Dive Brief:

• J.C. Penney, Gap Inc., Nike, Walgreens, and (no surprise) Target Corp., plus other retailers are working with the Retail Industry Leaders Association to thwart cybercrime, the companies announced Wednesday.

• The retailers are working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service, and the Department of Homeland Security to create a program that will allow better communication of potential and actual security breaches and provide guidance to retailers.

• A cyber-analyst and a technician based at the National Cyber Forensics and Training Alliance facility in Pittsburgh will be dedicated to the project and work on identifying malware, criminal activity, and software security flaws.

Dive Insight:

Cybercrime is only on the rise, and all criminals need is a small opening, like the kind that occurred at Target last year. This team effort between retailers, law enforcement, and cyberforensics experts may be too long in coming, but better now than never.