Retailers, FBI join forces

Retailers, in partnership with the FBI, have launched a database that tracks retail crime gangs, which they say are becoming increasingly organised, reports The Detroit News.

About 35 companies are participating in the database, including Limited Brands, American Eagle Outfitters, Mervyns and Bealls department stores and Macy's, owned by Federated Department Stores. The Law Enforcement Retail Partnership Network was launched Monday for retailers. Law enforcement will have access in a few months.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association and the National Retail Federation have both launched similar databases recently, teamed up to create the new online catalogue. About 14 000 incidents have been recorded in the NRF database alone.

Businesses, both small and large, are gaining an edge over their competition by using new retail technology and digital signage advertising networks. They hope these technologies will help them meet the needs of customers, while increasing brand awareness, reports Digital Signage Journal.

A study titled The Opportunity for Networked Displays and In-Store TV reports that previous sales of retail hardware, software, installation and integration services and support for all commercial display applications totalled nearly $1.7 billion in 2004, and are expected to demonstrate a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in excess of 25 percent over the next five years.

In-store technology and digital signage have taken hold in the United States retail and restaurant markets and have produced positive marketing and sales' results.

The massive $16 billion data breach at retailer TJX, involved someone who may have been armed with the chain's encryption key. However, the key may not have been needed as the cyber-thief was accessing data during the card-approval process before it was encrypted, reports Channel Insider.

In a 10-K filing to the federal SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission), TJX said it didn't know who the intruders were, but it did provide more details about what they say happened that led to the card information of some 46 million consumers to get into unauthorised hands.

The intruder or intruders apparently planted software in TJX systems to capture data throughout the day and they also engaged in an increasingly popular tactic: post-event cleanup. That's where intruders spend extra effort erasing their tracks, deleting and otherwise tampering with log files, changing clock settings and moving data to hide their movements.