ORC Leader Quentin Goward
Bringing Law Enforcement Values to Kroger's ORC Team

By Quentin Goward
Sr. Corporate Manager, Organized Retail Crime - Kroger

I started my law enforcement career in the mid-1990's and worked in law enforcement for 15 years. During those 15 years, ten were spent at the municipal and county level as a police officer/detective and the other five years were spent as a Special Agent with DEA. After 15 years in law enforcement, I started looking to transition from law enforcement into the private sector. I wanted to work for a company that mirrored the core values and mission that I upheld as a law enforcement officer.

As I was making the transition and interviewing for jobs, I met Denny Dansak. It was during that interview with Denny that I knew I wanted to work for the Kroger Co. Denny and I had a lot in common, and we shared some of the same visions. As I sat through that interview with Denny, it became clear to me that Kroger was really headed in the right direction with ORC. Denny was still building the ORC team, but the vision was clear and one that I felt I could support and contribute to. Fast forward five years, Denny retired, and I was lucky enough to be part of his succession plan to lead our team.

The Kroger Co. ORC team is a great team! The majority of the team is comprised of both retired and former law enforcement officers; however, some of the team members have spent the majority of their careers in asset protection. The mix of skills really allows our team to be balanced. Everyone's skill set continues to make positive impacts for the Kroger Co.

With that said, things are changing, but they are changing for the good. We have a new VP of Asset Protection and his vision and support for our teams make sense. The ORC team continues to look for ways to expand our footprint to a lot of different areas, including logistics, higher level internal cases and specialty cases. Currently, the ORC teams are working cases with law enforcement that utilize GPS technology in pallets to help track our stolen pallets and recover them. To date, this has been a very successful area and an area we are seeing great results in.

Read his full story here
 

Kroger Has Been on the Front Lines of the ORC Fight

Reported Jan. 24, 2017

Cincinnati, OH: Kroger and Walmart team-up on C-Store ORC Operation, $100K in merchandise seized
Kroger ORC team and Wal-Mart initiated an ORC investigation in to this Middle eastern market which was a fencing operation. Police seized stolen product (over $100,000), 5 handguns and a great deal of financial information. This case is ongoing and further financial details have not yet been released. local12.com

 

Reported April 21, 2017
Clarksville, TN: Police find $1.5 million in fake goods in ORC raid
Police found over $1.5 million worth of counterfeit goods, along with 70 pounds of marijuana and over $24,000 cash, during a search in Clarksville. After a three-month investigation, Clarksville Police Department's District 3 detectives and officers, with assistance from Kroger's Organized Retail Crime Unit and investigators working for designers, served search warrants at four locations in Clarksville. The merchandise value for the counterfeit goods is in excess of $1.5 million and over $100,000 for the marijuana. Three arrests have been made, and more are expected. wrcbtv.com


Reported April 26, 2017


Knoxville, TN: 2 Knox County Pawn Shop Owners Arrested; Selling Stolen Goods
Stores that took part in the investigation include Kroger, Academy Sports, Ulta, Marshall's, Kohl's, Bed Bath & Beyond, PetSmart, and Abercrombie & Fitch. While officers brought items out of the business to be tagged, a theft suspect showed up across the street. Anthony Richard Guida, 63, was arrested for felony theft and is being held on $3,000 bond. wate.com


Reported Sept. 14, 2017
Knoxville, TN: Knox County Sheriff's officers raid landmark Restaurant for Stolen Meats; Kroger ORC Team assists
American flags wave from poles outside The Round Up restaurant on Sevierville Pike. And inside customers for years have been served meats shoplifted by drug addicts from a local grocery store.

Officers who have formed partnerships with loss prevention units of national retail chains in August arrested suspects who directed investigators to The Round Up. Officials from Kroger provided the Organized Retail Crime Unit with meats that undercover officers sold to Tobea. Tramel said a Kroger official who participated in the raid was able to identify the Kroger-provided meats with the bar codes still on the packages. knoxnews.com

Reported Nov. 22, 2016
Theft of $14K in baby formula leads to jail sentence

Check out our special ORC Shark Week episode series in the LPNN column below
 

2017 GLPS - Group LP Selfies
Your Team - Your Pride - Our Industry
Building Industry Pride - One Team Selfie at a Time

Skogen's Festival Foods Asset Protection Department from their Annual Conference

L-R, Row 1: Sarah Krienke- Food Safety Specialist, Michelle Fisher- AP Business Insights Specialist, Kayla Bergman- Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs Specialist, Karen Parish- AP Specialist, Chris Vieaux- Claims Specialist, Kirsten Gamoke- AP Specialist, Maya Quintanilla-Bradford- AP Specialist, Karen Aber- AP Specialist, Jackie Johnson- Asset Protection Assistant Director

