Data Security

Consumers and retailers alike are witnessing the explosive growth of e-commerce activity over the past two years, due in large part to the ever-evolving COVID-19 pandemic. Online shopping activity is unsurprisingly amplified greatly by the holiday shopping season, with the National Retail Federation (NRF) forecasting holiday sales during November and December to grow between 8.5 percent…

Retailers have become a primary target of cybercriminals. A ransomware attack hit 44 percent of retail organizations in 2020, and many paid a very high price. The average cost of recovery from a ransomware attack in retail was nearly $2 million, according to the State of Ransomware in Retail 2021 report by Sophos. The costs…

The QR code has become a ubiquitous part of the consumer experience amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, as businesses seek ways to limit physical contact. Consumer confidence in the QR code is also high. Eighty-seven percent of respondents in a 2020 Ivanti Report felt secure using a QR code to complete a financial transaction. However, in…

The retail industry is facing numerous challenges stemming from the pandemic and its aftermath. From managing staffing and supply chain shortages to enforcing health safety precautions, retailers may be unintentionally ignoring another rising threat: cyber crime. Cyber threats are rising, with one report suggesting it could cost the world $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. On…

Neiman Marcus Group said on Thursday it had notified about 4.6 million online customers that their personal information, including names, contact information and credit card numbers, may have been accessed in a data hack. The high-end department store chain said it notified law enforcement authorities about the data breach, which it said happened in May…

According to McKinsey, nearly three-quarters of people who have tried curbside; buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS); or delivery want to continue using these services after the pandemic ends. Customer expectations have changed, and it’s become key for retailers to adopt different types of touchpoints across both physical and digital channels. To support the successful execution of these services, retailers…

The U.S. is gearing up for students to return to school, and although there’s still plenty of apprehension around how the new strain of COVID-19 will impact the education system and in-person learning, parents are making all the necessary purchases to get their kids the supplies they need. This annual influx of back-to-school (BTS) shopping…

Responsible marketing delivers hard commercial returns by building trust with customers who are more worried than ever about their data and privacy. It's well established that winning and retaining customer loyalty comprises multiple elements, possibly the most important of which is trust. The 2020 Trust Barometer from Edelman says trust is the make-or-break difference for…

Internet fraudsters are on the prowl more than ever before due to the COVID-19 e-commerce boom. Consider that by mid-March 2020, online shopping in the U.S. surged 35 percent from 2019 levels, and card-not-present spending grew 30 percent in the last quarter of 2020, primarily driven by retail spending, as reported in Visa’s Q1 earnings. Cybercriminals…

Credential stuffing attacks — in which hackers use credentials exposed in prior breaches to attack new sites — are soaring, with 193 billion documented incidents globally in 2020. The pandemic is a primary driver behind this increase; the abrupt shift to remote work, creation of new online accounts, and increased reliance on e-commerce all provided…