Vector Security to Award Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF) Scholarships for 10th Straight Year

More than $213,000 awarded to date to support loss prevention certification

PITTSBURGH, February 8, 2018 - For the 10th year in a row, Vector Security, Inc., the provider of intelligent mobile security and automation solutions to homes and businesses, is accepting applications for its Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF) scholarship program from now through March 31, 2018.

Applications can be submitted via the Vector Security website at www.vectorsecurity.com/lpfscholarship.

  ● 209 scholarships valued at $213,220 have been awarded since the program began in 2009.
  ● 10 LPC, 10 LPQ and 5 Canadian scholarships will be awarded.
  ● The scholarships cover all course and examination fees.
  ● Anyone currently in the LP industry, or with an interest in the industry, may apply.
  ● The deadline to apply is March 31, 2018.

Read more here.

Phil Stegge named Senior Director, APP Operations & Safety for Sears Holdings
Phil was previously the Sr. Director, Labor and Expense for Sears Retail prior to taking this role. Phil brings 16 years of Operations and Asset Protection experience with SHC to the role having previously held leadership roles for Sears as Director of Labor Management, Director of Operations, and Director of Corporate LP Services. Phil is a graduate of Northern Illinois University and served 6 years in the Illinois Army National Guard. Congratulations Phil!


Intellicheck Announces the Appointment of Bryan Lewis as President and Chief Executive Officer
Intellicheck, a trusted industry leader in real time identification authentication and threat identification technology solutions, today announced that the Board of Directors has appointed Bryan Lewis as President and Chief Executive Officer effective February 21, 2018. Prior to joining Intellicheck, Lewis was Chief Operating Officer of Third Bridge, Inc. where he oversaw the growth of the company from 100 to 600 employees and a CAGR of 56% in a four-year period. Previously, Lewis held senior leadership positions at BondDesk (sold to TradeWeb), TheMarkets.com (sold to Capital IQ), Reuters, Barra (sold to MSCI) and Bloomberg. He began his career as a bond trader. Read full press release here


Sargent And Greenleaf Appoints Keith Deaton As COO
Keith Deaton joined STANLEY Security's finance team in 2010, and, most recently, served as S&G's Chief Financial Officer and interim CFO (Canada). In the security industry since 2005, Deaton brings substantial experience to his new role, and will assume the responsibilities previously managed by Brian Leary. As COO, Deaton will provide strategic leadership and day-to-day operational management for Sargent and Greenleaf, guiding the company to exceed its business objectives. Read full press release here
 

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Walmart Bid To Move TCPA Suit To Another Fla. Court Denied
64,000 Palmer Reifler Erroneous Robo Calls Claimed
A Florida federal judge denied Walmart's bid to transfer to his court a putative class action by cellphone owners mistakenly robocalled by a Florida law firm collecting unpaid shoplifting debts for Walmart, ruling that the retail giant failed to follow the rules to transfer the suit.

In the suit, cellphone owners say they wrongly received automated calls from Palmer Reifler & Associates in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Despite never shoplifting at Walmart, proposed lead plaintiff Emanuel Bermudez said he received dozens of automated calls to his cellphone from the firm, many of which came after he told the firm to stop.

Despite having policies otherwise, the firm, allegedly hired by Walmart to collect unpaid debts owed from shoplifters, neither received prior consent to make the calls nor ensured that after the calls were made recipients that were erroneously reached were removed, in violation of the TCPA, according to Bermudez.

Bermudez, a Florida resident, seeks to represent three nationwide classes of consumers who in the past four years received calls from PRA meant for someone else, continued to receive calls even after telling PRA they had the wrong number and received calls even after telling the firm to stop.

