Retailers to Pilot RFID for Loss Prevention

Sensormatic Solutions' TrueVUE system now includes shrink management as part of its software-as-a-service stack, enabling retailers to begin identifying items that are removed from a store, and thereby ensuring inventory can be replaced.

Six retailers worldwide will begin piloting a new feature from Sensormatic Solutions (a Johnson Controls company) early next year, using passive UHF RFID for shrink management. The solution is part of the company's platform designed to bring intelligence to electronic article surveillance (EAS).

Read more in today's Vendor Spotlight below.


Securitas Electronic Security Purchases Customer Contracts of iVerify
Securitas Electronic Security (SES) announces the acquisition of customer contracts and certain select assets of iVerify. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition supports SES's strategy of building its electronic security business in North America, the announcements states.

"We are excited to welcome iVerify's clients to the SES client portfolio in North America. These clients align very well with our existing business operations and strategic focus, enabling us to bring our SES services and operational excellence to best serve these clients coast to coast in the U.S. and Canada," says Tony Byerly, president and CEO, SES. securitysales.com

Across the Pond - Same Trends in UK
Decriminalization & Lack of Police Response Impacting UK Retailers As Well
'Shop theft penalties decline by 95% in past decade'
The number of penalty notices issued for shop theft under £100 ($130 U.S.) has significantly declined over the past 10 years, official figures reveal.

The Ministry of Justice statistical bulletin, covering the year ending June 2019, found a 95% decline since 2009 from 49,445 penalty notices issued for shop theft offences under £100 to 2,279.

ACS chief executive, James Lowman, said: "The policy of giving fixed penalty notices to shop thieves - relegating these offences to the status of a parking fine - has failed. Not only has this approach prevented proper interventions to deter future offences and support perpetrators with addiction and other problems, but the police are now saying that this system isn't workable.

"Shop theft must be taken seriously as an offence in its own right and because it is the top trigger for violent incidents that occur in local shops. Figures from our Crime Report show that in the convenience sector alone, there were almost 10,000 incidents of violence and abuse last year.

"Over three quarters of offenders stealing from local shops are repeat offenders who are not deterred by fines or cautions. The government must undertake an urgent review into how.

ACS' Crime Report 2019 found that retailers are overwhelmingly dissatisfied with the response they receive from police to crime against their business: 86% were dissatisfied with the sanctions issued to offenders and 85% were dissatisfied with the consistency of police response. talkingretail.com

More Biometrics Coming
Amazon patents technology that ID's shoppers hands
Today, visitors to Amazon Go cashierless stores need to scan an app to get in. In the future, Amazon may instead ask to just scan their hands instead.

The US Patent and Trademark Office published a patent application from Amazon on Thursday for a touchless scanning system that would identify people not by their faces but by characteristics associated with the palms of their hands, including wrinkles and veins.

The inventors also describe the placement of scanners at entrances or exits of a given location, and associating a scan with a person's account so that "if the user picks an item from an inventory location and leaves the facility, their account may be billed for that item."

Amazon has opened 24 Amazon Go locations in the US since debuting the first one on the ground floor of Amazon's Seattle headquarters nearly two years ago. An illustration associated with the patent application shows a person scanning their hand at an entrance gate that resembles the one in Amazon Go stores. vox.com

FAA Proposes Remote ID Technology for Drones
The Federal Aviation Administration this week issued proposed rules for the remote identification of drones in the U.S. The "next exciting step in safe drone integration" (their words) aims to offer a kind of license plate analog to identify the some 1.5 million drones currently registered with the governmental body.

The document is currently available online through the Federal Register in a kind of draft form, as part of a 60-day comment period. The FAA is using the two months to solicit feedback from drone operators, enthusiasts and general aviation safety wonks. techcrunch.com

SVP Tech Ops & Engineering for Rakuten Marketing a Global Internet Marketing Company Pleads Guilty To $6M Fraud
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: "As he admitted today, Hicham Kabbaj of Long Island, defrauded the company for which he worked by arranging for payment of fraudulent invoices to a shell company he created. Kabbaj now awaits sentencing for his $6 million deception." justice.gov

9 Retailers Make Fortune's 2019 Best Workplaces for Diversity List
Publix is ranked No. 23 on Fortune's 2019 Best Workplaces for Diversity list

Fortune research partner Great Place to Work compiles this annual list of U.S. companies that create inclusive cultures for women and people of all genders, people of color, LGBTQ people, employees who are Boomers or older, and people who have disabilities. In addition to diversity numbers, the ranking is based on surveys of employees, who rated the level of camaraderie they experience at work, the effectiveness of their leaders, and other factors that inspire trust in an employer.

