A class action suit has been filed against Target for neglecting to notify customers of the security breach and disclosing which customers’ credit cards were compromised by the breach. Target earlier this month announced it suffered a major security breach. Hackers successfully obtained over 40 million customers’ credit and debit card information during November 27th to December 15th. To date this marks the second largest retail security breach within the United States.
Target is under scrutiny for not alerting their consumers fast enough to the security breach and for failing to keep consumers banking information out of the hands of hackers. Attorney Gregory McEwen, who represents plaintiff Sarah Horton, filed the following statement with his suit “Defendants have not made efforts to directly notify individuals whose information was compromised”. Already the 40 lawsuits piled against Target are seeking damages of over $5 million.
Did Target compile with state security laws once the breach was discovered? Each state abides by its own set of security laws and standards for protecting consumer banking information. If Target failed to comply with even one state protection standard, the company may be paying out hefty penalties. This will be on top of already suffering low 4th quarter sales. According to the Wall Street Journal, Targets credit card sales for the last two weeks of the quarter are 3% to 4% lower than they were same time last year. In what should have been their busiest time of year, has turned into a nightmare for the company. Currently the states and FBI are investigating Target’s security breach.
