David Smail Named Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer for ADT ADT Inc., a leading provider of monitored security and interactive home and business automation solutions in the United States and Canada, today announced that P. Gray Finney, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, will be retiring. As his successor, David Smail has been named Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, reporting to ADT President and Chief Executive Officer Jim DeVries, based in Boca Raton, FL. His appointment is effective immediately. Smail brings more than 25 years of experience in the U.S. and internationally, including 10 years of law firm corporate and securities transactional practice, and more than 15 years in public company general counsel roles. He most recently served as Executive Vice President & Chief Legal Officer for Scientific Games Corporation, a leading developer and provider of technology-based products, systems, platforms and services for the global gaming and lottery industries. Read more here.
	Andrew Perry named Senior Director, Retail Operations for Peet's Coffee Prior, Andrew was the Director of Store Operations for Old Navy for over five years. He also held loss prevention roles during his 11 plus years at the retailer including Senior Manager, LP Strategy, Loss Prevention Operations Manager and District Loss Prevention Manager. Andrew earned his Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice from San Francisco State University. Congratulations, Andrew!
	William Peters promoted to Senior Director, Safety and Asset Protection Operations for BJ's Wholesale Club Prior, William was a Director of Regulatory Compliance for the retailer for over ten years. He's held various health and safety positions throughout his over 16 years of experience including Regional Health & Safety Officer/Geologist for Kleinfelder, Geologist/Health & Safety Manager for Shaw Environmental, Inc. and Environmental Engineering Technician for NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. William earned his Bachelors of Science in Geological Sciences from University at Albany, SUNY. Congratulations, William!
	Rick Mitchell named Director of Loss Prevention, Inventory Control and Fraud for Conn's HomePlus Rick was previously the Director of Project Management, Operations and Loss Prevention for Charming Charlie for over a year. Prior, he also held the Director of Loss Prevention, Inventory Control and Corporate Security role for Destination Maternity Corporation. Rick earned his Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice Police Science from Sam Houston State University. Congratulations, Rick!
Albert Metuge promoted to Director, Fraud Management & Analytics for Ascena Retail Group Prior, Albert was the Fraud Prevention Manager for over a year before this promotion. He's held other fraud and loss prevention roles including Senior Fraud & Operations Analyst for Ann Inc., Sr. Loss Prevention Analyst for Big Lots, and Assoc. Loss Prevention Supervisor for Gap Inc. Direct. Albert earned his MBA in Business Administration and Management from Ohio Dominican University. Congratulations, Albert!
	Jennifer Byford promoted to Senior Asset Protection, Operations and Safety Manager for Lowe's Companies Inc. Previously, Jennifer was a Loss Prevention Safety Manager for Lowe's. She's held various loss prevention and operations positions including Loss Prevention Manager for Macy's, Area LP Manager and LP, Safety and Hazmat Manager for Lowe's, and Operations Manager and District LP Manager for The Home Depot. Congratulations Jennifer!

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Over 59K Data Breaches Reported in EU Under GDPR
91 reported fines imposed since the regulation went into effect last May

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) officially went into effect across the European Union on May 25, 2018. Since then, more than 59,000 personal breaches have been reported to regulators.

New data breach notification laws have "fundamentally changed" the risk profile of businesses hit with data breaches, reports global law firm DLA Piper. Breaches likely to cause harm to individuals affected must be reported. Failure to comply can cost fines up to 10 million euros ($11.4 million) or up to 2% of the firm's global annual turnover for the previous financial year - whichever is higher.

In the eight months since GDPR has been applied, 91 reported fines have been imposed. Not all were for personal data breaches. The highest to date was a 50 million euros ($57 million) fine imposed on Google related to processing personal data for advertising without valid authorization. A German company was fined 20,000 euros ($22,810) for failing to hash employee passwords, which led to a security breach. darkreading.com

Pentesters breach 92 percent of companies, report claims
Failure to protect web apps with firewalls, failure to patch systems, and the use of insecure WiFi networks deemed primary causes.

In a report published today summarizing its penetration testing activity for the year 2018, cyber-security firm Positive Technologies claimed that its researchers breached external perimeters and gained access to companies' internal networks in 92 percent of all penetration tests carried out last year.

The company put most of these successful tests on vulnerabilities in the source code of externally-facing web applications, which were deemed the most vulnerable component in companies' IT infrastructure. zdnet.com


Report: Fraud Attempts on Companies Have Increased, But Losses Have Not
According to a new report from Bottomline Technologies, more organizations have experienced some kind of fraud or fraud attempt, but losses were about the same as the previous year. This means that some of this fraud turned out to be ineffective, or that the average losses had declined.

This development - more fraud but not more loss as a result - actually proved the same with little regard to the vehicle. Check, card, and ACH fraud, even ransomware or full-on system intrusion hacking, all proved to be happening more often, but not getting any more out of the increased efforts. Better yet, there's been more spending on security, as well as a clear sense that security controls have gotten stronger.

