So remember a few weeks ago when Target admitted that hackers had swiped the data of 40 million customers, but no one needed to worry because it was all encrypted? Well, Target's starting to realize that quite a bit more data was swiped than it previously thought—specifically, the names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of 70 million customers. Whoops.
This revelation comes in addition to the original 40 million customers who had their payment card data compromised, though all of it is part of the same breach. According to Target, most of the data is "partial in nature," but at least for cases in which Target does have an email address available, the company will be contacting affected parties.
Partial or not, though, this is a massive amount of information, and it seems that the hackers behind the breach are making the most of their haul. According to CNet, the post-Target-hack black market landscape has seen a 10- to 20-fold increase in stolen cards. Fortunately for those who have had that level of personal information compromised, Target promises that "guests will have zero liability for the cost of any fraudulent charges arising from the breach." Still, each update in the case has proved worse and worse for consumers, so hopefully, this is the full extent of the damage—because it is a lot of damage. [Target via CNet]