The exact class size was unspecified. Across all three classes some 64,000 erroneous robocalls were made, Bermudez said, including 20,489 unique cellphone numbers PRA allegedly called a combined 41,870 times and 1,536 calls made to cellphone numbers placed on the firm's internal do-not-call list. law360.com

Axis Communications Launches New Software for Easy on-Site Device Management and Proactive Cybersecurity Control
Axis Communications, the market leader in network video, today announced the release of AXIS Device Manager, a comprehensive on-premise device management tool that offers an easy, cost-effective and secure way to manage all major installation and operational device management tasks. AXIS Device Manager performs fast, easy configuration of new devices, complete with backup and restore settings, as well as efficient installation of firmware upgrades. It facilitates efficient device configuration including device hardening and certificate deployment. It is suitable for managing up to a couple of thousand Axis network cameras, access control and audio devices on one site - or several thousand devices across multiple sites. businesswire.com

Checkpoint Systems: It's Time For An EAS Revolution
Checkpoint Systems, a leading supplier of source to shopper solutions for the global retail industry, has announced a radical shake-up of its range of electronic article surveillance (EAS) antennas, with the introduction of a revolutionary new electronics platform.

Unveiled at NRF's Big Show, NEO will deliver enhanced detection and connectivity to retailers, enabling them to improve store operations. The powerful new electronics represent a seismic shift in the way radio frequency-based (RF) EAS solutions perform in store and enable the sensors to become a key part of the connected store environment. esmmagazine.com

Integrating Disparate Security Technology with Standards and Partnership
The key to a good crossplatform integration? Realistic expectations
In late 2015, Advance America - the largest payday lender in the U.S. with 2,050 locations across 29 states - wanted to see what other security integrators could do for their branches' alarm services and security video.

"We knew our technologies were separate," says Advance America's Director of Loss Prevention Mark Odell. "We wanted to find an integrator that had knowledge across our platforms and could help us upgrade, as a partner, not just an integrator."

Eventually Odell partnered with NAVCO, which placed a project manager - Tony Perkins - on-site in the Advance America headquarters to shepherd retrofits and new installations forward, while serving as a direct liaison with the integration company. securitymagazine.com

NRF forecasts retail sales will increase between 3.8 and 4.4 percent in 2018
Online and other non-store sales, which are included in the overall number, are expected to increase between 10 and 12 percent.

Retail sales grew 3.9 percent in 2017 over 2016 to $3.53 trillion, according to the U.S. Census bureau's preliminary estimate for the year. The number is subject to revision but exceeded NRF's forecast for growth between 3.2 and 3.8 percent. nrf.com

New Michigan Law Includes Retail Fraud & ORC Crimes Government Can Demand Recompense
A new law signed into force by Gov. Rick Snyder this week adds a number of crimes to the books for which those found guilty can be ordered to reimburse the state or local units of government.

"A number of retail fraud task forces have been created throughout the state to address the increasing number of people arrested for shoplifting or otherwise trying to defraud Michigan retailers," state Sen. Goeff Hansen (R-Hart), the legislation's sponsor, said. "This law is a further deterrent to crime and will save money by reducing costs to the state and to local units of government."

Hansen pointed to the rising retail fraud incidents occurring at The Lakes Mall in Muskegon County as the motivating cause of the bill-as well as the strain it had put local police under.

Retail fraud, dealing in stolen goods, and failure to appear when ordered by the court can all be met by such charges now. michiganpeninsulanews.com

Mississippi Legislature, HB 190 to provide a definition of Organized Retail Crime
Any person convicted under this section shall be, upon conviction, guilty of a felony and punished by a term of imprisonment of not more than twenty (20) years or fined not more than Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00), or both. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2018. state.ms.us

Mattress Firm could be on the verge of closing hundreds - maybe 1,000 more stores
In December 2017, it announced Mattress Firm would be closing 200 stores. Analysts say we can expect hundreds more to shutter.

"Considering the accounting irregularities at Steinhoff and the operational troubles at subsidiary Mattress Firm, we believe there is a high probability that Mattress Firm will close significantly more than 200 stores announced in December," analysts at Wedbush wrote in a note to investors on Wednesday.

It continued: "Our base case is now 600 store closures in 2018, with potential for as many as 1,000 closures out of the 3,400 store base." businessinsider.com

South Baltimore businesses looking to hire private security for commercial district
Federal Hill businesses are looking to deploy teams of private security guards around the South Baltimore neighborhood's bars and shops by April 1 to deter crime and make residents and visitors feel safer.