Retailers led job cuts in 2019
U.S. employers closed out the year with the lowest number of monthly job cuts in December since July 2018, but cut 592,556 jobs from their payrolls in 2019, 10% more than in 2018.

Retail led the downsizing, with 77,475 job cuts in 2019, 21% lower than 2018 - 48,753 of them due to bankruptcies, according to the report, which was emailed to Retail Dive. In fact, job cuts due to bankruptcy, which overall were 10.5% of total cuts last year and the highest since 2005, were dominated by retailers, the firm said.

Companies cited restructuring for most of the total - 137,968 - with another 130,728 due to closures of operations. Trade difficulties accounted for 11,688 job cuts, and tariffs for 5,881.

Retailers also announced 886,515 new jobs in 2019, the vast majority of them (789,781) seasonal. retaildive.com
 

Three Trends in 2020

The Rise of the Mega Project
The Contractors Need Something to Build
In October, American Dream, the 3 million-sq.-ft. retail and entertainment complex at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J. opened phase one. Before the holiday, the Miami Herald reported that the country's largest shopping center is coming to Miami-Dade in 2025. Mega-projects are rising all over the country and changing the retail landscape and experience.

Recent mega-projects' immediate impact goes far beyond the single project. From Hudson Yards to Essex Crossing to the Boston Seaport, these massive developments drive traffic from locals to tourists and their buzz keeps getting louder. Placer.ai expects 2020 to bring about a variety of new projects and openings to recreate this magic across the country.

Store Closures: Retail Apocalypse Vs. Correction
Market Correction will Continue
Coresight Research published their report "Weekly US and UK Store Openings and Closures Tracker 2019" which found "In the US, 9,302 store closures have been announced year to date, compared to 5,844 closures for the full year 2018; 4,392 store openings have been announced year to date, compared to 3,258 openings in 2018." 

Nic(h)e & New: Filling the Retail Vacuum
Direct-to-Consumer is Hot
A rising number of product-oriented companies are focusing on expanding their branded retail footprint and they expect it to continue. Stores like Nike, Puma, Lululemon, and Levis are all focusing on their relationships with consumers and using brick and mortar to strengthen online sales. 

"New direct-to-consumer brands are grabbing attention with big advertising budgets."
chainstoreage.com
 

The Amazon & Online Impact
Across the Pond in the UK - Mirroring the US
Some 16,073 stores shut down in 2019 with 140,000 staff axed - the most in 25 years.

The high street has suffered its worst year of job losses for a quarter of a ­century with more than 140,000 workers axed, a report has revealed. An average of 2,750 retail jobs went every week in the past 12 months, researchers said, up by more than a fifth on 2018.

The Centre for Retail Research, which conducted the study, warned the "crisis" could see 171,000 go in 2020.

The Government last night named the first towns that will be helped by a £1billion taskforce aimed at reviving town centres.

Jobs on the high street have plunged by almost 300,000 since 2011, hitting women hardest, a report shows. The number of retail cashiers and check-out operators fell by 75,500, or 32%, due to the combined effects of austerity and online shopping.

While around 80% of the 289,000 axed high street jobs were held by women, 90% of the 100,000 new van drivers that have been hired to deliver internet orders are men. "The carnage on the high street has hollowed out many jobs traditionally held by women. "This is having a profound effect on individuals, families and society." mirror.co.uk

Going to NRF's Big Show in NYC?
Here's their suggestions for "10 Must-See New York Stores"
With NRF 2020 Vision: Retail's Big Show in New York, we're surrounded by the future of retail - all the innovation, creativity and technology that comes together to make the Big Apple a retail destination.

We've made it easy to see some of these retail superstars with two self-guided store tours, available through the NRF 2020 mobile app, and developed by Accenture with store research provided in partnership with the Retail Design Institute. The latest technology-integrated store tour features 20 stops encompassing grocery, luxury, fashion, beauty and electronics, while New York City's best-designed new stores includes 20 showstopping retail spaces.

