Target Endures More Fallout from Security Breach

Consumer confidence in the Target brand appears to be slipping.

Another big name retailer is a victim of hackers. Neiman Marcus says cyber thieves stole customer credit and debit card information over the 2013 holiday season. Executives have not disclosed how many were affected.

Meanwhile, consumer confidence in the Target brand appears to be slipping. Monday, the big retailer's national brand rating dropped to #21, according to YouGov's BrandIndex. It's a metric that tracks brands across multiple sectors while also measuring public perception.

The company had consistently ranked in the top 10 national brands. But last year between November 27 and December 15, Target's data security system was hacked and the personal information for as many as 70-million customers was stolen. Now company officials suspect the data breach could also affect past shoppers.
 

Elizabeth Baker is a visiting assistant professor in the Business Department at Wake Forest University. She tells WFDD's Kathryn Mobley she believes hacking has been happening for years, but now it's getting more attention because so many of us are living more aspects of our lives on-line.