Craig Stoner, president of Federal Hill Main Street, said Wednesday that the nonprofit association is seeking proposals from security firms to spend upward of $300,000 a year to send unarmed guards throughout the business district, including Light, Hanover, Montgomery and Ostend streets. He said the association is working to drum up support and financing from neighborhood associations to also cover residential areas in the historic community.

Violent crime is surging in the city, with a grisly marker to end 2017: 341 homicides, the deadliest year in the city's history on a per-capita basis. It was the third consecutive year with more than 300 homicides. The guards would not have arrest powers. baltimoresun.com

IRI explores how hard the flu is hitting retail
IRI on Wednesday released a comprehensive report outlining the initial impact of this year's virulent flu season, as well as a size-up on how much out-of-stocks are hurting retailers who are running out of cough-cold supplies.

The flu is now widespread nationwide, and it will take weeks before the epidemic begins to subside. The Houston market has been hit hard, with 11.8% of its population battling the flu, and New Orleans (11.7%), Mobile, Ala. (11.7%), San Diego (11.7%), Dallas (11.1%) and St. Louis(9.9%) are following closely behind.

IRI's new report, "Flu Fury: IRI Pinpoints How Flu Is Impacting U.S. Markets" examines how specific regional markets are being impacted by the flu and correlates how purchase behaviors vary at the market level. The research helps retailers anticipate inventory needs and avoid the typical 4% sales loss caused by out-of-stock products. drugstorenews.com

Gap to Close Banana Republic NYC HQ - Cut 112 Employees

CVS Health says it will use tax cuts to boost wages, growth strategy

Report: Perry Ellis gets buyout bid from familiar source

Best Buy to end CD sales in the age of digital music

Hudson's Bay rejects offer for German unit


Quarterly Results
Levi Strauss Q4 direct to consumer up 20%, full yr. up 15%, total comp. net revenue up 13%,
full yr up 11%
Michael Kors Q3 Retail comp's down 3.2%, total revenue up 6.5%
 

2017 Smashed World's Records for Most Data Breaches, Exposed Information
Five mega-breaches last year accounted for more than 72% of all data records exposed in 2017.

It was a record-breaking year for the numbers of publicly reported data breaches and exposed records in 2017 worldwide: a total of 5,207 breaches and 7.89 billion information records compromised.

While hacking remained the No. 1 method used in data breaches last year (55.8%), for the first time it wasn't the top cause of exposed data records: 68.7% of exposed records came at the hands of unintentional Web-borne exposure due to accidental leaking online and misconfigured services and portals.

Some 5.4 billion records were exposed this way, even though that was via just 5% of all reported breaches. Data breaches due to hacks accounted for 2.3 billion records.

"These were misconfigured services, faulty backups, that sort of administrative error that leads to those data sets then being open and exposed to the Internet,"

Goddijn says most of the exposed record incidents in 2017 were data-handling errors that could have been prevented. Risk Based Security, which compiles and aggregates publicly disclosed data breach events, published its findings today in its annual Data Breach QuickView report on breach trends for 2017. darkreading.com

Online Fraud Attempts Soar 113% in Q4
Attempted online fraud jumped 113% year-on-year in the final quarter of 2017, to hit a massive 251 million attacks, with e-commerce firms hit particularly hard, according to ThreatMetrix.

The fraud prevention company analyzed 7.6 billion transactions to compile its Q4 2017 Cybercrime Report.

The firm claimed that companies are most exposed to fraud during the period straight after a major data breach but before it has been reported or detected.

Given that Q4 covers the busy Christmas shopping period, it's perhaps no surprise that e-commerce firms came under particular scrutiny from the fraudsters. Almost 193 million transactions were rejected by ThreatMetrix as fraudulent, a 173% increase on the same time in 2016.

However, fraudsters seem to be eschewing payment fraud in favor of account takeover and creation attacks.

In fact, e-commerce account creation and login attacks were four times more likely than payment fraud, with the log-in attack rate growing 294% compared to the same quarter in 2015.

Automated bots are playing an ever-increasing role in fraud, used on an unprecedented scale again during Q4, according to the report. There were 34 million bot attacks during the peak festive shopping period alone, rising to 800 million for the quarter. infosecurity-magazine.com

Security vs. Speed: The Risk of Rushing to the Cloud
Companies overlook critical security steps as they move to adopt the latest cloud applications and services.

