Banks suing Target over massive data breach just got a huge boost in their case

[Audrey McNeil <audrey () riskbasedsecurity com>]

http://www.businessinsider.com/banks-suing-target-over-massive-data-breach-just-got-a-huge-boost-in-their-case-2015-9

A U.S. judge on Tuesday certified a class action against Target Corp
<TGT.N> brought by several banks over the retailer's massive data breach in
2013.

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in St. Paul, Minnesota, said the banks
could pursue their claims together over the breach, which compromised at
least 40 million credit cards during the holiday season.

In a statement, Charles Zimmerman, one of the lead lawyers representing the
banks, said, "This important ruling brings financial institutions one step
closer to collectively holding Target accountable for its unprecedented
data breach."

Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said the company was "disappointed" and
would evaluate its next steps after reviewing the decision.

The ruling, which makes a settlement with the banks more likely, comes four
weeks after Target agreed to pay as much as $67 million to financial
institutions that issue Visa Inc <V.N> cards, in a deal struck directly
with the credit card network.

Earlier this year, a proposed $19 million settlement with MasterCard Inc
<MA.N> fell through when not enough banks accepted the agreement.

It is not clear how many Visa card issuers accepted the terms of that deal
by the deadline of Sept. 4.

Snyder declined to comment on the number of institutions that have agreed
to participate in the Visa deal but emphasized that the class action
includes only those card issuers that have not settled their claims.

Attorney Zimmerman has said the Visa deal, like the failed MasterCard
settlement, does not fully reimburse banks for their losses and was
negotiated without input from the plaintiffs.

Carrie Hunt, the general counsel for the National Association of Federal
Credit Unions, praised the judge's decision and said it "constitutes one
important avenue for recovery" for credit unions affected by the breach.

The Target breach was one in a series of high-profile data security
failures to hit major retailers, including Home Depot Inc <HD.N> and
Staples Inc <SPLS.O>.

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