Consumer Claims Survive Motion To Dismiss In Target Data Breach Class Action

A recent ruling by Federal District Judge Paul Magnuson will permit most of the consumer claims in the Target data breach litigation to survive Target's motion to dismiss.  This most recent ruling follows on the heels of the court's December 2 decision partially denying Target's motion to dismiss consolidated complaint of the banks that issued the credit and debit cards that were subject to the breach.  The late 2013 data theft that gave rise to the consumer and issuer bank claims was caused by malware placed by hackers on Target's point-of-sale ("POS") terminals.  The malware allowed the hackers to record and steal payment card data as customers' credit or debit cards were swiped.  In the consolidated consumer complaint, 117 named plaintiffs allege that Target wrongfully failed to prevent or timely disclose the data theft.  Plaintiffs also contend that Target failed to disclose the purported insufficiency of Target's data security practices.  The consumers assert