From Central Park South to Wall Street and Brooklyn, you'll want to find time to visit at least a few of the stores on the list. We've compiled some of our favorites to get you started - if you want to stretch your legs, you can walk from the Javits Center to SoHo and stop at all 10. Check out the NRF Events App for the full experience.

The Retail Design Institute and Nordstrom showcase the year's best designed new stores of New York. nrf.com

ISCPO 360 Security Podcast
Episode 9 - Conversation with Henry Bonner and Mark Russo of Riskpulse

Henry Bonner is Chief Product Officer and Mark Russo is SVP of Weather Operations at Riskpulse, a supply chain risk analytics company that helps its clients and their partners increase the predictability and stability of their financial and physical operations globally. Many of the largest food shippers, consumer packaged goods manufacturers, automakers, and retailers trust the Riskpulse Score (RpS) and the Riskpulse suite of cloud-based software applications to standardize their quantification of risk and guide their operational planning. Headquartered in Austin, TX, Riskpulse is rapidly becoming the standard way for members of the supply chain to get the signals they need to optimize for risk. iscpo.org
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

National VP, Child & Club Safety for Boys & Girls Clubs of America in Atlanta, GA
Under the general direction of the Chief Operations Officer and in close collaboration with the President/CEO and Senior Vice President & General Counsel, the National Vice President, Child & Club Safety (NVP) will provide strategic leadership and direction for Boys & Girls Clubs of America's (BGCA) child safety strategy and advocacy agenda, both nationally and with local BGC organizations. This position will represent BGCA as one of its national spokespersons on child safety. Advise local organizations on risk management, loss prevention, emergency management, and insurance practices. Lead, prepare and develop assigned staff. icims.com

Loss Prevention Director for Rent One in St. Louis, MO
The Loss Prevention Director is on the front line of defense to identify and prevent theft of cash and merchandise. A great Loss Prevention Director is driven, has outstanding analytical skills, and isn't afraid to dig in and find the truth. This position is never boring and requires extensive travel throughout the nation's Heartland. Responsible for the investigation and detection of coworker and vendor activity that would cause a loss to Company assets; Assist in implementing and maintaining awareness programs or audits relating to shortage, theft prevention, inventory control and safety; Document and report company policy and procedure violations perpetrated by coworkers in a formal written report; Monitors all Rent One safety policies and procedures; and more. indeed.com

VP, Information Security for Tractor Supply Co. in Brentwood, TN
This position is responsible for establishing and maintaining a company wide information security management program to ensure that information assets are adequately protected. This position is responsible for identifying, evaluating and reporting on information security risks in a manner that meets compliance and regulatory requirements, and aligns with and supports the risk posture of the enterprise. linkedin.com
 

Cybercriminals latest retail target? Loyalty programs
Per the Forter Fraud Attack Index report, loyalty fraud has increased by 89% in only one year. Failing to protect such incentives is not only a financial headache for customers, retailers and financial services, but it can also drive consumers to more secure competitors, experts said.

While consumers may be on high alert for suspicious credit and debit card transactions, consumers do not check their loyalty rewards as often as they might examine their other financial accounts. It thus delays discovery when points have been stolen.

Travel-related loyalty programs such as those that offer rewards for hotels and flights, as well as other high-value incentives, as higher risk for attracting hackers.

As for which online channel is most vulnerable, Sutherland said fraud attacks of mobile browser sites are more successful than attacks on mobile apps, because mobile apps tend to be more frequently embedded with security updates.

Where retailers fall short in securing their loyalty programs is securing the input platforms for signing up for rewards programs. At a minimum, retailers need to make sure they have an SSL certificate to encrypt consumer data transmitted from the consumer to the retailer. retaildive.com

Will the US Get a Federal Privacy Law?
Another Year Will Go By?
Some Legislative Experts Don't Expect Progress Soon

Democrats and the Republicans introduced a number of proposed bills in 2019 designed to create a federal privacy law. But will Congress be able to reach a compromise in 2020?

"A federal privacy bill is unlikely until the framework of state privacy laws becomes so complex and burdensome for businesses that it forces Congress to take action to clarify the regulatory landscape," Hirsch says.