L-R, Row 2: Joe Laufenberg- Asset Protection Sr. Director, Mandy Turriff- Receiving Operations Specialist, Alex Turek- AP Specialist, Stephanie Teclaw- Quality Assurance & Regulatory Affairs Manager, Robert Zoromski- AP Specialist, Melissa Hanks- AP Specialist, Lee Potapenko- AP Specialist, Susan Will- AP Specialist, Paul La Count- AP Manager, Sarah Paulsrud- AP Specialist, Jeremy Bauer- Asset Protection Assistant Director

L-R, Row 3: Eugene Mayba- AP Manager, Brian Witt- Risk Management Director, Kyle Rathsack- AP Manager, Josh Frisque- Food Safety Specialist, Hsing-Yi Hsieh- Food Protection & Regulatory Affairs Director, Bob Jones- AP Specialist, Rolando Isais- Food Safety Manager, Chad Knutson- AP Profit Improvement Manager, Paul Donarski- AP Specialist, Pat Haney- AP Specialist, Cole Zondag- AP Specialist, Brian Kennedy- AP Manager

Not Pictured: Jolene Halbach - Asset Protection Assistant Director, Bryan Bain- AP Specialist, Tyler Branstad- AP Specialist, Chad Maske - AP Specialist

California Fires

Northern Calif.: More Than a Dozen Fires - Burns Stores - Hotels - Curfews Imposed

13 killed and 150 reports of missing people as Northern California fires continue to rage
Entire Neighborhoods & Businesses Burn in Santa Rosa
Burns Down Kmart Store - Trader Joe's Market - McDonald's Restaurant  & Engulfed a Hilton
As the number of people confirmed dead in Northern California fires rose to 13, officials warned Tuesday that the death toll could rise as multiple fires scorched upward of 100,000 acres.

The majority of the fatalities are from Sonoma County, where huge swaths of the city of Santa Rosa were leveled in flames from the Tubbs fire. Seven people have died in Sonoma County, four in Napa County and one in Mendocino County, Cal Fire officials said. Two of the Napa County deaths were because of the Atlas fire.

As of 7 a.m. Tuesday, the two biggest blazes - the Tubbs fire and Napa County's Atlas Peak fire - had burned 27,000 and 25,000 acres, respectively.

In the early morning hours Monday, the 27,000-acre Tubbs fire raced down the hillsides above Santa Rosa and struck the flat, densely populated landscape of the northern city. It jumped across Highway 101, destroying hundreds of homes. It burned down a Kmart store, a Trader Joe's market and a McDonald's restaurant. And it engulfed a large Hilton hotel in towering flames.

The northern part of the city was a post-apocalyptic scene of deserted streets, smoldering ruins and wailing sirens.

Gov. Jerry Brown issued emergency proclamations for Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Sonoma and Yuba Counties, saying the fires had damaged critical infrastructure and threatened thousands of homes. He also asked President Trump to declare a major disaster. sacbee.com latimes.com nytimes.com

Santa Rosa California Imposes Sunset-to-Sunrise Curfew To Stop Looting
Authorities have imposed a sunset-to-sunrise curfew in the city of Santa Rosa and say they are on the lookout for looters as firefighters battle blazes raging in California wine country. Other officials said they were beginning to get reports of looting in areas affected by fires. Santa Rosa has about 175,000 residents. usnews.com

Vector Security to Award $5,000 to Local Fire Department
Vector Security, the industry's fifth largest security company, announced this month that it will award $5,000 to a local fire department in recognition of fire safety month. This campaign was created to drive awareness of local fire fighters and the important work done every day to protect the communities they serve.

The criteria to enter is simple: just take a picture with your local fire company representative, or at your local fire department; post the photo to your Facebook or social media page with the hashtag #FireSafetyVS2017; "like" the Vector Security Facebook page; and register by filling out the form on the Vector Security registration page at http://vs.vectorsecurity.com/firesafety2017

At the end of October, one fire department will be selected as the winner and presented with a check for $5,000.

