Target Corp.'s widely publicized cybersecurity fiasco this past holiday season resulted in a number of class action lawsuits and general displeasure from the public. That criticism may increase following revelations this week that Target identified the potential threat but neglected to act.

On March 13, the company released additional information on the attack, including word that it had detected the presence of malicious software during the time of the attack but declined to take action against it. While it is unknown whether the attack detected was the same one that stole information from millions of customers, the lapse in action is disconcerting for consumer advocates.

The revelations came following a Bloomberg Businessweek report that says Target's security team had received notice from FireEye, Inc. security systems on Nov. 30 that an attempted attack had been made. While the attack in question eventually turned out to be part of the massive breach, the alert carried a generic name of “malware.binary,” which experts say may have been unobtrusive enough to continue unaddressed.