, which cut 2 percent of the membership club's U.S. employee count of about 116,000, mark the largest since 2010 when the Sam's Club unit laid off 10,000 workers as it moved to outsource food demonstrations at its stores. The cuts come as Sam's Club strives to compete better with Costco Wholesale Corp. and online players like Amazon.com's Prime membership service. 

With the beginning of a new year comes all sorts of prompts from brands, infomercials and various social media toward new behaviors — e.g., weight loss, exercise, decluttering, eating healthy, simplifying your financial record keeping, etc. It's also a good time to ask yourself just how exactly your company helps its customers achieve their goals. Is your brand inspirational and motivational enough to turn your customers into doers? Let's look how one brand masters the art of motivation:

Neiman Marcus said about 1.1 million credit cards may have been compromised in a data breach that occurred last year. Visa, MasterCard and Discover have notified the Dallas-based department store chain that about 2,400 cards used at its stores between July 16 and Oct. 30 were used fraudulently, according to a statement yesterday. Online shoppers weren't affected, the company said. Closely held Neiman Marcus is the second U.S. retailer to announce a customer data security breach. Minneapolis-based Target Corp. has said as many as 110 million customer accounts were compromised during the holiday shopping season by the theft of information. 

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned U.S. retailers to prepare for more cyber attacks after discovering about 20 hacking cases in the past year that involved the same kind of malicious software used against Target in the holiday shopping season. The FBI distributed a confidential, three-page report to retail companies last week describing the risks posed by "memory parsing" malware that infects point-of-sale (POS) systems, which include cash registers and credit card swiping machines found in store checkout aisles.

Target on Wednesday announced plans to eliminate 475 jobs from its global workforce. The cuts come about a month after Target reported a major breach of customer information during the holiday shopping season. Spokeswoman Molly Snyder said the cuts are unrelated to the breach. "We believe these decisions, while difficult, are the right actions as we continue to focus on transforming our business," she said. "We will continue to invest in key business areas to strengthen our ability to compete and thrive well into the future." The discount retailer has about 361,000 employees worldwide and more than 1,700 U.S. stores. 

Target's data breach may speed up the adoption of more secure credit card technology in this country. Chip-based "smart cards," already used in Europe, are difficult to counterfeit because the account information is encrypted and stored in an embedded microchip. Most point-of-sale transactions with these smart cards cannot be authorized without a PIN code. That's why it's called "PIN and chip" technology. Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, has sent a letter to congressional leaders calling on the banking industry to switch from the easy-to-hack magnetic strip to the more secure PIN and chip.