"One home structure fire is reported every 86 seconds. The dedication of local firefighters and first responders is something we wanted to raise attention to during this year's fire safety month," said Art Miller, VP of Marketing for Vector Security. "We want to honor one local community while generating awareness of the important work these men and women do every day." vectorsecurity.com

Sears Canada Approves Plan to Liquidate Most of Retail Chain's Assets
Sears Canada rejects buyout plan by executive chairman, sources say. -The board of Sears Canada has approved a plan to liquidate most of the insolvent retailer's assets after rejecting a private-equity backed takeover plan from a senior executive, people familiar with the decision said Tuesday.

The company currently has about 13,000 employees, and Sears Canada is expected to inform staff Tuesday that most will lose their jobs. wsj.com

Costly Corporate Investigations Have No Natural End-Point
At what point does a company reach the point of "boiling the ocean" when conducting an internal investigation?

Corporate criminal investigations, especially for potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, can take years and sometimes cost hundreds of millions of dollars. There are lawyers, auditors, forensic accountants and others who need to be paid as they conduct the probe. Some companies also lump non-investigative costs, like the development of a new compliance program, into the overall total amount spent.

The question of how much a company should spend on an internal investigation, especially in an FCPA case, comes as U.S. authorities seek to wrap cases up more quickly and they review the effectiveness of a pilot program designed to induce companies to cooperate in FCPA cases in exchange for a lighter penalty.

The numbers, in some cases, are eye-popping. Wal Mart Stores, which is still under investigation, has spent $865 million since 2013, according to a review of its quarterly disclosures; the company says it's cooperating with U.S. authorities amid discussions of a potential resolution. Avon Products spent about $350 million on investigation-related costs before agreeing to pay U.S. authorities $135 million to settle its foreign-bribery probe. Siemens reported spending more than $1 billion on legal costs before its FCPA resolution in 2008.

"Companies should keep open lines of communication with the government to ensure that their investigation is properly scaled and not boiling the ocean unnecessarily," said Kristen Savelle,

When companies conduct internal investigations, they're trapped between two extremes: not looking hard at all and potentially white-washing an investigation, or going in too deep and doing an investigation unhelpful to prosecutors.

"There has to be parameters placed on a corporate investigation, because otherwise they never end and they drain company coffers," he said. wsj.com

AI-powered facial recognition will soon track us while we shop
Apple is introducing facial ID capabilities with its iPhone X, due to ship next month. Apple will use facial data both to unlock your phone and to power cute 'animojis' - animated emoji faces that whose movements track to your own facial movements.

Brands have been playing with face-changing games for ages - games that capture your facial data and use it to generate some kind of fun image or illusion. Any time your facial data is stored, there's a possibility for resale and reapplication powered by machine learning through AI. So, what are some of the ramifications of giving up your face data?

Facebook alone has 1.2 billion faces scanned, stored and recognized, according to the Economist. Facebook users get the convenience of auto-tagging and in return, our faces are used as one more data element in Facebook's revenue toolbox.

Love it or hate it, this tech isn't going backwards. Should brands leave these tools on the table? Of course not, but they need to use them responsibly and maintain a certain degree of trust with the consumer. The number one pillar of building meaningful customer experiences is trust. It can take eons to build and seconds to blow.

Brands that want to play in the facial recognition space should consider the following:

1. Have a reason. Does facial recognition answer an actual strategy? A need? If you're asking users for it, have a reason.

2. Benefit the end user. If it is only a benefit for your brand and not for your user, don't bother.

3. Keep your word. Whether you're storing the data or directly stating you won't, keep your word and keep trust.

4. Be secure. If you're storing the data - for healthcare, fintech, site security, etc. - apply the intense rigor to face data security you would to other sensitive data and invest in security. Also, be transparent about that investment. You don't want a lawsuit on your hands.

If you delight your customers with fun and useful experiences, they'll reward you with loyalty and revenue. You can't simply ignore a tool like facial data - it's too late for that. But be transparent. Be trustworthy. venturebeat.com

Facial Recognition Used By Loss Prevention
It's an Inevitable Evolution
While it's still a voice-lowering conversation, the fact that it's becoming over-all industry knowledge that retailers are using facial recognition for security purposes is evidenced in a blog yesterday by a solution provider not in that specific field. Merely another indication that it's wide spread use is inevitable long term. Just a thought Gus Downing

"More recently, LP teams have started using live facial recognition software, which provides automatic identification of a face in a crowd. Using a video-based recognition system, this facial recognition technology sends real-time alerts that allow you to take action quickly when a crook enters your store." posted by tellermate.com

National Retail Federation, Ascential PLC form global partnership
The National Retail Federation and Ascential PLC, parent company of the World Retail Congress, today announced a global partnership to bring together their long-standing, convening power around the world. The partnership will leverage the strengths of each group to help continue to provide their shared audiences with insight, networking opportunities, intelligence and more in the years ahead.

