Late last year, during the holiday season, hackers somewhere in Europe stole 40 million credit and debit card numbers and tens of millions of other pieces of personal information from Target customers in the United States. As reported by Bloomberg Businessweek's Michael Riley, the malware attack wasn't particularly sophisticated or unique, and Target's security systems were extensive and ready for such an attack — and yet Target missed the early security warnings.
After the hack was made public, Target customers filed more than 90 lawsuits against the company for negligence and compensation.
Riley, along with three colleagues, interviewed former Target employees with knowledge about the security systems, and people with knowledge of the hack itself and the aftermath. Riley spoke about the investigation with NPR's Melissa Block.