Target wasn't storing credit cards. They installed spyware onto the POS systems, and the CC numbers were not stored in memory on the actual register. So there

Target wasn't storing credit cards. They installed spyware onto the POS systems, and the CC numbers were not stored in memory on the actual register. So there was a point in time that they could be pulled from system memory. There was an in-depth analysis I'm struggling to find at the moment. But Krebs shines a bit more light on it. https://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/02/target-hackers-broke-in-via-hvac-company/ https://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/02/target-hackers-broke-in-... While Target does store transaction information, they don't store the actual credit card info. That's why you need to provide the physical credit card to do a return, or they give you store credit.