"By bringing together the brainpower and credibility of NRF and the World Retail Congress, we ensure that the global retail community will have continued access to first-rate events and thought leadership about the transformation and future of retail," NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. "With the WRC's international acumen and NRF's century-old U.S. leadership platform, we will continue to evolve to meet the needs of the modern-day retailer around the world."

"As the industry continues to change, there is so much to learn from our colleagues and innovators around the globe," said Macy's Executive Chairman Terry Lundgren, who is chairman of the NRF Board of Directors. nrf.com

Electronic Article Surveillance Market 2017-2022 Checkpoint Systems, Tyco Retail Solutions, Nedap
Global Electronic Article Surveillance Market 2017 Analysis Report audits a Market Regions, Product Categories, with Sales, Business Revenue, Goods cost, Electronic Article Surveillance piece of the overall industry and Growth patterns, concentrating on driving Electronic Article Surveillance industry players, showcase size, request and supply examination, utilization volume, Forecast 2017 to 2022.  gulffeed.com

Off-Duty Detroit Police Officer At Meijer's Uses Baton on Retail Fraud Suspect
Detroit police chief defends officer's baton use in arrest caught on cell phone video
A chaotic scene outside the Meijer store on Eight Mile near Woodward in Detroit Sunday evening.

People in the parking lot say a Detroit police officer working security at Meijer's used excessive force on a man walking into the store around 9 p.m., striking him with a baton to exert that excessive force on the man.

Chief James Craig said the "he (the officer) was contacted by security for possible retail fraud," When the officer and the man made contact in the entryway of the store, security left and investigators say the 23-year-old man became violent. "At that point the officer removed his side handle because at that point the officer believed he was resisting, the officer gave suspect several strikes," Craig said. "Preliminarily I can say the officer acted appropriately given the aggressive behavior of the suspect and his response to it."

The chief says the investigation is still in the beginning stages but there was no evidence of retail fraud. The suspect was arrested for disorderly conduct resisting and obstruction.

"What I would have preferred is if the officer requested assistance," Craig said. fox2detroit.com

Change Behavior, Not Employees
Retailers intuitively understand that everything positive that happens in their stores happens through people. Current employees, specifically the average employees, from sales associates through regional leaders who constitute the majority of the workforce, hold the key to improving operating performance and business results.

That's not just motivational rhetoric or the latest human resources theory, it's a fact supported by repeatable results.

Shifting Performance is a new approach to workforce improvement from A.T. Kearney, offering a proven, non-disruptive, rigorously analytical, repeatable path to improved business results. It utilizes analytics to answer some of retailing's oldest and most basic problems, deliver measurably enhanced business outcomes, and create a better-quality customer experience. The process helps retailers achieve their growth and profitability goals by building on existing but potentially hidden strengths in the workforce-helping average employees learn from and adopt the behaviors of top performers.

Rather than focus on the tail ends of the performance curve-trying to grow and retain high performers or salvage or change out the low performers-Shifting Performance focuses on the average performers who are the real heart of any retail organization. This middle group of employees typically constitutes 70 percent of the workforce. Given their scale, even a small increase in this group's efficiency and effectiveness delivers significant improvement to the store. therobinreport.com

Wal-Mart Plans Further Cost Cuts as Competition With Amazon Intensifies
Wal-Mart said it would deepen its cost-cutting and introduce zero-based budgeting in some units, efforts to free up funds for new e-commerce and store improvements in an increasingly competitive retail environment.

At an investor meeting on Tuesday at the retailer's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters, executives said they planned to keep U.S. store openings to a minimum and lower the company's expenses as a percentage of sales from 21%, where it stands this fiscal year. "We are not where we want to be from an expenses standpoint," Brett Biggs, chief financial officer, told analysts. wsj.com

Wal-Mart Slows U.S. Store Growth - Peddles Down on Digital
Wal-Mart calls for 40 percent e-commerce sales growth in fiscal 2019
To add 1,000 online grocery pickup locations at its U.S. stores in fiscal 2019.

