Happy Friday! Close out the work week with our picks for the hottest articles from the IT and security presses:

1. Target in $39.4 million settlement with banks over data breach by Jonathan Stempel and Nandita Bose
   Remember the major Target breach that occurred in late 2013? Target has recently agreed to pay close to $40 million to banks in a settlement - on top of the losses it has already incurred due to the breach. To learn more about this settlement, read this article.
2. A $10 Tool Can Guess (And Steal) Your Next Credit Card Number by Andy Greenberg
   Ever have your credit card stolen and ordered a new one, thinking everything was fine? It turns out that there’s a trick to figuring out what the full number of the new card will be. To prove how easy it is, Samy Kamar has created a device that costs ten dollars and can correctly predict the number of a new card. To learn more about this credit number vulnerability, read this article.
3. Anatomy of a Wi-Fi hole: Take care in your hotel this Christmas! by Paul Ducklin
   It’s holiday season! With a significant increase in the amount of people traveling, this time of year is the hospitality industry’s favorite season. While convenience is essential for travelers, those traveling for the holidays must be aware of data security risks inherent to travel. Many people are eager to find a Wi-Fi connection as soon as they check in to their hotel, but open Wi-Fi hotspots are often insecure. First off, anyone could run a hotspot. Second, anyone who is in close proximity can potentially intercept and record your network traffic. To learn more about how to keep your internet connection safe while traveling during the holiday season, read this article.
4. Breach at IT Automation Firm LANDESK by Brian Krebs
   Landesk - a software which provides service, asset, security, and systems management - has been hit by a breach. In mid-November the company sent a letter out to its employees warning them of a potential intrusion that could have obtained personal information such as social security numbers and names. To learn more about this breach, read this article.
5. How CISOs Can Change The Game of Cybersecurity by Tom Kellermann
   As data breaches continue to occur at a rapid pace, it is important that companies hire capable and brilliant chief information security officers. Among other things, CISOs are responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient budget allocations for a company’s data security and that there is a proper structure to the security program. Talented CISOs are critical to a company’s security success, and can advance the cybersecurity industry as a whole. To learn more about how CISOs can change the game of cybersecurity, read this article.