Why not publicly distribute the design? Because skimmer-makers might adapt? It seems trivial to acquire one (getting a job at Target or spoofing a corp email account isn't a high barrier).
I would expect that the corporations will be asked to sign an indemnity agreement before they get the design. Target doesn't want to be held liable in case a skimmer is built that defeats this detection and the recipient needs to understand there are no guarantees.
It's nice that someone got this through the default corporate deny policies.
It’s sad that this is likely the case. In general, an “As is/no warranty” shrinkwrap contract should be sufficient for legal protection but won’t prevent people from filing nuisance lawsuits, which I suspect they wish to avoid altogether.
It is, however, added friction, and that's 90% of the security game. Every additional layer helps. (And a corp email account adds a paper trail, at the very least)
Ah good point. Target's one of the most serious companies in the world about this, with a forensics lab and everything. I'm surprised they're doing this much, even if the skimmers obviously have access to the same measurements.
It's nice that someone got this through the default corporate deny policies.