In fiscal 2019, across the U.S. Walmart will open fewer than 15 Supercenters and fewer than 10 of its Neighborhood Markets.

For fiscal years 2018 and 2019 combined, Wal-Mart is calling for capital expenditures to be about $11 billion, with e-commerce investments going toward enhancing the retailer's supply chain. Wal-Mart's international business will also invest more in fulfillment capabilities, the company said.

Some of Wal-Mart's latest efforts to get purchases more quickly to customers include testing an employee delivery program. The retailer is also piloting a push in its same-day service in certain markets, while retail rival Target has landed a partnership to do so.

Roughly one year ago, Wal-Mart purchased e-retailer Jet.com, bringing the website's founder, Marc Lore, to its team. Wal-Mart's e-commerce growth has been accelerating ever since. cnbc.com

Fruitport (Muskegon Area), MI Considering "Special Assessment" for Petty Theft Police Calls
A special assessment on two major retail corridors (The Lakes Mall) to recoup the cost of police calls is under consideration by the Fruitport Township board of trustees. District would aim to recoup money the general fund has had to cover for police calls to retail stores for such complaints as petty thefts. Public Safety Director Brian Michelli said police services are nearly 90 percent over budget and most of that has been caused by calls to retail stores. Walmart produces 19% of all calls at 1.7 calls per day. Total retail calls generated an estimated $234,000 drain on the general fund budget for police services. mlive.com

Ulta Beauty Manager of ORC Position - No Longer Available

Fleet Pride Director EHS and LP - No Longer Available

Lidl Stores Gain Little Traction So Far in U.S.


Quarterly Results
Neiman Marcus Group Q4 revenue down 0.5%, full yr revenue down 5.2%, net loss of $531.8M
 

Deterrence Isn't Enough

The Real Solution to Slowing Convenience Store Crime: Getting Criminals off the Streets

See innovative crime-stopping technology in action at the 2017 National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) Show Booth 7289

Convenience store owners know they are popular targets for crime, including violent robberies, so most stores use alarms, locks, safes, cameras and other crime deterrents. Such deterrents can stop some crimes, but criminals either learn to outsmart them or, are so strongly motivated, will rob regardless of preventive measures used. The only surefire way to prevent crime is to lock up crooks, taking them off the streets and stopping them. 3SI Security Systems' tracking technology does just that: it helps police apprehend criminals, stopping them from committing crimes. Further, it recovers stolen cash, tobacco and other assets so store owners can get back to business with minimal losses.

Over 80,000 3SI trackers are protecting assets around the world and leverage multiple technologies (GPS, Cellular and RF) for pinpoint accuracy in tracking. Other important features include:

  ● Covert packaging: disguises the tracker from criminals;
  ● Reliability: device performs health check to ensure it is ready to protect 24/7;
  ● Consistency: performs in challenging locations where other trackers fail;
  ● Fast protection: device is up and running to protect your store in less than 15 minutes;
  ● Automatic police notification: store owners and employees stay clear of potentially dangerous situations;
  ● Scalable: solution can protect one store or thousands.

3SI GPS Tracking is available to protect key assets in convenience stores including:

  ● Cash in drawers, safes, vaults and during transportation;
  ● Cigarettes, in both packs and cartons;
  ● Beer and liquor on display and in storage;
  ● Miscellaneous high-value assets.

At NACS, visit 3SI to see actual crime tracking and learn how we can protect you, your employees, your customers, your assets and your profits. To understand how we can help, visit our Convenience Store Solutions page at 3sisecurity.com/cstores

"It's long past time for a bipartisan national breach notification bill"
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said at a Judiciary subcommittee hearing last week with Smith, the former Equifax CEO.

Grassley said he was working on a bill with Judiciary ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., but sources suggested these talks are at a preliminary stage.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the former top Democrat on Judiciary, said he is preparing to reintroduce a comprehensive consumer data security bill.

A Senate source said discussions are taking place on possibly bringing the various proposals together into one piece of data-breach legislation, "but we're not there yet." washingtonexaminer.com

Will the CISO surpass the CIO?
In recent times many security leaders in organizations were promoted from a mid-tier manager to the CISO. Security was considered as "just one more job" of the IT department, so the manager who owned security took the CISO title but continued to report to the more senior CIO.

