Data Security

Holiday sales traditionally constitute a huge portion of retailers’ annual revenue, and there’s a lot at stake in the upcoming season. According to PwC, web sales for the overall retail sector will see a mid- to high-teens percentage increase over last year, with the leading retailers poised for a 40 percent to 50 percent increase.…

Neiman Marcus shoppers hoping to scoop up Black Friday deals were instead greeted with an error message. According to Catchpoint Systems, which monitors retailers' web performance, the luxury brand's homepage has been mostly unavailable since 8 a.m. ET. It represents the first significant outage of the day, and follows a smooth day of web performance on Thanksgiving,…

Wal-Mart’s website malfunctioned during the Thanksgiving shopping rush Thursday morning, throwing a wrench in some shoppers’ plans to avoid long lines by grabbing deals online. For the first time, the world’s biggest retailer offered most of its Black Friday “doorbusters” on its website hours before they were available inside its U.S. stores. The discounts, which were…

As consumers lead increasingly connected lives, more of their personal information is being transmitted through online channels than ever before. In an increasingly competitive ecosystem, brands are collecting consumer data dubiously to better inform marketing efforts and personalize campaigns. Unfortunately, this behavior often puts both brands and consumers at risk. Retail, specifically, is at such…

Companies spend years of time and thousands, if not millions, of dollars to create a desirable, engaging brand that consumers trust. In addition to this trust, the relationship that retailers forge with their customers creates a strong sense of loyalty that translates into many years of return visits and follow-up sales. However, there’s one thing…

Two years after its catastrophic data breach, Target has become the first major credit card issuer to convert to cards that contain a PIN. The department store — which also issues a Visa credit card that consumers can use anywhere that accepts credit cards — began notifying credit card customers this week that new cards are…

Every year the back-to-school (BTS) season means something different for incoming students. One year it might mean multiplication tables, the next it could be long division, U.S. history or organizational chemistry. However, one thing that students expect every year — regardless of the actual course work — is that their work load will increase and…

Our credit cards are now secured with computer chips, but the world’s largest retail trade group says consumers are no safer, while businesses are being forced to spend up to $35 billion. Most banks and credit unions are issuing credit cards that require a signature, rather than a PIN, a move that the National Retail Federation says means…

Tech pureplay retailer Newegg was taken down by hackers last week as part of an extortion attempt. Visitors to the site began to notice problems early last Thursday evening, reporting an inability to access the site via Twitter. Newegg shortly thereafter acknowledged the issues, and staff were able to put up resistance, but problems continued for…

The past year has brought a multitude of changes in payments, including PCI 3.0 requirements, EMV chip payment cards and the introduction of new mobile payment methods from CurrentC, Google and Samsung. The result is a fragmented capability across retail that's impacting consumers who want simple, flexible and convenient shopping with seamless payment methods. Retailers…