Among the respondents, 88 percent revealed they had audit trails of activity, 62 percent have alerts for unusual behavior taking place in the system, and 29 percent have alarms in place for those activities that need supervisory deactivation. Yet only 48 percent of the total respondents have actually implemented any one of these measures; these percentages are a reflection of those who put the tools in question in play. paymentweek.com

Gmail 'Dot' Feature Exploited to Commit Credit Fraud, BEC Scams
Gmail offers a nifty "dot" feature which redirects all emails to the same account in case users have mistakenly added a dot or a period in the recipient's email address. But cybercriminals are exploiting the same feature to commit crimes such as filing fake tax returns, availing financial benefits from government agencies, extending the trial period of online services, and credit fraud among others. As per a report, the bad actors have been exploiting the feature to commit a diverse array of scams since early 2018.

The Gmail dot feature fraud, that was discovered by security firm Agari and was first reported by Axios, was primarily employed to commit BEC (Business Email Compromise) scams. gadgets.ndtv.com

Gmail now lets you send self-destructing 'confidential mode' emails from your phone

Applied Recognition and Intellicheck Identity Authentication Join Forces to Curb Identity Fraud & Boost Fraud Prevention

Applied Recognition and Intellicheck have formed a new partnership to advance digital identity authentication. The two companies will incorporate one another's technology into each partner's respective product offerings, combining barcoded identity authentication with facial recognition. The combined, comprehensive technology solutions will heighten identity theft protection, curbing fraudsters ability to perpetrate retail and financial fraud.

This is an important development for loss prevention professionals. Why? The answer lies in the data. Every 88 seconds somebody's identity is stolen. Losses associated with identity fraud amounted to $16.8 billion last year. With the surge in incidents of identity fraud and data breaches expected to continue in 2019, the risk to retail remains critical. Retailers of every size stand to face a continued rise in costs and losses. Fraudsters continue to profit at your expense from using fraudulently obtained personally identifiable information to open store accounts, obtain credit cards and take over accounts.

Intellicheck CEO Bryan Lewis summed up what this new partnership means. "Our combined technology solutions provide robust fraud protection at a critical juncture. The ongoing rise in data breaches that have compromised the personal identification information of millions of individuals have led to a dramatic increase in identity theft and fraud. In an increasingly mobile and online world, to protect the consumer you must first establish that they have a valid form of government issued ID and then confirm that the consumer is in control of that ID. This new partnership offers a much-needed dynamic solution that achieves both of these requirements in a manner that is at once both potent and seamless for the consumer," said Lewis.

The combined technology solutions also take into account another critical reality for retailers. Ultimately, it's all about the customer. Retailers will appreciate that consumers will experience a frictionless, engaging, user experience. The fraud prevention solutions will feature the user capturing the front and rear image of a barcoded photo ID and then a selfie, both taken using a mobile device's camera. The submitted information will be rapidly analyzed bringing barcode authentication, optical character recognition (OCR) validation and scoring, together with a face-recognition-powered comparison of the selfie to the ID's photo. Together, these tests quickly ensure a valid identity authentication.

Read More Here

'The Big Debate': Should LCBO liquor stores crack down on shoplifting?

9,000 Shoplifting Incidents at LCBO Stores Over Four and a Half Years
Thieves Stealing 'Millions of Dollars' in Liquor
As the Daily has reported in recent weeks, there have been thousands of reported shoplifting incidents at LCBO stores over the past four and a half years. Thieves are walking out with millions in liquor. According to the union representing the Crown corporation's frontline employees, "immediate action" is needed.

The approach to dealing with this issue is debated from both sides in the Toronto Star's 'Big Debate' Series. Read below for each perspective.

Should the LCBO crack down on shoplifting? No
By Stephen O'Keefe, President of Bottom Line Matters
Retailers are passionate about the need to create a safe work and shopping environment for employees and customers. They are also aware that theft and fraud eats away at margins, which could put them out of business.

Does that mean arresting every shoplifter is the right thing to do? Before answering with an absolute yes, let's look at what that entails. Arresting shoplifters takes on a new set of challenges:

● The robust training and certification requirements of hiring in-house.
● The risk of litigation for any mistaken accusations made along the way.
● The lack of timely police response.
● The failure to successfully see cases through the court system because of case overload.
● Finally, once again, the nature of safety first if the arrest becomes violent.

As policing resources become strained across the country, the need for legislative changes to allow retailers more power in Canada is imperative.

Additionally, as our criminal court system rightly places violent crimes at a higher level than shoplifting, alternatives are being explored, such as restorative justice and civil recovery, rather than just dropping cases from the system. This allows retailers to recuperate their financial losses directly from shoplifters. It would also ensure that only the most serious and repeat offenders are processed by the criminal justice system. Perhaps a special court system to process shoplifters is warranted?

