The European Commission has fined AliExpress €550 million for breaching the Digital Services Act (DSA), stating that it failed to properly assess and reduce the risk of illegal, unsafe, and counterfeit products being sold on its platform.
In 2025, cyber incidents across the retail sector have bypassed cyber defences with worrying effectiveness by targeting outsourced IT support teams using voice-based social engineering, known as “vishing”. This is just the latest version of a long running criminal activity that we might have called “blagging” in the past—i.e. talking your way in or getting something by persuading someone to do what you want them to do.
Riskified and ORIS Media seminar provides top tips to avoid fraud this peak season.
Harrods has received communication from the hackers behind a recent breach of one of its third-party partner systems which impacted 430,000 customer records.
Co-op boss Shirine Khoury-Haq has apologised to the 6.5 million members that had their data stolen in an IT attack and pledged to support and ‘re-direct’ cyber talent in the UK.
Revised guidance designed to help organisations safeguard and maintain business continuity during and after periods of disruption realised by disasters, cyber attacks or other incidents has been published by the British Standards Institution (BSI).
High Stakes on the High Street as Retailers Enter the Arms Race towards Regulation Tackling “Rise of the Machine” Scams
Cyber Vulnerability and Social Engineering—This Time It’s “Personnel”
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, or Many Unhappy Returns as Serial Refunders Create Existential Crisis for Online Retailers
Viral “shopping hauls” on social media platforms are fuelling a surge in people sending back online orders, with an estimated almost £7bn worth of unwanted clothes returned to retailers each year.
An investigation by Which? has revealed that sellers on marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay can too easily list dangerous and illegal products. The consumer champion stated that these sites are failing to protect the millions of shoppers who use their platforms.
Cyber and data risks form retailers’ top concerns for the next year, research from Barclays Corporate Banking and consultancy Retail Economics has found. The findings showed that 34 per cent of UK retailers surveyed viewed this area as their biggest risk, while 7 per cent said it formed part of their top three risks over the next 12 months.
Increasing numbers of UK businesses are struggling to understand how to combat cyber-crime, putting them at increased risk of attacks resulting in crippling costs from multi-million pound ransoms, litigation and reputational damage, according to the latest report from Savanti, one of the UK’s leading cyber security consultancies.
John Lewis has become the first department store in the UK to offer advice about staying safe on the internet, after customers with children cited it as a top concern.
More businesses are ‘cyber prepared’ but attacks are increasing in sophistication, according to a the latest resilience report from the Business Continuity Institute (BCI). Almost 90 per cent of respondents to the BCI report which examines the disruption levels and cyber resilience arrangements across organisations as well as the reporting and role of senior executives in the development of cyber resilience strategies, say their organisation has business continuity (BC) arrangements in place to deal with cyber incidents to mitigate financial losses.
Comsec can now place preventative empowerment in the hands of call handlers.
“Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave, When First We Practice to Deceive.” – Sir Walter Scott, 1808
One in five British retail workers have been involved in a data security incident or loss of secure data, according to new research.
Parcel and package delivery scams are the most prevalent type of ‘smishing’ text messages, according to new data.
The Government is to hand the competition regulator new powers to tackle fake reviews to protect online consumers.
The UK Government is still failing to do enough to protect the public from counterfeit fraudsters, according to the Anti-Counterfeiting Group (ACG).
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has teamed up with the National Cyber Security Centre to develop an anti-fraud toolkit for the sector.
New reports stress the dangers of buying fake products online during COVID-19, says a global trade body, which is driving demand for more investment in security devices.
A startling 66 per cent of businesses have been impacted - up from 48 per cent in the first quarter of the year, according to a survey conducted by Bluedog Security Monitoring.
The Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT), in collaboration with the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), has published a report detailing the growing incidence of fraudulent advertising and counterfeits on popular social networking platforms.
Two out of every three products bought on Amazon, eBay, AliExpress and Wish failed to pass relevant safety tests, according to research by Which?
Fears over cyber security and the digital skills shift have topped the list of technology concerns for UK retail small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to a new report.
The UK’s cyber shield has deflected hundreds of potential attacks in the last 12 months, according to a new report.
As the UK prepares to exit the European Union, there has never been a stronger case for cross-border co-operation on cyber-crime, according to a leading expert.
A new campaign seeks to create greater awareness amongst the administrators of social media groups about their legal responsibility to prevent the promotion and sale of counterfeit goods.
Cyber fraud is likely to triple in the next five years as businesses fall behind on security spend, according to new research.
Home workers pose more of a risk to cyber security, according to a new survey.
The ever-increasing list of connected devices is increasing our cyber vulnerability, according to a leading expert.
New figures released this week highlight an almost 700 per cent increase in mobile app fraud.
Cyber-crime fighting is being boosted by a new multi-million pound Home Office initiative to shine light on the so-called Dark Web.
As cyber criminals concentrate on targeted, strategic, money-making attacks, they are likely to use GDPR fines as leverage to extort money from organisations, a report warns.
The increase in ransomware attacks is driving a growth in cyber insurance policies, but this could increase the problem, according to a new report.
The UK must foster a new generation of diverse talent to effectively tackle the cyber security skills challenge, according to Mark Sayers, deputy director for cyber and Government security at the Cabinet Office.
Retailers are responding to cyber attacks on average twice a week, according to new figures, with 16 per cent of those affected experiencing an attack or an attempt every day.
Legitimate online gambling companies have been warned off advertising on illegal websites that provide access to pirated materials, thanks to a campaign organised by the City of London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU).
The WannaCry cyber-attack which disabled many NHS Trusts in May, is a wake-up call for all businesses.
