Yesterday I spoke with an independent jewelry store that was targeted by cybercriminals. The criminals created a ransomware attack and held the store’s computer data hostage. The store had to scramble to find backup data and reopen. The store called the FBI and didn’t pay. The hackers then sent phishing emails to all the store’s customers—attacking the store’s customers and trying to infect them.
Macy's sales were down in the third quarter, its stock is down 55% this year, and it was hacked.
Bridge fights hackers daily, so we know how hard this battle can be. Yet, Macy's seems to be experiencing many issues--some of which are self-inflicted, which leads us to ask: Does Macy's need new leadership?
New E-mail Scam Targeting Invoices and ACH Payments
There is a new scam where hackers take over a brand’s email account and request payment via ACH. This financial scam recently happened to a brand that we know. Please note: Bridge has not been a victim of this scam. We are warning businesses to ensure it does not happen to our friends.
Here is how the scam works:
1. A hacker takes control of an employee’s email account such as their Microsoft email user ID and password. This is likely done via a...
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October 26, 2019
October 26, 2019
Wonder how prices are so low on Amazon? Yes, many items are stolen (at the time of purchase) or counterfeit, but there’s another reason: they’re bought after you buy them using stolen credit cards. In other words, they’re stolen after the ‘legit’ purchase. Recently, a retailer reported that it was being asked to ship Versace items to far off locations, only to have the credit card holder say it didn’t order them. They say their credit card was stolen. The reason the scammer ordered the goods ...
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First read:
There are millions of indie stores in the world who don’t get to succeed online. They get ripped off by web designers and coders, pay more in local taxes than big tech companies, don’t have access to cheap money from Wall St. (like big tech companies), and can’t protect themselves from hackers looking to steal credit cards. They are prevented them from running their business, helping their customers, and servicing their communities. Due to these expenses and ...
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April 15, 2019
April 15, 2019
Are Indie Stores 'Digitally Poor'?
There are millions of indie stores in the world who don’t get to succeed online. They get ripped off by web designers and coders, have to pay local taxes unlike many Amazon sellers, don’t have access to cheap money from Wall St. like Amazon.com, and get attacked by hackers looking to steal credit cards, all factors which prevent them from running their business, helping their customers, and servicing their communities. Because of these expenses and obstacles, ...
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This article about small banks could’ve very well been written about small retail stores. The future is tech. Bank of America has spent $20b on tech since 2012. Big retailers have likely spent that or more. And small businesses often don’t have the resources to make customers happy online. Much less survive a hacking attempt. I spent the last 2 weeks dealing with hackers from Asia. It took 3 tech people 2 weeks. Expensive. Time consuming. If small stores had to deal with this on their own, most ...
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Today the New York Times shares that China-backed hackers have targeted many U.S. companies including Boeing and T-Mobile. The hacking attempts on Bridge originating in Asia may be related to these other wider attacks:
Hackers installed software on Saks and Lord & Taylor cash registers. What’s notable is that the hack didn’t affect the companies’ websites. The hackers may have used the web (most likely via phishing emails) to infect the good ol’ ‘analog’ cash register. This crimes mixes new and old tech.
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April 11, 2017
April 11, 2017
Think Amazon is having all the fun? So do hackers.
Bridge doesn't store your credit card or payment information online, and as such isn't susceptible to the same hacking the article describes affected Amazon.
The article reminds us to create strong passwords--any unauthorized access to your account can be embarrassing and hurt business.
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