The Retail Buzz

By Scott Kreisberg

Every retailer has a unique set of security challenges and, in the retail world, your security challenges never end.

More retailers are realizing that using perimeter and anti-virus technologies alone are not enough. As someone once said, it's like locking your doors but leaving your windows open. Now retailers must take a lot more security measures.

Some vital strategies retailers need to take for preventative measures against retail loss include:

• Security for your network
• Security against theft
• Protection of data
• Prevention of administrative errors

In today's competitive environment, a retailer's shrinkage performance can mean the difference between a good year and one that fails to meet expectations.

Recording what occurs in your store is also very important, whether it be before, during or after an event. Digital video surveillance and POS monitoring can deter common forms of employee theft, register theft and fraud.

Going on for some time now is "sweet-hearting," as it's known to retailers, which is when the cashier lets friends and family walk out with more than they paid for. It is quite common in the retail sector.

To prevent this, security software is necessary which uses a motion analysis algorithm designed to spot each instance when an employee may have bypassed the checkout price scanner with a grocery item, or passed a barcode-side-up over the infrared lens. It then checks with the store's point-of-sale system and cross-references time stamps to confirm the missed scan.

Read full article ...

In the recent RIS News Store Systems Study 2008, the findings included the fact that Specialty Soft Goods retailers selected PCI Compliance as their number one priority in store-level IT spending (61%). (http://www.risnews.com/)

The report states further: “Last year, the top two priorities were Better Tools for Associates…and Speed Through Checkout. Last year, PCI Compliance was not a major factor.”

At the same time, Dave Hogan of the NRF (http://www.nrf.com/) said that PCI compliance was not the answer for retailers seeking a solution to stopping determined criminals. The response to Hogan’s recommendation that security standards need a fresh approach came in from many industry experts who largely agreed that retailers must look beyond PCI compliance.

And just last week, news surfaced that Advance Auto Parts, a specialty chain with 3,261 stores, had been compromised by a computer hacker who tapped into financial information at 14 Advance Auto stores in Virginia and seven other states. Like many retailers who have experienced identity file theft, Advance Auto Part’s security efforts took on a renewed sense of urgency after the breach, an action they no doubt wish had occurred sooner.

According to a recent article by Christina Zarrello writing for RIS News, Dave Hogan also told RIS that merchants should not be required to keep reams of data and that banks should provide merchants with the option of keeping nothing more than the authorization code provided at time of sale and a truncated receipt. He said, “I would like them to go on record and state that 'Retailers have the option to no longer store credit card data and they will not be penalized for not keeping credit card data.'

To address this further, over 2,900 retail loss prevention executives will be heading to Orlando this year for the National Retail Federation’s annual Loss Prevention Conference and EXPO. The event will be held June 23-25 at the Orange County Convention Center.

We will report here on news from the Conference.

Contact a sales rep at One Step Retail Solutions to help you with a POS solution that gets you PCI compliant.

Call 866-617-8181 or send email.

Written by One Step Retail Solutions

Credit card receipts that include full account numbers and expiration dates are a gold mine for identity thieves. In some states, printing of the full account number is already prohibited. For the future, FACTA sets a national standard requiring truncation of credit card information.