Nearly half (46%) of British businesses discovered at least one cyber security breach or attack in the past year, a government survey has indicated.
Peer pressure is a major driver of cyber-crime among the young, according to new research.
The BRC has launched a cyber security ‘toolkit’ that will provide retail businesses of all sizes with a practical, step-by-step guide to prevent and manage cyber security threats and protect the customers they serve.
New research conducted by the Centre for Cyber Safety and Education suggests serious talent shortage looms in the information security workforce.
Some 93 per cent of Millennials in the UK do not trust online retailers with their personal data, with more than half concerned about having their identity stolen online or through mobile activities, according to new research from LexisNexis Risk Solutions.
New figures show that on average cyber-crime left each person over the age of 16 in the UK £210 worse off – but the actual cost could be much higher.
Global accountancy firm PwC has launched itself into the fantasy underworld of cyber-crime to see how top executives would cope with a major online security breach.
UK firms have fared worse than companies in other major European economies on the cyber security front, according to new data.
Such is the perceived threat of cyber-crime that global accountant PwC is strengthening its front line defences with the planned recruitment of more than 1,000 technology specialists in the UK over the next four years in order to meet increasing client demand for digital, regulatory and cyber security services.
Data breaches as detected in the latest Jason Bourne film are more common than fictional, according to the latest research.
As the UK presses the nuclear button of Brexit, one of Europe’s leading cyber experts predicts worrying times ahead.
Cyber-crime cost UK businesses more than £1.7 billion last year, according to shock new figures released by Get Safe Online and Action Fraud.
While a reduction in EU roaming rates is seen as a breakthrough in consumer freedom, mobile anti-fraud and revenue protection specialist Revector has outlined why the reduction may not be all good news for the industry...
While the eyes of most are focused on the revelations of the tax affairs of prominent individuals, including several world leaders, as exposed by some of the 11 million documents included in the recently disclosed ‘Panama Papers’, another very important facet of this story has been largely overlooked. How did this confidential information come to be exposed in the first place, and what does this event tell us about the security of sensitive information in general?
The UK has seen a double-digit rise in economic crime against corporates in the last two years, while the rest of the world has seen static rates.
Threat of children as young as 15 turning to cyber-crime without their parents’ knowledge.
More people are owning up to being duped online as new research reveals that almost one quarter of consumers have received items that turned out to be counterfeit, including fashion or footwear, electronics and digital content.
The UK is to spend almost £2 billion to weaponise its digital powers against cyber hackers, terrorist groups, criminal gangs and rogue states, the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced this month.
Christmas has come early for Internet scammers as brand new benchmark research estimates a 30 per cent increase in online fraud attempts in the last 12 months.
In the same week that broadband giant TalkTalk had its four million customer’s data compromised by hackers, a new survey revealed the majority of Brits think the internet is getting more dangerous.
Hackers are getting more sophisticated in leaving fewer digital footprints to investigate, according to fraud industry experts.
Interpol has launched an initiative to keep businesses out of the dark.
Online reviews used to be the consumer comfort blanket when purchasing merchandise or services over the Internet – but not any more after a damning indictment of fake critiques by the Competition and Market Authority (CMA).
One of the biggest enforcement operations ever seen in the England, Wales and Northern Ireland has been launched to combat piracy on social media.
More retailers are enjoying the benefits of mobile commerce but many are not yet doing enough to counteract the fraud risks that come with this opportunity, a new study suggests.
The so-called ‘dark web’ has become the target of co-ordinated activity by law enforcement bodies in Europe and the US to disrupt organised cyber-crime activity.
American retailers could soon be made responsible for cyber-crime if legislation in the US is successful.
Data-driven identity crimes – scams carried out using a victim’s identity details to obtain new accounts or take over existing ones – represented over 45% of all the confirmed frauds identified in the first three quarters of 2014, according to CIFAS.
An initiative has been launched to further strengthen the fight against cyber-crime in the European Union and beyond.
The U.K. continues to lead Europe in e-commerce sales, with website purchases representing €207 billion according to the latest figures.
A third of businesses were hit by a cyber attack in the last 12 months and almost two-thirds expect to fall victim before 2015, according to new research into the concerns of IT directors.
Retailers are not getting ‘likes’ for their Facebook profiles or hashtags for their Twitter presence, according to the latest research. Consumers are wary of retailers with a social media presence and don’t use social networking sites when it comes to e-commerce, a poll of more than 1000 shoppers has found.
Bargain hunters beware: Your online auction purchase might be stolen goods. Retailers estimate that one-third of auction and blog sites' listings for "new in box" or "new with tags" items are actually goods that were stolen through organised retail crime or otherwise fraudulently obtained, according to a recent National Retail Federation report.
Last year was the busiest time on record for Internet scammers and a great year to go ‘phishing’. This was the finding of Panda Security which has published the results of its 2013 Annual Report, drawn up by PandaLabs.
Concern is growing over the use of social media sites for what is a highly anti-social activity – the selling of stolen goods.
As the separate tracks of online and mobile technology continue to evolve and converge, the challenges and the opportunities facing fraud control professionals are maturing at a similar rate. New technologies, or the application of existing technologies in new ways, can bring both risks and rewards. Fraud control teams and investigators need to come to terms with an emerging new world order in which, not only consumers, but also autonomous devices, are responsible for some transactions, and where threats from other sectors such as banking and the unregulated payments space are increasingly relevant to anyone engaged in e-commerce. The Deep Web The phrase “Deep Web” refers to that part of the Internet that is not indexed by traditional search engines. Estimates vary, but it is commonly thought that the data held in Deep Web repositories is 500 times greater than that normally searched by conventional means.
