Adobe Announces Massive Security Breach - 2.9M exposed customers
Hackers infiltrated the computer system of the software company Adobe, gaining access to credit card information and other personal data from 2.9 million of its customers, the company acknowledged on Thursday. (Source nytimes.com)

Research Reveals Mobile Payment Adoption Interest High with America’s Local Merchants  Key findings from the research demonstrate that merchants want to adopt mobile payments but prefer minimal or no point-of-sale (POS) system upgrades and they want the process to be easy. A majority of merchants are on board to adopt mobile payments within the next two to three years, and most respondents indicated they would rely on their technology or payment provider to implement a mobile solution. Additionally, nearly 40 percent of merchants find value-added services very important and most respondents are already using value-added services or have interest in deploying. (Source businesswire.com)

Reducing Credit Card Fraud: Three Steps for Successful EMV Implementation - White Paper  A high percentage of consumers own debit and credit cards, making them vulnerable to credit card fraud. However, technology is available to combat this fraud. It's an embedded chip technology called EMV — the Europay, Master Card, Visa standard — and it's coming to the United States soon. MasterCard wants mechants to be EMV compliant by 2013, and by 2015, Visa will require all U.S. point-of-sale transactions to be compliant. This white paper, sponsored by National Service Center, discusses how to succesfully implement EMV, including: How to upgrade consumer-facing POS devices, how to choose the proper software and how to choose a service provider. Registration is required. (Source retailcustomerexperience.com)

Chip and Pin card security drives crooks to dupe card holders themselves as stores and banks reduce card fraud in UK  Some 216.1 million pounds worth of frauds were committed on credit and debit cards in the first six months of this year, showing a 17% rise compared with the first half of 2012 as conmen turn their attentions to duping card holders themselves, according to Financial Fraud Action UK, which prevents crime on behalf of the financial services industry. The industry body said that improvements to card security such as Chip and Pin and better fraud detection by banks such as monitoring unusual spending have prompted a growth in more old-fashioned attempts to trick people into simply handing over their personal details. The shape of things to come in the U.S. (Source expressandstar.com)

NRF Says ‘Continued Uncertainty’ in Washington Could Affect Holiday Sales

Harris Teeter Shareholders Approve Merger Agreement with Kroger

Wal-Mart to open 200+ Neighborhood Markets over next 18 months

Will Penney's find Magic with 565 Disney store within a stores - coming Oct 4th

Treasury Warns About 'Catastrophic Impact' on Economy
In a six-page report, Treasury said the economy could fall into a recession if Congress fails to reach an agreement on raising the nation’s $16.7 trillion borrowing limit by Oct. 17. (Source wwd.com)

Vermont grocer pays fine for failing to notify consumers of data breach in statutory period  Natural Provisions, Inc., a Vermont health foods grocery chain, agreed to pay $30,000 to settle claims brought by the Vermont attorney general that it failed to notify consumers and the attorney general within the statutory period required by Vermont’s Security Breach Notice Act and Consumer Protection Act. Natural Provisions, Inc. agreed to pay $15,000 in civil penalties, an additional $15,000 in upgrades for its information technology systems, and to take the steps necessary to prevent future data breaches. The settlement resulted from a security data breach due to credit card fraud at one of its stores. Prior to notification, tens of thousands of dollars of credit card fraud took place and some customers had their credit card information stolen a second time after, being unaware that the store was the site of the fraud, they used their replacement cards to make new purchases at the store. (Source lexology.com)

Retail hiring goes high-tech as holiday season nears - Big Data is making an impact  As retailers gear up to hire hundreds of thousands of seasonal workers for the holidays, job seekers are likely to notice the application process has gone more high tech. In-store kiosks may electronically blackball some candidates. They may also send a text message to managers about other job hopefuls who might be worth hiring on the spot to start training. "It literally can all happen within one hour." One study of personality tests used in hiring found the employees learned to manipulate their results with ease. "I think the consensus from the research is that faking does happen, but it doesn't really change the predictive role of the test.... They learn to be who they need to be to fit that job." The research does support testing for one skill, though: conscientiousness. If you pay attention to details on the test, you're likely to do the same in your job. (Source nbcnews.com)

The Surprising Way Marketing Helps You Nab Young Workers
Lately, I've been hearing a lot from CEOs who are concerned about their marketing—not for the purpose of landing more customers, but as a way of attracting employees. Why? Well, think of this scenario: you're a 20- or 30-something job hunter with great skills and experience. You see that XYZ Co. is hiring, so the first thing you do is look for them online. But if that company—successful and progressive though it may be—hasn't been focusing on marketing, it will likely have a dated website, won't show up easily in Google searches and simply won't give a professional impression. You don't want to work for a company that's not "with the times." So you move on to the next job ad, and XYZ loses the chance to add a skilled employee to its team. Editors note: It's time to rethink how you're recruiting your team in this digital age, even from the LP prospective. Developing a marketing plan around that objective might bring you some surprising results. (Source profitguide.com)

The emergence of attackers-for-hire is a troubling new trend in cybercrime
There are groups that are certainly connected with nation states, whether loosely or part of their structure, and then there are groups who are in this just to make money - those that are more criminal in intent," he says. "And then there are other people that are profiting by providing services. ...I will write malware but I will pay other people to get it onto machines; it's a pay-per-install model." (Source govinfosecurity.com)

Brazil gang in huge tablet robbery at Sao Paulo airport  An armed gang in Brazil has stolen tablets and notebook computers worth an estimated $800,000 from the cargo terminal at Sao Paulo airport. Police say the robbery was carried out by a group of 10 men, who stormed the building after overpowering security guards and taking two of them hostage. The whole operation took just over half an hour. No arrests have been made. Some of the gunmen had fake security guards uniform. Two of the guards were kept hostage in a security booth while the other six were made to load the cargo onto the truck. (Source bbc.co.uk)

ASIS Physical Security Professional (PSP) Certification
The Physical Security Professional (PSP) designation is one of three certification programs that global security organization ASIS administers. The Physical Security Professional (PSP) credential provides demonstrated knowledge and experience in threat assessment and risk analysis; integrated physical security systems; and the appropriate identification, implementation, and ongoing evaluation of security measures. Those who earn the PSP are ASIS board certified in physical security. The exam consists of 125 multiple-choice questions covering tasks, knowledge and skills in three broad domains that have been identified by PSPs as the major areas involved in physical security management. All exam questions come from the official reference books. For more information on eligibility requirements, application process, exam preparation requirements and options, testing, and re-certification, click here to listen to a free hour-long webinar led by a panel of board-certified PSPs. (Source asisonline.org)