As businesses learned security was more about overall business risk than simply a function of technology, the reporting chain for CISOs started to move outside the CIO's organization and CISOs began reporting to the CEO, CFO or COO. 

It was a mistake when CIOs created the CISO role and then moved it out of their organization. Collectively, CIOs missed an opportunity to take responsibility for security when the CISO role was created. If CIOs had taken ownership of security and evolved their organizations, there would have been no need to distinguish them from CISOs, let alone create two separate organizations: one for IT and one for security.  idgconnect.com

Kaspersky Antivirus Hack a Wake Up Call for Business
Russian state-sponsored hackers were able to steal National Security Agency material on methods they use to conduct cyber espionage as well as how they help defend critical U.S. government networks, according to The Wall Street Journal. An NSA contractor placed the material on his or her private computer - a violation of security policy - which reportedly had anti-virus software belonging Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab installed. The software appears to have detected the unsecured classified material and somehow alerted Russian intelligence of its presence, enabling the hackers to glean crucial information on U.S. cyber capabilities and defenses. Kaspersky Lab vehemently denies any involvement in the theft of the information.

The concern about Kaspersky specifically is that with this extraordinary access to so many millions of computers around the world, the Russian security services can see what Kaspersky sees. The result is that customers pay Kaspersky to facilitate the security services eavesdropping on their information.

It's a good wake-up call for everyone to recognize that when they install this kind of software, they're granting that software's developer some very privileged access to their life and their company.

So understanding the software you are installing, where it comes from, and what kinds of disclosure policies - formal and informal - its designers are subject to are always important questions to consider.

The concern is that the risk is too high that there is either formal or informal information sharing between Kaspersky Labs and the Russian security services. There's even an aspect of Russian law that to some extent requires this kind of cooperation. And it's hard to imagine a Russian company becoming as successful as Kaspersky Labs without some kind of "arrangement" with the Russian government. thecipherbrief.com

Office Depot, Best Buy Pull Kaspersky Products From Shelves

SiteLock: Website Attacks Surged 186% in Q2
Websites mostly belonging to small- to midsized firms got hit with more than 60 attacks per day on average, new analysis finds.

That number, which extrapolates to some 23,000 attacks annually, represented an increase of 186% over the 22 attacks per day that websites averaged during the same period last year. Automated bots were responsible for more than 85% of these attacks.

Despite the steep increase in attacks, many websites were inadequately protected and site owners instead relied heavily on search engines and third parties, such as Web hosting providers, to alert them about potential security issues and breaches. Four in 10 site owners continued to erroneously believe their hosting provider was responsible for website security, SiteLock found. darkreading.com

The Hardest Part of a Major Security Breach? Disclosing It
Equifax Took More Than a Month to Report it!
Equifax's disclosure last month that it had been hit by a massive security breach raised a lot of questions in the IT space about proper disclosure decorum.

The disclosure problem has long been a issue with corporate data breaches-in no small part because there is little consistency with existing rules over what's considered good form for disclosures. In the U.S., these laws mostly have existed at the state level.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which takes effect in May 2018, will require disclosure of the breach to government officials within 72 hours. That means that if your association has any European interests, you can't be lackadaisical about letting your members know that something has gone awry.

So we may see more legal and regulatory action on this issue, especially outside of the U.S.-and perhaps in it, if Congress can use the Equifax hearing as a kick in the pants. But why wait for new laws to force your hand? If you have a proactive approach to cybersecurity in the first place-one that accepts that there are limits to what security mechanisms can do on their own-you can get out ahead of this issue if it ever, in fact, does become an issue. You need to have a response ready if something goes awry, and it needs to be both thoughtful and fast. associationsnow.com

Rise in Insider Threats Drives Shift to Training, Data-Level Security
As the value and volume of data grows, perimeter security is not enough to battle internal or external threats.

The latest research from Verizon showed that internal actors contributed to 25% of data breaches, and other research has shown insider threats to be on the rise, with more than half of cybersecurity professionals reporting growth in insider threats over last year, according to Crowd Research Partners' 2017 Threat Monitoring, Detection and Response report (registration required). 

To reduce the risk of insider threats, companies and organizations need to focus on three areas:

Hurdle 1: The Data
Connected enterprises need and want approved partners inside their networks, but they don't want everybody to have access to all data. As a result, database technologies today offer flexible and granular access controls to ensure that employees only have the privileges necessary to do their jobs - and nothing else.

