The Home Depot ORC team is having a breakout year

Mike Combs has over 29 years of experience in security, loss prevention and asset protection leadership roles. He has worked for retailers such as Lazarus/Rich's/Macy's, AutoZone and Home Depot. In his current role he leads the ORC and Central Investigations Teams for the Home Depot.

At Home Depot, the internal investigations team was centralized two years ago, but the ORC investigators still work out in the field, supporting the higher theft markets.

Home Depot has 3 ORC Managers that each cover a division of the country.

The team's mission is clear: identify and resolve organized retail theft crews that are impacting the shrink and total loss results in their stores and beyond. The success of the ORC team can be attributed to a few critical areas:

Team experience and diversity: "Our growing ORC team has deep experience and diversity. I am amazed at the balance of AP, store operations and Law Enforcement experience we have on the team and this combination makes us highly effective," says Combs.

Partnership: ORC Investigators thrive on building long-term relationships with their store AP peers, Law Enforcement, and industry groups such as states ORCA's, RILA, CLEAR, etc. Combs says, "The intelligence gathered from our store teams help start the process of making an ORC case, and the most successful investigators invest in these crucial relationships."

Senior leader support: "The senior leadership team has invested heavily into our teams so that we can successfully mitigate total loss. From our new VP Scott Glenn, all the way to our CEO, we have support of our mission," Combs says. "This investment is making a big difference."

"Technology is always important when you think of being more productive," Combs says. "I can see a day where drones, facial recognition are used to do complex or risky surveillances and help ORC teams catch the ORC crook even sooner. Today, we spend a lot of wasted time trying to track repeat offenders down or even identify who they are."

Opioid diversion programs could also provide a big improvement to the retail theft problem. Combs mentions that most of their big ORC cases involve drug addicted boosters stealing from the stores and then selling to online marketplaces or to physical stores. He says, "We need new diversion programs to break this cycle."

Overall, the Home Depot ORC team is delivering a record-breaking year in terms of investigations closed, arrests, recovery, and total case value. Through the first 3 quarters of 2018 the ORC team has an increase in total case value of over 127% totaling over $30 million in prosecuted dollars.

	Leo Doran named Vice President of Loss Prevention for Tailored Brands, Inc. Leo was previously a Retail Loss Prevention Consultant for LP Doran Consulting LLC before taking this new role. Prior, he held various senior-level leadership positions for retailers including Chico's FAS Inc. as Vice President - Loss Prevention, Limited Too-Tween Brands as Vice President, Wet Seal, Inc. as Director of Loss Prevention and Factory Card & Party Outlet as Director of Loss Prevention. Congratulations Leo!
	Tim Derringer, CISM named Director - Information Security for belk Tim was previously the Security Operations Manager for Limited Brands for over five years before taking this new role. He's held other related positions including Manager - Security Intelligence & Engineering and Security Architecture - Data Security for Limited Brands and Vice President of Security Information Engineering Manager and Vice President - SMC Manager for JP Morgan Chase. Congratulations, Tim!
	Ganjar Imansantosa, CISM named Director - Information Security for Domino's Ganjar was previously the Director of Information Security for a specialty retail company for over four years and prior he was their Senior Manager of Information Security & Compliance. He was also a Manager, Technology Security Risk Services for Ernst & Young and a Technology Risk Consulting - Associate for Arthur Andersen. Congratulations Ganjar!
	Aaron Varenhorst Promoted to Business Development Manager, Signature Brands for Genetec In this newly created position Aaron will be responsible for the Retail, Financial, Hospitality, Gaming & Venue Vertical Markets in the Central United States for Genetec. Aaron joined the Genetec team in 2015 as a Regional Sales Manager. During his tenure, Aaron has been recognized for the tremendous growth of his territory and is a multi year recipient of the Genetec President's Award. Aaron started his career in 2005 as an integration project manager & sales engineer focused on Government & Education Markets. After 6 years he moved into a Sales Engineering role with a Security Manufacturer supporting 7 states across the Central US and won multiple awards for sales growth. Aaron possesses a deep understanding of Integrated Security solutions and will continue providing knowledge and value to support Genetec customers & business partners throughout the region. Congratulations, Aaron!

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Security breach at Nordstrom exposed sensitive employee data
Seattle-based retailer Nordstrom is notifying employees of an information-security breach that exposed their names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, checking account and routing numbers, salaries and more.

Employees across the company received an e-mail notification and apology from co-President Blake Nordstrom on Wednesday informing them of the breach, a company spokesperson confirmed Friday.

The company would not say how many people were affected by the breach; those employees were being notified by mail. seattletimes.com

Business groups in UK raise concerns over microchipping employees
Groups in the U.K. representing businesses and workers are questioning plans published in a report Sunday claiming companies were preparing to microchip employees.

According to The Telegraph, a Swedish company called Biohax said it was in talks with multiple British legal and financial companies to provide human chip implants to employees for security.

"These companies have sensitive documents they are dealing with," said Jowan Österlund, the founder of Biohax in an interview with The Telegraph. "(The chips) would allow them to set restrictions for whoever."

In a statement emailed to USA TODAY, the Confederation of British Industry, which represents more than 190,000 businesses in the U.K., questioned the need for microchipping workers.

The business of human chip implants first generated buzz in July 2017, after a Wisconsin company said it would offer employees microchip implants to scan into the building or buy food at work. king5.com

Fill Your Cybersecurity Skills Gap with Veterans
One of the most pressing concerns facing organizations today is the widening cybersecurity skills gap. According to recent estimates, there will be as many as 3.5 million unfilled positions in the industry by 2021. One often overlooked pipeline that may help close the skills gap is servicemembers transitioning out of the military.

