Justice Department working to nab Target data thieves, Holder says

Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. confirmed the Justice Department is investigating the theft of financial and personal information of 110 million Target customers.

In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, Holder said that while the Justice Department doesn’t generally discuss specific cases, the department is working to track down and prosecute the hackers who stole Target customer data late last year.

“We are committed to working to find not only the perpetrators of these sorts of data breaches but also any individuals and groups who exploit that data via credit card fraud,� Holder said Wednesday.

The department “takes very seriously reports of any data breach, particularly those involving personally identifiable or financial information,� he said.

Target Corp., the Minneapolis retailer, disclosed last month the payment card information of 40 million customers were stolen over a two-week period during the busy holiday shopping season. The company later reported the personal information -- a mix of names, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers -- of an additional 70 million customers were stolen during the data breach.

Affected customers have reported fraudulent charges and thousands of newly minted credit cards using the stolen payment card information flooded the black market.

Target is not the only retailer to report its customers information was stolen. Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus reported hackers made away with the payment card information of about 1.1 million customers.