Hackers have stolen 45.7 million credit/debit card informations

Via the Danish version of Computerworld I became aware of this story.

Data theft from at least 45.7 million cards believed to be biggest hack

A hacker or hackers stole data from at least 45.7 million credit and debit cards of shoppers at off-price retailers including T.J. Maxx and Marshalls in a case believed to be the largest such breach of consumer information.

For the first time since disclosing the theft more than two months ago, the parent company of nearly 2,500 discount stores put a number on how much card data was compromised - and it's a number TJX Cos. acknowledges could go still higher.

Experts say TJX's disclosures in a regulatory filing last week revealed security holes that persist at many companies entrusted with consumer data: failure to promptly delete data on customer transactions, and to guard secrets about how such data is protected through encryption.

It's related to one of my pet issues: data security and privacy. The lack of an agency that actively enforces data security and data privacy in the US exposes normal US consumers to a high risk of identity theft or plain stealing. Such an agency should not be necessary in theory, if the companies actually were focused on such issues, but without such an agency, the companies don't focus on the issues.