Businesses deploying cloud-based applications and services often overlook critical security steps as they scramble to keep up with the latest technology, and the rush is putting them at risk.

A lot of pressure is on line-of-business employees to adopt cloud applications and infrastructure, he continues. IT departments are essential in delivering these services and often neglect to understand how on-premises data and processes translate to the cloud.

There's a lot of assumption when it comes to cloud responsibility. "Some businesses think the whole security issue is something you put into the provider's realm," says Jim Reavis, CEO of the Cloud Security Alliance. "The cloud provider may have security services and capabilities, which you can order as an extra, but a lot of responsibilities shift to the cloud." darkreading.com

How does the cloud impact video surveillance?
Several professionals in video surveillance-bringing expertise in verification, data storage, consumer video and professional video-gathered here at Security Systems News' third annual Cloud+ to discuss how the cloud will impact camera technologies.

There are three important factors in helping a customer decide between on-premise or cloud solutions, Edulbehram said. "One is multi-site management. So, for customers that have a large number of sites, where they need to view video from a large number of sites, manage systems from a large number of sites, etc., that centralized management capability is a big selling point."

He continued, "The second one I'll say is mobility. Access to this information on mobile devices-essentially any information that you want from the systems off any device at any point in time-is an attractive value proposition," Edulbehram said.

The last factor is opex vs. capex, he concluded. Some customers find the opex model attractive, he noted, but it doesn't work for others.

Edulbehram highlighted bandwidth availability as an issue, particularly in getting data to the cloud as cameras are increasing in resolution. great discussion to read. securitysystemsnews.com

Watch: Retailing ethics in the age of artificial intelligence
As retailers continue to deploy artificial intelligence and big data technologies, there are new ethical issues to consider. At NRF 2018: Retail's Big Show, a panel discussed both the promises and pitfalls of advanced retail technology through the prism of an ethical lens, not only for companies and consumers, but also for communities as a whole. Watch the session here.

New Zero-Day Ransomware Evades Microsoft, Google Cloud Malware Detection

Kaspersky: Accidental DDoS attacks among top threats

Why retailers are losing the fight against online counterfeiting
Online fraud not only represents millions of dollars in lost revenue, it also tarnishes and devalues premium brand names. As an example, Gucci America, recently won judgments worth more than $9m (6.3m UK pounds) against a group of nearly 100 websites selling knock-off merchandise. Sites that used "Gucci" in their domain names were ordered to pay additional damages totaling $110,000 (77,000 UK pounds).

In order to lure unsuspecting consumers to malicious websites to purchase counterfeit goods, cybercriminals abuse the Domain Name System (DNS). By taking a close look at the methods cybercriminals use to undermine their legitimacy, we came to understand how the abuse of their brand, by counterfeiting and other malicious activities, is significant.

How criminals abuse DNS to commit fraud

Due to the easy availability of inexpensive domain names, criminals will often register, use, and abandon new domains within a window of just minutes. Once new domains are set up, their operators will deploy the following tactics to mimic, undermine or lure prospective customers of the legitimate brand to their imitation domain:

● Phishing
● Brand Infringement
● Brand Dilution
● Brand Diminishment
● Brandjacking
● Brand Typosquatting

Research findings

Retailers, specifically luxury brands, remain a lucrative target for cybercriminals. To reveal the enormous scope of this risk, Farsight Security and DomainTools examined the domains of four international luxury brands known for their sought-after designer watches, clothing, handbags and accessories - Burberry, Prada, Cartier and Gucci. By using Farsight historical Passive DNS and DomainTools domain registration and profile data, security researchers from the two firms revealed how cybercriminals are exploiting DNS to commit fraud - using cheap domains and other techniques to lure unsuspecting consumers to buy knock-off luxury goods. retailsector.co.uk

Retailers Are So Wary of Fraud They're Rejecting Real Customers
Sixty-seven percent of retailers have online security measures that are quick to cancel any transaction that raises suspicion, according to a survey by Experian, a global information-services company. When gauging all businesses -- a group that also includes banks and telecommunications companies -- that figure rises to 71 percent.