The US military today is comprised of about 1.2 million active duty servicemembers with another 800,000 people in the seven reserve components. And right now, about 550 servicemembers leave military service every day, with about 250,000 military members expected to leave each year for the next five years. These veterans are entering the civilian workforce with an average of about 15 years of training and experience behind them. As a result, many of them are transitioning with unique skillsets that make them ideal candidates for a career as a cybersecurity professional.

Today's military is highly technical, and many of these men and women have been trained to use some of the most sophisticated technologies running on some of the most highly targeted networks in the world. As a result, much of their situational, hands-on experience translates to the cybersecurity battlefield. Situational awareness, maintaining security, intelligence gathering, and support for chain of command are all skills that translate well to a role in cybersecurity. And many of these individuals also possess security clearances, which are not only expensive for private organizations to obtain and maintain, but can also take up to 18 months to complete. csoonline.com

Walmart is building an AI lab inside one of its store
Walmart has just announced its plans to launch what it's calling an Intelligent Retail Lab inside one of its stores in Levittown, New York.

The idea is to test both associate and customer experiences. For example, Walmart wants to use artificial intelligence to better identify when items are running low on stock so that it can proactively replenish the stock. Lead by an internal team called Kepler, Walmart also envisions using the technology to identify spills, better understand when shopping carts are running low near the entrance and identify when items are on the wrong shelf. techcrunch.com

State Of Counter-Drone Regulation For Public Safety And Physical Security
Similar to other pioneering technologies in the past, drones need to integrate into a long existing and well-balanced ecosystem, the rules of which have first been drafted some one hundred years ago and have evolved without taking vehicles such as drones into account.

Yet the safety risks related to aviation hinder the quick integration of drones into that ecosystem, broadening the gap between existing regulatory landscape and the exponentially growing popularity and ever-advancing technology of drones.

For the past several years, governments and legislators have been trying to tackle this problem by trying to answer two questions: how to properly integrate drones into the airspace without creating a hazardous impact on existing airborne operations, and how to enforce regulations in order to prevent the side-effects related to careless or malicious drone flights, taking into consideration public safety and physical security. securityinformed.com

5 Things the Most Secure Software Companies Do (And How To Be Like Them)

Mining Malware: 6,000 PCs Hacked, 5 Men Arrested by S. Korean Police

Handling Sexual Harassment: A Fresh Perspective

In the wake of widespread revelations of misconduct in workplaces, people from all types of industries have begun sharing their stories of harassment and abuse. Refusing to bury their heads in the sand, retail LP executives recognize that old-school "not in my wheelhouse" thinking won't fly. It's time to act with integrity and transparency, embrace authenticity and commit to changes in organizational culture.

Joan Manson, Vice President of Employee Resources, Asset Protection & Legal, The Container Store, shares how LP and human resources professionals can bring their distinctive skills to the table, cultivating a collaborative, productive, and high-trust relationship.

Bob Bonstrom & Alan Rabinowitz - Delta Lock - Quick Take 16

Alan Rabinowitz and Bob Bonstrom tell us how Delta Lock is taking a "traditionally dumb device" like keys and making them smarter with artificial intelligence and analytics. Learn what sets Delta Lock apart from the competition, what new innovations they're bringing to market, and how their global partnerships allow them to offer retailers a total turnkey solution.

On-demand commerce demands a fresh approach to fraud
Various studies have proved what most of us already suspected - that consumers are becoming ever more demanding and less tolerant of delays - and the on-demand market in the US has surged on the back of increased consumer expectations. A market that was worth USD 22 bln in 2015 was valued at USD 34 bln by the end of 2017 and analysts expect it to be worth as much as USD 57 bln by the end of 2018.

One of the key aspects of this on-demand culture is the expectation of instant online purchasing power, with consumers taking it for granted that they will be able to bypass traditional online payment security checks and buy something with just one click (or even one voice command) on their computers, tablets, phones and digital assistants.

But while instant payments are increasingly a feature that businesses need to provide in order to remain competitive, real-time payments come with the risk of real-time fraud.

In order to minimise friction for customers who expect easy payment action, businesses are looking at requiring less information before checkout and spending less time reviewing transaction activity.

While this is a very convenient solution for trusted customers, it is also a perfect environment for fraudsters. Transactions occur immediately without much (or any) time for red flags to go up or for manual fraud reviews to take place, an opportunity that criminals are more than happy to exploit.

The good news is that businesses have the ability to stay one step ahead of fraudsters looking to take advantage of immediate payment vulnerabilities. One of the most popular and effective tools in the insta-pay environment is an all-in-one fraud prevention software solution, some of which are powered by machine learning. thepaypers.com

Is it time for U.S. retailers to embrace Singles Day?
Singles Day, essentially China's equivalent of Black Friday, crushed previous sales records yesterday as the promotional event spread to more countries, including the U.S.

Other Chinese retailers, including JD.com, have joined the holiday, and Single Days deals again cropped up in other countries, including the U.S. as Chinese living abroad and Chinese-Americans embraced the event.

In keeping with the holiday's focus on luxury and fashion, Saks, Barneys and Urban Outfitters offered 11 percent off all online sales in the U.S. on Sunday, but the shopping holiday isn't widely promoted in the U.S. The event fights for attention with Black Friday and Cyber Monday ads already running. Still, some see it becoming more global in ensuing years.

Kate Walters, executive planning director and head of strategy at digital agency Swirl mcgarrybowen, told Adweek, "Given Prime Day's popularity, there may well be room for a [fourth] manufactured shopping holiday in the U.S., and Singles Day - with its spirit of treating yourself - fits nicely with other behaviors we see from millennial audiences." retailwire.com

Alibaba rings up $31B on 10th Singles Day

Etsy's sales grew 20.4% in Q3

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