[Costello:] We're getting a clearer picture of how data thieves hacked into Target and stole credit card and personal information from at least 10 million shoppers. It may have all started with a malicious phishing e-mail, the very kind we're all warned against opening. Christine Romans is here with details. So a single e-mail may have caused this?
[Romans:] Look, how many times have you seen something from somebody you don't know or something from somebody you know that's a weird link or so that's how they get in there and steal your stuff. New details on the entry point for that target hack and how it was something like that, malicious malware moving through the Heating and AC Company and right into Target's inner sanctum. This is from a security expert who first revealed the Target hack. The trail leads to a Pennsylvania company that's a vendor to target. That vendor was the unwitting door into the personal information of 110 million Target customers. Here's how it worked. That's the new part here. A phony e-mail laced with malware sent to employees at that Pennsylvania company. Apparently workers opened that e-mail. The malware affects their computers, worms its way into the company's records. It has a door way to Target because it's a vendor. That's how it gets paid. Hackers steal the Target credentials from the company and feast on the information of Target customers. It raises serious concerns, Carol, how about secure these connections are between companies and how easily your payment information can be hacked. I've got an update for you on another hack too, Carol, that hotel hack at Marriott and Starwood Hotels last year. We're learning more about that one too. That hack was not the information you gave at the front desk, but the restaurant and gift shops apparently, those vendors is how they got through there. Another example of how it's the Wild West with information Carol.
[Costello:] Christine Romans, thanks so much.
[Romans:] You're welcome.
[Costello:] Checking other top stories this morning at 20 minutes past. Despite widespread condemnation of Russia's antigay laws, President Putin is not backing down. Putin's prime minister just signed a resolution that bans same-sex adoption, not so surprising. But get this, the resolution also bars single people from adopting Russian children if they come from countries where same-sex marriage is legal. Their sexual orientation does not matter. Sixteen roller coaster riders now safe on the ground after they were stuck in the 60 feet in the air for three and a half hours. It happened at Bush Gardens in Tampa. According to CNN affiliate, WTSP, the Cheetah hunt coaster broke down just as the train was coming back to the station. Fire crews managed to get everyone off safely. Still no word on why the ride broke down. Comcast has agreed to purchase Time Warner Cable in a deal worth $45 billion. The sale would join two of that nation's largest cable providers and would mean that more than a third of U.S. paid TV subscribers would get their service from a single company, Comcast. The deal is expected to face tough scrutiny by regulators. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Mitch McConnell is the top ranking Senate Republican. So why did he join forces with the Democrats on a critical vote on the debt ceiling? We'll have the report from Washington next.