The concerns are causing companies to leave money on the table, as they go to ever-greater lengths to prevent hacking attacks and internet security breaches. bloomberg.com

Shoppable Photos Create eCommerce Referrals For Retailers

Seattle, WA: Washington State Police searching for thieves in $400,000 diamond heist
The Washington State Patrol is seeking help from the public as they investigate a theft of $400,000 in diamonds. The patrol says a witness reported an attempted carjacking at about 3:48 p.m. Tuesday on the westbound Highway 520 ramp to northbound I-5 in Seattle. The patrol says responding troopers determined the incident was actually a diamond theft. The victim told troopers he was driving to see a jeweler-client when a dark sedan changed lanes and slammed on the brakes, causing him to brake and stop. The man reported that a second vehicle struck his car from behind and two men wearing bandanas approached his vehicle, breaking out windows, striking him and grabbing a bag of diamonds. krem.com

2 leaders of $180,000 multi-state credit card fraud scheme get prison time
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - The ringleaders of a credit card fraud scheme that made almost $180,000 in fraudulent purchases at stores in multiple states have been sentenced to prison.

The U.S. attorney for Connecticut says the group's leader, 31-year-old Mei Bao Lu, was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months behind bars. His second-in-command, 31-year-old Yang-Shi Lin was sentenced to a year in prison. Both men are from New York City.

Prosecutors say they distributed 120 counterfeit credit cards made with stolen information to other members of their group, which were used to make fraudulent purchases in Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. wtnh.com

Philadelphia, PA: Timberland Burglarized after Super Bowl win; nearly $6000 in merchandise stolen
Philadelphia police released surveillance video Thursday of three males breaking into the Timberland store on Walnut Street. The commercial burglary occurred at 2:15 a.m. Monday, just hours after the Eagles' Super Bowl victory. The video shows the males kicking and breaking the clothing store's front glass door. Then, suspects began removing coats, hats, jeans and T-shirts from the store's racks before leaving the area. Investigators say $5,644 worth of clothing was missing from the store. fox29.com



Chesterfield, VA: Man tried to steal 151 boxes of candy from Walmart
Police say a man tried to steal 151 boxes of candy and gum. The incident happened around 6 p.m. Wednesday night at the Walmart on Chattanooga Plaza in Chesterfield. The man tried to flee with the merchandise, but when he was approached Walmart employees, he dropped the candy and ran. nbc12.com




Moultrie, GA: Police suspect employee in theft; almost $13,000 in merchandise missing
Police believe that a theft from a Moultrie farm and lawn supply dealership was the work of an employee at the business. Lasseter Tractor Co., reported on Monday that some $12,925 worth of merchandise had been stolen. The theft was discovered during inventory at the business that showed that the items were missing. moultrieobserver.com

Ocala, FL: Kmart employee suspected of stealing $6,000 from store
Amber Martin, 39, of Ocala, was arrested on grand theft. Martin told a police officer she took the cash because she is a single mother trying to take care of her daughter. Martin was a Cash Office associate, Loss Prevention believes she had started stealing cash in July. ocala.com

Broken Arrow, OK: $400 Advanced Auto Theft tied to Pawn Shop
Police said Eric Allen first walked into the Advanced Auto Parts store and stole nearly $400 worth of merchandise. According to police, he then drove to a local pawn shop. An officer reportedly spotted the suspect vehicle in the pawn shop parking lot with some of the stolen items in plain view in the car. Allen is also suspected of sneaking into an office at a local car dealership and using their landline phone to call the pawn shop. fox23.com

Beachwood, OH: Dillard's arrested 2 employees at Beachwood Place; over $4,000 in merchandise stolen

Shootings, Threats & Assaults

Oklahoma City, OK: Man arrested after threatening to "shoot up" Apple store
Michael Kelly, 52, was on the phone with Apple customer service after having trouble with his laptop. He had lost important pictures. According to police documents, the conversation escalated with Kelly saying, "What the hell am I supposed to do [expletive]?" The employee on the line said, "I'm trying to do the best I can." Then, Kelly allegedly said, "If you don't come back and fix this, I'm going to go to the Apple store at Penn Square Mall in the morning and shoot the place up." Apple then called police. After making officials aware of the phone call, officers went to Kelly's house and arrested him on a misdemeanor count of threatening of violence. kfor.com

