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sragan
Senior Staff Writer

Target CIO resigns as company moves to recover from breach

News
Mar 05, 20142 mins
IT Jobs

Beth Jacob, Target's Chief Information Officer during the largest retail breach on record, has resigned from her post in the wake of the incident.

Beth Jacob, Target’s Chief Information Officer during the largest retail breach on record, has resigned from her post in the wake of the incident.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Target CEO, Gregg Steinhafel, said the company was moving to overhaul its information security and compliance structure. Part of this overhaul includes a new CIO.

“As a first step in this effort, Target will be conducting an external search for an interim CIO who can help guide Target through this transformation,” Steinhafel said in a statement.

“We will also be elevating the role of the Chief Information Security Officer and hiring externally for this position. Additionally, we will be initiating an external search for a chief compliance officer.”

Jacob has been the CIO at Target since 2008, after being promoted to the position from VP of guest operations. In a letter released to the media, she said the decision to resign was difficult, but added that “this was a time of significant transformation for the retail industry and for Target.” At no point in the letter did she mention the most recent security incident.

Target’s latest breach problems, the second since 2005, started on Black Friday in 2013, and lasted until December 15. The breach was announced four days later, and impacted some 70 million customers.

What do you think? Was this a case of falling on the sword, done to appeal to the shareholders, or was this a smart business move?