Target announces move to chip-and-PIN card technology

Target has announced that, effective May 5, Bob DeRodes will lead the company’s information technology transformation in the wake of the massive breach it recently suffered.

As executive vice president and chief information officer, DeRodes will assume oversight of the Target technology team and operations, with responsibility for the ongoing data security enhancement efforts as well as the development of Target’s long-term information technology and digital roadmap.

DeRodes comes to Target with more than 40 years of experience and is a recognized leader in information technology, data security, and business operations. He has been a senior information technology advisor for the Center for CIO Leadership, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and the U.S. Department of Justice. In addition, he has provided independent advisory services to corporations, private equity firms, and boards.

The company is continuing its search for a chief information security officer and a chief compliance officer.

Since the initial confirmation of the data breach, the company has taken actions to further strengthen security across the network, including enhanced monitoring and logging, installation of application whitelisting point-of-sale systems, enhanced segmentation, review and limiting of vendor access, and more.

The company has also announced that, beginning in early 2015, the entire REDcard portfolio, including all Target-branded credit and debit cards, will be enabled with MasterCard’s chip-and-PIN solution.

Existing co-branded cards will be reissued as MasterCard co-branded chip-and-PIN cards. Ultimately, through this initiative, all of Target’s REDcard products will be chip-and-PIN secured. The new payment terminals will be in all 1,797 U.S. stores by this September.

The chip-and-PIN system has its problems, but it’s generally considered to be safer that the current older alternative (card swiping).