In the latest attempt at building a consensus, the House Energy & Commerce Committee recently unveiled a preliminary draft of a bipartisan consumer privacy bill. The committee is now seeking comments from privacy experts, trade associations and companies.

The draft side-steps several of the most divisive issues, including whether a federal law should override state privacy laws and whether individuals should be empowered to sue companies over privacy violations.

"The dispute over certain points is more or less what is holding up any real progress on establishing a federal regulatory standard for data privacy," Tomaschek says.

Perhaps the most contentious issue, some observers say, is whether to give individual consumers the right to sue for privacy violations.

With Congress embroiled in impeachment proceedings, along with the looming 2020 presidential election, I do not see anything happening before the end of next year." govinfosecurity.com
 

What Does California's New Data Privacy Law Mean? Nobody Agrees
Consumers Right to See Specific Details - Tricky Impact on LP?
 'Give me everything you've got about me.'
Stopping the sale of personal data is just one of the new rights that people in California may exercise under the new state privacy law. Yet many of the new requirements are so novel that some companies disagree about how to comply with them.

Even now, privacy and security experts from different companies are debating compliance issues over private messaging channels like Slack.

The provision about selling data, for example, applies to companies that exchange the data for money or other compensation. The issue of selling consumer data is so fraught that many companies are unwilling to discuss it publicly.

"Companies have different interpretations, and depending on which lawyer they are using, they're going to get different advice."

The new law has national implications because many companies, like Microsoft, say they will apply their changes to all users in the United States rather than give Californians special treatment. Federal privacy bills that could override the state's law are stalled in Congress.

The California privacy law applies to businesses that operate in the state, collect personal data for commercial purposes and meet other criteria like generating annual revenue above $25 million. It gives Californians the right to see, delete and stop the sale of the personal details that all kinds of companies - app developers, retailers, restaurant chains - have on them.

"Businesses will have to treat that information more like it's information that belongs, is owned by and controlled by the consumer," said Xavier Becerra, the attorney general of California, "rather than data that, because it's in possession of the company, belongs to the company."

LP Impact? Below:

Companies are wrangling with a part in the law that gives Californians the right to see the specific details that companies have compiled on them, like precise location information and facial recognition data. Residents may also obtain the inferences that companies have made about their behavior, attitudes, activities, psychology or predispositions.

The wide variation in companies' data-disclosure practices may not last. California's attorney general said the law clearly requires companies to show consumers the personal data that has been compiled about them.

"That consumer, so long as they follow the process, should be given access to their information," Mr. Becerra said. "It could be detailed information, if a consumer makes a very specific request about a particular type of information that might be stored or dispersed, or it could be a general request: 'Give me everything you've got about me.'" 

- The catch. The burden is largely on consumers to ask companies how their information is being used, and it's up to you to opt out of practices you're uncomfortable with. nytimes.com

CCPA Kickoff: What Businesses Need to Know
 

GDPR Probes to Go After More Sophisticated Technology

In the past year, European privacy regulators have fined companies over basic security missteps and failure to protect data. In 2020 and beyond, they appear poised to investigate how businesses use sophisticated technologies, such as artificial intelligence and facial recognition.

Businesses were issued penalties totaling hundreds of millions of euros in 2019 for breaking the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, which took effect in May 2018. In their first full year enforcing the law, authorities issued some of the largest fines for problems such as weak data-security measures and failure to get consumers' consent to process their information.

By their own account, regulators are just warming up.

There are signs that European privacy regulators will soon turn to investigating more complex issues. Artificial intelligence and facial recognition are on their radar. wsj.com

Time for Insider-Threat Programs to Grow Up
Immature programs attempting to protect against damaging attacks by insiders run the risk of alienating employees.

The vast majority of companies have embarked on establishing an insider-threat program, but most struggle to create mature processes for detecting and responding to employee-created risk.

In its Insider Threat Report published last year, for example, Crowd Research Partners found that while 86% of organizations had embarked on creating a program, most were still developing the policies and programs, and only a third of all companies considered their insider-threat program to be mature.  

In a research paper published this week, Forrester Research found that many of the current insider-threat programs may violate new privacy laws and the more draconian programs may undercut employee performance, says Joseph Blankenship, vice president of research for Forrester.