One thing is clear, every retailer is concerned about employee safety and while some may frown upon the decisions made regarding shoplifting, they cannot dispute the fact that it is not a decision made frivolously, and safety first is the guiding principle.  thestar.com

Should the LCBO crack down on shoplifting? Yes
By Warren "Smokey" Thomas, President, Ontario Public Service Employees Union
Imagine seeing thieves wandering around your workplace, grabbing things off the shelves and getting away with it. Imagine the frustration of knowing that in many cases you can't stop the thief nor are you allowed to intervene. It's simply too dangerous. Imagine the potential of physical assault and verbal abuse. This is reality for many workers in LCBO retail outlets.

LCBO staff is the gold standard when it comes to social responsibility. Employees keep communities safe but more must be done. And it's up to senior management and the government to step up to the plate and fulfil its statutory obligation to protect these workers.

It's a critical health and safety issue and both LCBO management and the provincial government have an obligation to ensure staff are safe. It's not a choice, it's the law under The Occupational Health and Safety Act.

That's why I am demanding the LCBO immediately sit down with our health and safety and leadership team to discuss our ideas to improve store safety. I am also calling for the formation and deployment of in-house security. The LCBO must also provide more consistent security in stores, particular those that are hardest hit by theft. Sporadic protection isn't doing the job. thestar.com
 

The illegal online marijuana market is raising security concerns among experts
As police continue to shut down illegal pot shops across the province, the online market continues to flourish in a multi-billion dollar illegal market. Just four days after Georigia Peach saw all it's illegal marijuana dispensaries shut down, the store reminded it's followers that they could still buy their weed on their website, one of many illegally-run sites. Statistics Canada reports that the illicit weed market is worth about $1.5 billion, nearly a quarter of total Canadian market.

Compared to the government-funded site, illegal online retailers offer cheaper prices but in turn leave consumers vulnerable to cyber threats, Police say, "they have no responsibility to take security seriously." While they haven't made any arrests yet, the OPP say tracking down those behind illegal weed sites is no different than other cyber crime. chch.com

Cannabis industry to be worth just $5 billion by 2021 amid flat rollout, high costs

Canada's cannabis shortage could be over quicker than we thought, researcher says
 

Young "hackers" help Canada Cartage fight cargo theft
More than 600 students participated in 30-hour non-stop "hack-a-thon" event called DeltaHacks on Jan. 26-27. Participating businesses presented the hackers with challenges, and students then spent 24 hours developing technology solutions to the problem. The students worked all night in teams to build their solutions, which were then judged, and winners selected.

Canada Cartage participated as a sponsor and challenged the hackers to develop a theft prevention app that could provide an early warning, real-time alert to operations' dispatchers that a theft may be in progress. Nineteen teams accepted the challenge and engineered a range of software and hardware solutions. They included using artificial intelligence, machine learning, neural networks, radio frequency ID tags, Internet of Things solutions, and mobile phone apps. trucknews.com

'The apocalypse hasn't happened'
A year after Sears Canada, the mall is not dead
While the loss of Sears hit the bottom line of mall owners, the country's biggest malls are still a hive of activity, with all but a handful seeing sales rise in 2018, compared to 2017. Experts point to a variety of reasons, including that Sears had already been drifting away for a few years anyway - selling leases back to mall owners a handful at a time and simply not renewing others.

Other reasons the departure didn't hit particularly hard? The mall business model has been evolving, and, well, Sears really hadn't been a big draw in years anyway. thestar.com

Canada Store Openings & Expansions
● Former David's Tea Head Launches Upscale Spice Brand with 1st Standalone Retail Unit
● Ontario sticking to April 1 opening for first 25 pot shops
● Vitasave Opens New Robson Street Flagship Store
● Change Lingerie Continues Aggressive Canadian Expansion, Including Plans for 1st Alberta Stores


Study: Canadian retailers lag in BOPIS Services

Consumer spending on track for worst year in decade

Walmart is using a Flipkart fashion brand to test expansion in Canada

Jean Machine Closes All Stores After Four Decades

Crackdown on 'Fraudulent' Olive Oil at Canadian Retailers Says Expert

Canada's Sunrise Records to buy UK's HMV; 100 Stores & 1,500 jobs saved

Tim Hortons co-founder, dead at 88

Captis Intelligence specializes in developing highly sophisticated means of suspect identification. Their I-4 solution (Information, Intelligence, Investigation, and Identification) unifies situational awareness, geographic crime intelligence, social media investigation, criminal databases, access to solveacrime.com, and secured information exchange portals for national retailers, neighboring businesses and law enforcement.

Dan Santell, CEO, Captis Intelligence, tells us what makes the I-4 platform so unique, how it's reduced theft rates in stores by 50%, and how it helped police solve a high-profile murder/robbery case within 72 hours.

