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News
Cyber Monday sets ISOs and merchant level salespeople can increase small
businesses' share of the growing e-commerce pie by
online sales record bolstering their online presences. The August 2012 Small
Business Happiness Index survey from online business card
provider Vistaprint N.V. said 69 percent of micro businesses
surveyed had a website, but only 46 percent of them were
n the quintessential Monday following selling products via those sites.
Thanksgiving 2013, online sales jumped by
20 percent or more over the same day last Brick-and-mortar merchants can also leverage awareness
O year. The IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark and loyalty campaigns, such as Small Business Saturday,
put the online payments increase at 20.6 percent on Cyber to drive traffic into physical stores. Payments industry
Monday. Traffic from mobile devices grew to 31.7 percent consultant Linda S. Perry believes the results of the
of all online traffic, representing a 45 percent jump from American Express Co.-created annual promotion for small
the same day in 2012. Additionally, mobile-based trans- businesses is reason for optimism. "I think it's a great
actions increased by 55.4 percent year-over-year, IBM promotion," she said. "It's well-run and easy to use."
reported.
Since 2010, AmEx has urged its U.S. cardholders to shop
Internet analytics firm comScore Inc. set total desktop at local small businesses on the Saturday following Black
online spending on Cyber Monday at $1.735 billion, an 18 Friday. According to data compiled by AmEx and the
percent rise from the previous year. The researchers thus National Federation of Independent Businesses, spending
pronounced Cyber Monday 2013 as the "heaviest online at smaller merchants on Small Business Saturday reached
spending day in history and the second day this season $5.7 billion, up by 3.6 percent from the same day in 2012.
(in addition to Black Friday's $1.198 billion) to surpass $1 The figure may not be as impressive as Cyber Monday
billion in sales." results, but it represents a positive trend that can be built
upon through awareness and participation.
Meanwhile, online identity verification firm Cardinal
Commerce Corp. reported that the number of Cyber New POS skimmer
Monday transactions touching its network were up by 61
percent from 2012.
On Visa Inc.'s Dec. 3, 2013, corporate blog, Visa Chief threat exposed
Economist Wayne Best said $2.6 billion was spent online
using Visa-branded cards on Cyber Monday, a 28 percent ust in time for the holidays: a new type of skim-
increase from the same day in 2012. In addition, Visa ming device designed to steal cardholder data at
cardholders made 28 million transactions on Monday, up the POS. As reported Dec. 3, 2013, on security blog
by 29 percent from last year. J KrebsonSecurity, the new skimmer is a thin plastic
overlay that fits over the PIN pad of standard POS termi-
Going mobile
nals. A small battery and flash storage card affixed to the
IBM's report also found that consumers surf the Internet underside of the device records mag stripe data as cards
more often with smartphones than tablets, but tablets are swiped through terminals and captures PINs as they
are used for purchasing more than twice as often as are keyed in.
smartphones. Additionally, tablet users spend more
on average than smartphone users, $126.30 to $106.49, "Such a device would be an enticing buy for a crooked
respectively. employee at a retail store," said security reporter Brian
Krebs. "It might even be installed surreptitiously by thieves
Also, comparing daily marketing activity over the previous posing as customers at a retail establishment."
two months to the five-day period from Thanksgiving to
Cyber Monday, IBM said retailers sent 77 percent more A video posted along with the blog demonstrated the
"push" notifications (text messages and popup messages skimmer on a VeriFone Inc. POS terminal. Krebs said
within mobile apps) to customers. the overlay is a "remarkably simple but brilliant POS
skimming device that can be installed and removed in the
Foot traffic follows awareness blink of an eye." Krebs noted that the fraudster from whom
he received the video sells the skimmer on underground
While the staggering increase in e-commerce activity web forums.
on Cyber Monday is good news for online businesses,
it is less joyful for primarily brick-and-mortar retailers. Overlay attack vector
Small businesses without web presences, or with limited
presences, are likely experiencing a decline in sales as VeriFone responded with a warning that the overlay, also
consumers shift to purchasing online via smartphones and called a shell, is not designed solely for its terminals.
tablets. "This particular method of fraud, which is also known as
10
Cyber Monday sets ISOs and merchant level salespeople can increase small
businesses' share of the growing e-commerce pie by
online sales record bolstering their online presences. The August 2012 Small
Business Happiness Index survey from online business card
provider Vistaprint N.V. said 69 percent of micro businesses
surveyed had a website, but only 46 percent of them were
n the quintessential Monday following selling products via those sites.
