Target Says Encrypted PIN Data Taken in Breach

Target Corp. said Friday that encrypted debit card PIN data was among the information accessed in a data breach during the peak holiday shopping period.

The Minneapolis-based retailer said that it doesn’t believe PINs themselves were accessed in the breach and doesn’t think they can be unencrypted by whoever may have taken them. The PINs are encrypted when entered by debit-card customers at checkout and are deciphered externally.