Tom Meehan & Steve Sell - CONTROLTEK - Quick Take 9

Steve Sell, VP of Global Sales & Marketing for CONTROLTEK, chats with Amber Bradley about some of the new solutions CONTROLTEK is rolling out this year, and then takes on the "Lightning Round", before Tom Meehan, Chief Strategy Officer & CISO - and famous author of the D&D Daily's "Tom's Tek Tip" column - crashes the party to share a little wisdom on business cards and LinkedIn.

Know Thy Fraudster: The Secret Life of an ATO Criminal
ATO methods are constantly changing as e-commerce merchants catch on to popular scams and devious fraudsters develop new approaches. To claim the upper hand in this vicious cycle, online retailers first need to know who ATO criminals are before they can figure out how to protect their customers and bottom lines from this growing avenue of attack.

What does an e-commerce fraudster actually look like, and how can they be caught?

They're Specialists
Criminals are practical people running a business to generate revenue, so - similar to legitimate business people - they're hyper-focused on ROI. That's why in most cases, an ATO fraudster will attempt an attack, capitalize on it and repeat it if it was successful. In fact, Forter's recent ATO whitepaper found that more than 80% of account takeovers are carried out by less than 10% of fraudsters targeting the site.

This is the case because fraudsters specialize at finding and exploiting certain vulnerabilities. For instance, fraudsters will often hack into existing and trusted accounts and go on to steal PII or use attached payment methods.

They're Sophisticated
This tenacity means that criminals are always looking for loopholes that avoid the security systems in place. One way to do this is to use passwords stolen in data breaches to log into legitimate online accounts and fool antiquated fraud prevention systems, including manual reviewers, into thinking all is well.

They're Efficient
Fraudsters who focus on ATO attacks know how to be efficient by launching attacks at scale. Entering stolen account information can be done quickly and effectively by programming automated bots to do the dirty work, and trawling for information to outwit security questions is easy when searching for keywords on social networks.

Protection against ATOs must also operate at any scale, or online retailers won't be able to stop specialized, sneaky criminals from successfully committing fraud.

They're Team Players
Fraudsters are often pictured as lone wolves executing nefarious activities alone from the safety of their basements, but 20-30% of ATOs are actually conducted by fraud rings. This is because there are so many ways online accounts can be exploited that ATO is particularly likely to be perpetrated by groups of criminals working together.

Fraud prevention systems must be extremely sensitive to connections between users in order to spot these fraud rings at work and shut them down - even when those concerned are doing their best to conceal their real devices, locations and intentions. paymentsjournal.com

Amazon wins patent for package pickup on public buses

Abercrombie sues online retailers over counterfeits

Target Turns To eCommerce Merchants For A Millennial Edge

More than half of online retailers plan to change ecommerce platforms this year

Sugar Land, TX: Thieves break inside First Colony Mall for 45 minutes
Fled with $18,000 in rare, high end shoes and clothing
Burglars made off with almost $18,000 in rare shoes and clothing from a Sugar Land barbershop that specializes in unique high-end sneakers. Sugar Land police responded to a burglary at the TDK Barbershop on Jan. 8. Masked thieves were in the First Colony Mall store for 45 minutes during their spree. There were no signs of forced entry and the case remains under investigation by detectives. abc13.com
 

Warner Robins, GA: 3 Albany women steal $1,500 in items from Warner Robins stores The three women confessed to stealing items from an Albany American Eagle, in addition to the Warner Robins TJ Maxx and Old Navy. Police say the stolen TJ Maxx items totaled $575, while the stolen Old Navy items totaled $1,066. Officers also found items in their possession from Academy Sports. wgxa.tv

Davenport, IA: Couple accused of stealing $1,500 of merchandise from Menard's
Gregory Bubenyak, 58, and Lyda Bubenyak, 43, were charged Feb. 5 with second-degree theft. According to the arrest affidavit, the two allegedly placed more than $1,500 worth of items into a garbage can, then placed the can near the rear exit of the facility near the lumber yard. The pair then made a cheap purchase in order to gain access to the area in which they stashed the merchandise. They placed the garbage can in their vehicle and drove away. No other items were recovered. dailyiowan.com
 

Duluth, GA: Police looking for vacuum, electronics shoplifter Police are looking for this shoplifter, who they say targeted a Duluth electronics store in late December and recently struck again, this time snatching two "high-end" vacuums from a Dacula department store. gwinnettdailypost.com

Menomonee Falls, WI: Milwaukee woman charged with stealing hundreds
from JCPenney
Jennifer Olivarez, 35, has been charged with retail theft and bail jumping after she was allegedly caught leaving JC Penney, in Menomonee Falls, with $648 worth of unpaid clothing items on Jan. 30. jsonline.com
 

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