Dive Brief

• Target Corporation announced Jan. 13 that it’s launching a multi-year, $5 million effort to educate the public about cybersecurity.
• Experian is providing its ProtectMyID credit monitoring and identity theft-protect service as part of the Target campaign, which customers can immediately access at its website. In fact, several customers have already signed up, according to a company spokesperson.
• The program comes amid public relations embarrassment and legal tussles over Target’s recent disclosure that some 110 million customers’ credit cards were compromised at the company’s U.S. stores.

Dive Insight

While credit-card hacks at various retail outlets have exposed consumer credit information in the past, the scale of Target’s recent breach has shaken customers, sparking not just an outcry but also legal scrutiny from state attorneys general. This campaign is clearly a public relations effort, but if effective, it could go far in helping consumers more safely navigate retail purchasing.