"If you get the response wrong, and that employee goes out and gets a lawyer, you open yourself up to a world of hurt," he says. "So finding the right response and protecting employee's privacy are the most important aspect of an insider threat program."

Blankenship sees 2020 as the year that many companies will get insider-threat protection right by focusing not only on risk reduction, but privacy, transparency, and employee experience. darkreading.com

FBI Issues Private Industry Alert For LockerGoga & MegaCortex Ransomware
Both LockerGoga and MegaCortex are ransomware infections that target the enterprise by compromising the network and then attempting to encrypt all its devices.

According to the alert, the actors behind LockerGoga and MegaCortex will gain a foothold on a corporate network using exploits, phishing attacks, SQL injections, and stolen login credentials.

When a network is compromised, the actors will be resident on the network for months before they deploy the LockerGoga or MegaCortex ransomware infections. bleepingcomputer.com

Webinar: How accurate inventory benefits from goods receiving by RFID

Join our webinar on how accurate inventory benefits from goods receiving by RFID. During the webinar, we will show you how to improve your Goods Receiving process fast and simple by using our !D Cloud inventory management platform. You will learn how it works and how it eliminates manual, time consuming checks on received goods, while at the same time ensuring all items have been received.

We will answer the following questions:
● Why RFID-based goods receiving?
● What will the in-store process look like?
● How do I integrate the feature with existing IT systems?

Register Here

Going to the NRF Big Show in January?
Meet Nedap's Team at Booth #5963

ICE HSI arrests Chinese national in $23.8M fraud selling counterfeit laptop computer batteries on eBay & Amazon
A San Gabriel Valley man was arrested today on federal criminal charges that he participated in a $23.8 million scheme to manufacture and ship counterfeit laptop computer batteries and other electronics from China to the United States, where the bogus batteries were sold to unsuspecting buyers in online marketplaces. Zoulin Cai, a.k.a. "Allen Cai," 28, of La Puente, was arrested at his residence on 12-19-2019.

Cai, a Chinese national who moved to Los Angeles County in 2012, worked for Shenzhen Theseus Technology Co. Ltd., a China-based company. Theseus Technology, which was owned and operated by Cai's relatives, manufactured counterfeit lithium-ion batteries, some of which were designed for laptop computers.

Cai and his co-conspirators sold and shipped the counterfeit batteries to unsuspecting individual buyers via eBay and Amazon, falsely advertising them as brand-name new, genuine, original, or OEM (original equipment manufacturer) products. The batteries allegedly bore counterfeit trademarks of companies such as Apple, Dell, HP, and Toshiba, as well as counterfeit certification marks of UL.

From 2014 through June 2019, Cai and his co-conspirators fraudulently obtained at least $23.8 million from the sale of counterfeit laptop batteries through eBay and Amazon. They laundered those funds, including more than $18 million wired directly to Chinese bank accounts in the name of Theseus Technology as well as other Chinese businesses involved in the conspiracy. ice.gov

1 Out of 4 Package Theft Victims End Up Buying a Video Doorbell
Two reports were recently released examining how residents react to package thefts, as well as which states see the most and fewest break-ins.

It's no secret that package deliveries spike during the holidays, but with that spike comes the looming possibility that packages either won't arrive at all or will be stolen right in front of a home.

"Porch pirates," as they are often called have hashtagged their way into the social media spotlight yet again this year, which may present the perfect opening pitch for security integrators.

According to C + R Research, a market research company based in Chicago, 36% of the 2,000 Americans surveyed have reported having a package stolen, and a whopping 44% have had a package stolen twice or more.

As if this wasn't concerning enough, 31% have learned of a neighbor's package being stolen.

Based on the available research, those who have had an item stolen tend to take swift and varied measures to provide package peace of mind. The most common approach is to install a video doorbell camera, followed by an additional security camera and motion lights. In fact, 82% of those surveyed believe doorbell cameras provide peace of mind. securitysales.com

Amazon Overtakes Walmart as America's Most-Shopped Retailer for Apparel

Amazon reports 'record-breaking' holiday sales

Top 10 e-commerce trends for 2020

Study: Retailers to up investments in e-commerce in 2020