PIN numbers removed but data 'safe and secure' despite security breach, Target ...

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Target Corp. said Friday that it is 'confident that PIN numbers are safe and secure' despite a recent security breach involving about 40 million credit and debit card accounts.

The nation's second-largest discounter said it is still in the early stages of its criminal and forensics investigation, but was able to confirm that its customers' 'strongly encrypted PIN data was removed.'

'The PIN information was fully encrypted at the keypad, remained encrypted within our system, and remained encrypted when it was removed from our systems,' Molly Snyder, a spokeswoman from the company, said in a statement.

'The most important thing for our guests to know is that their debit card accounts have not been compromised due to the encrypted PIN numbers being taken'

- Target spokeswoman in a statement

The announcement comes as federal lawsuits are beginning to trickle in from customers around the U.S. The Department of Justice will also reportedly get involved in the investigation into the security breach.

By Monday evening, more than a dozen Target customers had filed federal lawsuits, with some accusing Target of negligence in failing to protect customer data.

The DOJ declined to comment on whether it's investigating the breach at Target, the nation's second-largest discounter. But Target said that it's cooperating with the DOJ's probe.

Target has been trying to deal with fallout from the breach during what is typically the busiest shopping season of the year.

Target has said that it told authorities and financial institutions once it became aware of the breach on Dec. 15. The company issued an apology to customers and doubled the number of workers taking calls from customers around the clock. It also offered 10 percent off to customers who wanted to shop in its stores on Saturday and Sunday and free credit-monitoring services to those who are affected by the issue.

But there are early signs that some shoppers are scared off by the breach.

Before this incident, Target had a chance of at least a decent Christmas. Now, it will be mediocre at best,' said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a retail consultancy.

Target explained in Friday's statement that its systems do not store PIN information and these numbers can only be decrypted by an external payment processor.

'The most important thing for our guests to know is that their debit card accounts have not been compromised due to the encrypted PIN numbers being taken,' the statement said.