Encryption technologies require people to have encryption keys to unlock data. Redaction enables companies to hide sensitive data, but share other, related data.

All of these tools improve data-level security. But for enterprises to really wring business intelligence out of their data, they also need to trust their data. This requires good data governance: knowing where data came from, when, how and if it was changed, and by whom. With security at the data level, inside actors face another hurdle.

Hurdle 2: Awareness Training
Companies vary in how and how often they train, but the key factor is that employees need to buy into the idea that security is important. Educate them on the value of company data, on different types of data, what's shareable and what's not, and why access controls are critical.

Hurdle 3: Executive Buy-in
Executives set the tone for how important something really is to a particular organization. Are executives investing in security and training? Do they talk about security with employees and with board members?

6 in 10 boards see cyber-risks as an IT problem as opposed to an issue that has a universal impact.

Hurdle 4: The Promise of Big Data
Now, we have data on servers and in databases, all of which can be monitored and audited to provide a richer set of detection opportunities. Metadata - data about data, such as data origin, quality, owner, geolocation - creates new opportunities for security anomaly detection. Combine all that data with big data compute power and you have another tool to detect breaches or, better yet, stop them before they get that far.  darkreading.com

U.S. and EU Retailers Agree on Common Approach to New Data Regulations

What happens when you delete something on Social Media?
Delete doesn't always mean it's gone.

Ever wonder what happens when you delete a tweet, public Facebook post, or comment on a news story.
In theory, once you delete, bam it's gone. More often it's around forever. Several services index the web, Google, and Bing use indexing to make searches respond faster. Search engine indexing collects, and stores data for fast and accurate information retrieval. If you deleted a Tweet that was indexed it could still come up in the cached search results. There are also several services paid and free that index and store web info for marketing and research purposes. The basic rule of thumb is once it's posted it's out there forever. Don't post anything you wouldn't want to defend in court or talk about at work.

eCommerce Projected to Grow 16% in Q4
The National Retail Federation (NRF) forecasts that U.S. retail sales will grow between 3.2% and 3.8% in 2017, with strong sales leading into the holiday season; if growth projections are on track, shoppers will exceed the $658.3 billion they spent during the 2016 holiday season. Monica Eaton-Cardone, an IT executive specializing in risk management and fraud prevention, counsels merchants to stay abreast of 2017 holiday shopping trends and implement simple strategies that can enhance sales and profitability this season.

Retail consulting firm Kantar predicts top-line retail sales growth of 3.7% in the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to the prior year quarter. Kantar's projections include 2.5% growth for brick-and-mortar specialty retailers and department stores and a 16% increase in online sales for the holiday quarter. Fung Global Retail & Technology concurs that eCommerce will be a more popular shopping channel than brick-and-mortar shops; its recent survey found that 82% of consumers plan to buy holiday gifts online, while 77% will shop in physical stores. Eaton-Cardone estimates that at least half of customers shopping in stores will also engage in eCommerce. prweb.com

FedEx and UPS dip after report on Amazon's delivery concept
Shares of FedEx and UPS both fell Thursday after Bloomberg reported that Amazon is considering its own delivery service. Amazon's stock rose though, along with the broader market. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all hit new record highs once again. For it's part, Amazon said it's not looking to replace its current shipping relationships anytime soon. "We are using the same carrier partners to offer this program that we've used for years, including UPS, USPS and FedEx," said Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Cheeseman in an email to CNNMoney about the Bloomberg report. UPS and FedEx don't seem too concerned about the report. nbcmontana.com

Ikea to sell products on third-party websites in e-commerce push

Costco's online sales jump 15%

Update: Delaware County, OH: Two Women indicted in 15 store theft at Tanger Outlets
Delaware County Grand Jury has returned an indictment against 32-year-old Shandreika N. Smith and 30-year-old Shannon M. Thornton. Smith and Thornton are each charged with one count of theft - a fifth-degree felony, and one count of receiving stolen property - a fifth-degree felony. "In total, the duo is alleged to have stolen merchandise from approximately 15 stores within the Tanger Outlet Mall," Delaware County Prosecutor Carol O'Brien said. "Upon investigation, more than a dozen bags of clothing and miscellaneous other merchandise such as candles, decorative signs and lamps were discovered in their vehicle." 10tv.com

Johnson County, IA: Man arrested in stolen car has 112 fake ID's

Columbus, GA: Smash & Grab Burglars hit Skate Shop for over $25,000 in merchandise

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