McAfee is on the Cyber Criminal Case

Virus and Internet protector McAfee wants to take its cyberworld security a step further. The company premiered a new campaign designed to increase awareness about Identity theft. The effort includes an episodic Web documentary that chronicles just how pervasive the problem of cybercrime has become.

The film, developed jointly by Omnicom agencies DDB West and Tribal DDB San Francisco, is entitled "H*Commerce. The Business of Hacking You."
The term H*Commerce stands for Hacker Commerce, defined as the business of making money (and comprising personal and business data) through illegal use of technology.

The film follows the personal story of Janella Spears, who lost more than $440,000 in an elaborate email scam, and the effect the cybercrime had on her marriage and life. The film also includes input from experts, former hackers and cyber forensic experts to add context and perspective. (In one sequence in the first episode, cyber forensic expert Chris Roberts shows how he can hack into all sorts of Bluetooth-enabled devices while driving down the freeway.)

Shot by Seth Gordon (who directed the documentary "The King of Kong -- A Fistful of Quarters," the film is broken into six segments, which will be posted every two weeks over a 12-week period at www.StopHCommerce.com.

While the site includes information about McAfee and its suite of protection products, the main goal of the effort is to educate consumers about the issue.

George Gougion, Managing Director of Triball DDB says. "It got to the point where they could continue to put out ads, but they realized they needed to expand the conversation and drive the category," he says. "They're really focused on the big picture. People aren't aware of what could happen."

The site will be promoted through an extensive online and social media campaign that will include banner ads and trailers. The company is also hitting New York and San Francisco with a poster campaign that features artwork similar to the one-sheets created by Saul Bass for Alfred Hitchcock. The out-of-home campaign will contain a mobile code in which people can view trailers and receive updates on their mobile devices.

The online component, will appear on sites such as Hulu, ABC.com, NBC.com, CBS.com, NYTimes.com, Forbes.com and wired.com. Hulu.com will also feature the episodes in its documentary channel.

McAfee's global fight against cybercrime is already underway.. new episodes will appear bi-weekly.