The Latest in IT Security

By Ross Kerber BOSTON (Reuters) – Companies that help Target Corp process payments could face millions of dollars in fines and costs resulting from the unprecedented data breach that struck the retailer over the holiday shopping season. Investigators are still sorting through just how thieves compromised about 40 million payment cards and the information of about 70 million Target customers. But people who have reviewed past data breaches believe Targets partners could face consumer lawsuits and fines that payment networks such as Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc often levy after cyber security incidents. Targets partners have deep pockets and are intimately involved in certain aspects of how Target gets paid, said Jamie Pole, a cyber security consultant in Asheboro, North Carolina, who works for government agencies and the financial industry.