Target said Friday that customer's pins were taken from the forty million customers accounts included in the security hack, but are not accessible to outside parties since they can only be used in the retailer's system Bloomberg reported Friday.
"We remain confident that PIN numbers are safe and secure," Molly Snyder, a spokeswoman for Target told Bloomberg. "The PIN information was fully encrypted at the keypad, remained encrypted within our system, and remained encrypted when it was removed from our systems."
Gregg Steinhafel, Target CEO said in a letter Dec. 20 on the retailer's website that no pin information was believed to be obtained. The security code on the cards plastic sticker near the card owner's signature on the underside of the card are also considered to be safe according to CNN Money. The same is true for card user's social dates of birth, and social security number.
Forty million credit and debit account numbers were taken from Target customers between Nov. 27, and Dec. 15. News spread about the incident Dec. 19.
Target employees found and solved where the problem was coming from, but were not able to locate the person behind the incident, and the way they went about it The Wall Street Journal reported.
The incident spanned the country in Target stores, and not online, and could have involved thieves fiddling with the machines customers utilize to slide their cards through while purchasing merchandise Bloomberg Businessweek reported.
Target has offered a 10 percent discount to the customers affected.
The retailer has also cautioned customers about any fake e-mails they might receive. The company will post all of its e-mails on its website according to The Boston Globe.
Target saw its share fall 0.6 percent to $62.13 Friday afternoon Bloomberg reported. The company has had a 5.6 percent increase this year.
