On November 27th 2013, malware was first installed throughout Target's US environment, prompting what would become the second largest credit card data breach in US history. Some estimates state that at least 70M people have had their information compromised in the Target data breach, which comes out to roughly 45% of all card-holding consumers (160M) in the US. As we approach the 6 month anniversary of Target's data breach, new updates and headlines continue to emerge.
On March 5th of 2014, The New York Times reported that Target’s CIO and executive vice president for technology services, Beth M. Jacob had resigned. This would be the first high-level executive to resign after the retailer's massive data breach affecting at least 70M people. Target would later announce that Jacob would be replaced by Bob DeRodes.
Nearly 2 months after Target's CIO resigned in early March, the chief executive officer of Target, Gregg Steinhafel, announced his resignation from the company. Reports stated that after discussions between Steinhafel and the Board of Directors, the board announced on Monday, May 5th that it had determined that Target required new leadership.
Top Class Actions reports that to date over 68 class action lawsuits have been consolidated in the U.S District Court of Minnesota over claims that the retailer failed to protect customer’s financial data. U.S District Judge Paul Maguson set an August 25th deadline for customers to file a consolidated complaint. It is estimated that as many as 100 cases could potentially join this litigation. All motions to dismiss must be filed by October 1st, while all who wish to join the litigation must file motions by December 1st. Class Certification motions will begin in April 2015, and the case must be ready for trial by April 1st, 2016, according to the Order.
A former PepsiCo executive , Brian Cornell, has been named the new chairman and CEO of Target Corp. Ensuring Target's customers that the protection of their personal information is a top priority will be paramount for Cornell's first task as chairman and CEO. Jeffrey Roman of DataBreachToday goes into more detail of the big box retailer's newest executive hire.
For more information on the Target data breach, follow the link to our "Target Timeline" blog post.