however, now with this new information that many other retailers could potentially have been breached, that number could potentially double in the next couple of weeks. consumers need to be aware right now, paying very close attention to their statements. credit card numbers and other personal information of up to 110 million target customers has already been compromised. target has alerted people that the cyber attack stole much more than p.i.n. numbers. we knew it was card numbers and p.i.n. numbers for up to 40 million, but up to 70 million more also had names, addresses, e-mail addresses compromised. the size of this is staggering and appears to be growing. everyone really needs to take notice. where is it coming from, could it happen again? are we in the middle of it? is it still happening? those are the questions we have. more on that ahead. today president obama will address u.s. surveillance programs in a major speech at the justice department. few significant changes
were compromised. alexandra field is live with the hatest from target and the customers. reporter: they re admitting this is a bigger breach than initially reported initially we knew card numbers and names had been taken now we know p.i.n. numbers had been taken. target has said the data was scrambled and it will be difficult to decipher. they re reassuring customers that that information is protected. it reads, the p.i.n. information was fully encrypted at the keypad, remained encrypted within our system and remained encrypted when it was removed from our system. target says there s no reason to believe that that data is not still encrypted. we spoke to security experts who asked if that is not possible for that to be decrypted. they said the likelihood of that will depend on the specifics of the encryption system. if you re a customer who uses a debit card and are concerned about the money in your account,
they are heavily encrypted and impossible to decode. alexander field is live for us now in new york. so, is that the case, very difficult to, i guess, decode? reporter: well, fred, target is telling shoppers they believe that the information is safe, secure and protected, but some security experts are saying it s possible that that information might not be. there are sophisticated hackers out there right now trying access those p.i.n. numbers, so really no reason for shoppers to wait and find out. just a day after saying there was no evidence that personal identification numbers, or p.i.n.s, were accessed in its massive security breach, a turn-around from target. the retail giant saying debit card p.i.n. numbers were stolen along with names and card numbers as part of the recent hacking. still, target insists the p.i.n. code information is safe and secure, in a statement, saying the p.i.n. information was
immediately. i know it s a pain but change your pin number. get a new card. that the easiest way to do it. they say there is monitoring protection. but as piece of mind, change it so you don t have to deal with it. alexander joins us live and alexander, at first, target says the data was not stolen. but caused the about face. right. rosa, at first target said it was card numbers and names but that the incrypted card numbers were taken and they made the announcement after they got that evidence. where does the investigation stabbed? do we know who did this at this point? this is a massive investigation, rosa. we are talking about 40 million shoppers affected between the time of black friday and december 15th. target is characterizing this as ongoing and continuing investigation. they are in just the first stages of criminal and forensic work here. this could certainly go on. we could hear more about it,
nearly ten feet thick. one rescue ship has stalled in the ice. and another rescue boat is to turn back. well, we ll talk about one of the crew members live from the stranded ship just ahead. but first, the impact of targets massive debit card security breech is growing by the day. millions of shop rs are told to get new cards after target admitted that customers pin numbers were stolen. but target is insisting the pin data is still safe and secure. cnn s alexander field reports from new york. just the day after saying there was no evidence that personal identification numbers or pins were accessed in its massive security breach, a tush around from target, the retail giant saying debit card pin numbers were stolen along with names and card numbers as part of the recent hacking. target insist the pin code information is safe and secure in a statement saying quote,