Fort Wayne, IN: Judge allows lawsuit over Fort Wayne police shooting following robbery at Dollar General
A federal judge is allowing a lawsuit to proceed against a Fort Wayne police officer who wounded an unarmed man after a store robbery. Anthony Gant filed the lawsuit against the city of Fort Wayne and three officers over the 2015 shooting, claiming he was the victim of excessive force and was denied immediate medical care. Judge Theresa Springmann removed the city and two officers from the lawsuit, but ruled court action could continue against Officer Daniel Hartman. The judge wrote that reasonable jurors could believe Gant was trying to obey Hartman's orders to stop as he fled a Dollar General store. Prosecutors cleared Hartman of criminal wrongdoing for shooting Gant in the abdomen. Gant and another man pleaded guilty to robbing the store. journalgazette.net

Kinston, NC: Multiple Shots fired outside Brothers # 2 store, no injuries reported

Gastonia, NC: Man charged with sexually assaulting woman in TJ Maxx

U.S. Shuts Down $530 million Cyber Crime Ring Launched by Ukrainian; 36 charged
The U.S. Justice Department announced one of its largest-ever takedowns of a global cyber crime ring on Wednesday, saying it had indicted 36 people accused of trafficking in stolen identities and causing more than $530 million in losses to consumers.

"Today's indictment and arrests mark one of the largest cyberfraud enterprise prosecutions ever undertaken by the Department of Justice," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan.

The cyber crime network, operating as an online discussion forum known as "Infraud," ran a sophisticated scheme that facilitated the purchase and sale of Social Security numbers, birthdays and passwords that had been stolen from around the world, the department said.

The group worked under the slogan "In Fraud We Trust" and was created in 2010 by Svyatoslav Bondarenko, a 34-year-old Ukrainian, according to the indictment.

Of the 36 people indicted, Justice Department officials said that 13 have been arrested in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Kosovo and Serbia. usnews.com theinsidercarnews.com justice.gov

Barren County, KY: Man sentenced to 8 years in prison for stealing $6,500 worth of firearms; only 3 of 8 weapons have been recovered

Casselberry, FL: Surgical-mask wearing suspect arrested in 2016 bomb threat at Starbucks

Detroit, MI: Girl to face trial in O'Reilly retailer slaying

Texas woman gets 45 months for $92K multi-state identity theft spree

2 New York Men Sentenced 18 months for $179K East Coast Credit Card Fraud Spree

Nick Hanlon promoted to Marmaxx Loss Prevention Training Specialist at The TJX Companies, Inc.

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There's Power in Strong Teams
 

The Common Traits I'm Noticing in Outstanding Teams  People were made to work together; we're a social society, and the willingness to work with others and collaborate is the difference between a team going from bad to great. Here's the three traits that make a team outstanding and strong. Learn how to listen

Don't Underestimate the Power of Your Team Members  True leaders empower their team members. They understand that in doing so, they're not losing their own power, but they are lifting their employees up to better their talents and the whole organization. Your team has power, so let them shine! Nurture your stars

Building a Strong Team: The Secrets of a Successful Leader  Building a strong and effective team is critical to success, but it's not just about hiring the best people. Leaders need to build teams who consistently perform, attain goals and learn from mistakes. Here's the secret for leaders to build great teams. Look in the mirror

How to Hire and Develop a Team of A-Players  If you want to attract and hire A-players on your team and in your organization, you've got to be in it to win it, starting with your work environment. Create a workplace that not only attracts top players but also encourages them to thrive with these strategies. Colossal Pumpkins

Self-reflection is something many avoid or refuse to allow it to creep up and point to exactly what you need to look at. Hidden behind rationalizations, self reflection in actuality can be an eye opening experience. Popping up when you least expect it but most notably late at night when you're staring at the ceiling with no other outside interferences lending you license to deny it. Self-reflection is the one person you should make it a point to face. It just might make a difference tomorrow.

Just a Thought,
Gus

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