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AG stresses importance of credit monitoring as Target breach widens

Posted at 7:00 PM, Jan 17, 2014
and last updated 2014-01-17 19:00:06-05

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) -- Attorney General Mark Herring is urging Virginians to take advantage of free credit monitoring being offered by Target in the wake of the breach. He’s encouraging shoppers to do this, even if they haven’t noticed suspicious activity on their accounts.

Meanwhile, federal investigators are getting a glimpse of who the hackers may be and how they pulled off their crime.

Holiday shopping headaches brought on by hackers are still lingering for millions of credit and debit card holders who shopped at Target last month and had their card and personal information stolen.

Shopper Jensen Parr said he wasted no time trying to protect himself.

“I went to the bank immediately and I changed my pin number,” Parr said.

Now investigators are reportedly getting a better glimpse of who the masterminds are how they pulled off the crime using a type of malicious software called Kaptoxa to steal card information. The malware captures credit card information at check -out terminals as customers swipe their cards.

“It’s kind of a big deal. I do feel bad for those who are impacted but I’m sure they’re doing all they can to get a handle on it and fix the situation,” shopper Ivy Sebastian said.

A private security firm reports that now the crime isn't just affecting Target, but rather multiple retailers are being attacked. That’s more stressing news for customers whose nerves were just starting to settle down from the first incident.