The now infamous Target hack has been well documented. Earlier this month the retailer confirmed that its point of sale registers had been compromised by malware during and even prior to the holiday season, which resulted in personal information of more than 70 million customers being compromised. Even credit and debit card information of customers was leaked in this massive security breach. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, while testifying at a U.S. Senate hearing, confirmed that the Target hack is now being investigated by the Justice Department as well.
Holder promises that the Department will work to find the people behind the Target hack as well as “any individuals and groups who exploit that data via credit card fraud.” This confirmation is a break from tradition, the Department generally does not discuss specific matters which are under investigation. Cases such as the Target hack are usually spearheaded by the U.S. Secret Service on behalf of the federal government. Recent rumors claim that the ringleaders might be based in Eastern Europe, while it believed that the malware might actually have been developed by a Russian teenager. Various security companies claim that many other major U.S. retailers were targeted during the same period as well, but they have not been named. Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus confirmed that it too had been the victim of a security breach, and on the face of it, it appears that the two hackings might be connected in some way.