Chicago-based security firm Trustwave has been accused for failing to detect security loopholes, which lead to the Target data breach by Trustmark National Bank and Green Bank.
In their suit at the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the banks also alleged that the vulnerabilities in the Target system were either unnoticed or ignored by the security firm, allowing hackers to access millions of card accounts and personal records.
The latest suit shows rising annoyance of banks incurred with the costs of reissuing cards hit by data breaches.
Target had enrolled Trustwave to manage its computer systems and assure compliance with PCI-DSS, which is an industry security proposal pressed on by MasterCard and Visa to ensure security of cardholders’ data.
Target was hit with massive data breach in December 2013, affecting about 70 million customers, which cost financial institutions over $200m to replace credit and debit cards, with the spending still continuing to go up.
The US retailer has been hit with dozens of potential class-action lawsuits and action from financial institutions seeking reimbursement for millions of dollars in losses due to fraud and the cost of replacing cards.