Thanksgiving 2013, online sales jumped by
20 percent or more over the same day last Brick-and-mortar merchants can also leverage awareness
O year. The IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark and loyalty campaigns, such as Small Business Saturday,
put the online payments increase at 20.6 percent on Cyber to drive traffic into physical stores. Payments industry
Monday. Traffic from mobile devices grew to 31.7 percent consultant Linda S. Perry believes the results of the
of all online traffic, representing a 45 percent jump from American Express Co.-created annual promotion for small
the same day in 2012. Additionally, mobile-based trans- businesses is reason for optimism. "I think it's a great
actions increased by 55.4 percent year-over-year, IBM promotion," she said. "It's well-run and easy to use."
reported.
Since 2010, AmEx has urged its U.S. cardholders to shop
Internet analytics firm comScore Inc. set total desktop at local small businesses on the Saturday following Black
online spending on Cyber Monday at $1.735 billion, an 18 Friday. According to data compiled by AmEx and the
percent rise from the previous year. The researchers thus National Federation of Independent Businesses, spending
pronounced Cyber Monday 2013 as the "heaviest online at smaller merchants on Small Business Saturday reached
spending day in history and the second day this season $5.7 billion, up by 3.6 percent from the same day in 2012.
(in addition to Black Friday's $1.198 billion) to surpass $1 The figure may not be as impressive as Cyber Monday
billion in sales." results, but it represents a positive trend that can be built
upon through awareness and participation.
Meanwhile, online identity verification firm Cardinal
Commerce Corp. reported that the number of Cyber New POS skimmer
Monday transactions touching its network were up by 61
percent from 2012.
On Visa Inc.'s Dec. 3, 2013, corporate blog, Visa Chief threat exposed
Economist Wayne Best said $2.6 billion was spent online
using Visa-branded cards on Cyber Monday, a 28 percent ust in time for the holidays: a new type of skim-
increase from the same day in 2012. In addition, Visa ming device designed to steal cardholder data at
cardholders made 28 million transactions on Monday, up the POS. As reported Dec. 3, 2013, on security blog
by 29 percent from last year. J KrebsonSecurity, the new skimmer is a thin plastic
overlay that fits over the PIN pad of standard POS termi-
Going mobile
nals. A small battery and flash storage card affixed to the
IBM's report also found that consumers surf the Internet underside of the device records mag stripe data as cards
more often with smartphones than tablets, but tablets are swiped through terminals and captures PINs as they
are used for purchasing more than twice as often as are keyed in.
smartphones. Additionally, tablet users spend more
on average than smartphone users, $126.30 to $106.49, "Such a device would be an enticing buy for a crooked
respectively. employee at a retail store," said security reporter Brian
Krebs. "It might even be installed surreptitiously by thieves
Also, comparing daily marketing activity over the previous posing as customers at a retail establishment."
two months to the five-day period from Thanksgiving to
Cyber Monday, IBM said retailers sent 77 percent more A video posted along with the blog demonstrated the
"push" notifications (text messages and popup messages skimmer on a VeriFone Inc. POS terminal. Krebs said
within mobile apps) to customers. the overlay is a "remarkably simple but brilliant POS
skimming device that can be installed and removed in the
Foot traffic follows awareness blink of an eye." Krebs noted that the fraudster from whom
he received the video sells the skimmer on underground
While the staggering increase in e-commerce activity web forums.
on Cyber Monday is good news for online businesses,
it is less joyful for primarily brick-and-mortar retailers. Overlay attack vector
Small businesses without web presences, or with limited
presences, are likely experiencing a decline in sales as VeriFone responded with a warning that the overlay, also
consumers shift to purchasing online via smartphones and called a shell, is not designed solely for its terminals.
tablets. "This particular method of fraud, which is also known as
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