Hawaii officials will begin a joint investigation into Target’s security breach with consumer protection offices in other states after the retailer discovered that as many as 110 million people may have been affected nationwide.
The company disclosed Friday that the pre-Christmas data theft was significantly more extensive and affected millions more shoppers than it reported in December.
The nation’s second-largest discounter said hackers stole personal information — including names, phone numbers and email and mailing addresses — from as many as 70 million customers as part of a data breach discovered last month, according to new information gleaned from its investigation with the Secret Service and the Department of Justice.
State officials expect to get new figures next week on the number of Hawaii residents whose personal information was stolen.
Target originally announced Dec. 19 that some 40 million credit and debit card accounts had been affected by a data breach that happened between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15 — just as the holiday shopping season was getting into gear. As part of that announcement, the company said customers’ names, credit and debit card numbers, card expiration dates, debit card PINs and the embedded code on the magnetic strip on the back of cards had been stolen.
Hawaii’s Office of Consumer Protection informed the public that the security breach affected roughly 121,000 Hawaii shoppers.
Millions of Target customers now are vulnerable to identity theft, experts say.
"The size and scope of the breach is disturbing," Bruce Kim, executive director of the Office of Consumer Protection, said in a statement, adding that the state has been "actively monitoring" the situation. "We already know it has affected numerous Hawaii residents. Today’s news only heightens our concerns over the security of personal information of Hawaii residents who may have shopped at Target stores in Hawaii or on the mainland. This is still a fluid situation and I have no comment about the ongoing investigation at this time."
Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder didn’t have details on the number of people affected by location and said there may be overlap between the two groups.
The company has four stores in Hawaii: in Hilo and Kailua-Kona and, on Oahu, in Salt Lake and Kapolei.
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Star-Advertiser reporter Kristen Consillio and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
