Report: FBI warns of more retail data breaches

Washington, D.C. – The FBI has reportedly issued a confidential report to U.S. retailers warning that more cyber attacks like the ones recently suffered by Target and Neiman Marcus will occur. According to Reuters, the three-page report was distributed Jan. 17 and informs retailers that the FBI has discovered in the past year there have been at least 20 attacks using the same type of malware used against Target.



The report, which an FBI spokesperson verified for Reuters, said that malware attacks designed to steal credit card data from retailers will increase in the short term despite increased efforts to prevent them. This increase is due to the wide global availability of the malware as well as the potential for significant financial gain. The report said most malware attacks the FBI has discovered are launched against small or mid-sized and regional retailers.