A new anti-fraud credit card from Paris-based Oberthur Technologies has a digital display on the back which changes the 3 digit security code number every hour.

Why?

The latest ONS figures show that fraud is now the most common crime in the UK with 1 in 10 people falling victim to it in the last 12 months and 20,255 falling victim specifically to credit card fraud (a total of £755m worth of fraud). This means that we, as consumers, all now face a serious risk.

A recent Nilson Report showed that global card fraud losses have reached a staggering $16.31 billion and look likely to exceed $35 Billion in 2020. Businesses around the world in what is now a global market now also face a serious risk of fraudulent transactions. These also cost banks staggering amounts of money each year.

With credit cards in wide scale use and with a design that hasn’t changed much in many years, it is probably in the interest of all that some extra security measures on the cards themselves are now introduced.

Multiple Card Fraud Methods.

Criminals are now able to use multiple methods to steal credit card details including the use of data skimmers on cash machines, shimmers (devices that read the card’s chip), online data theft by hacking, and even loading malware onto cash machines. The stolen details can then be sold and / or used to make fraudulent online purchases.

How Does The New Card Work?

The new motion code card uses one relatively simple design change to make life a lot more difficult for fraudsters. It incorporates a mini digital screen in the place where the printed 3 digit security number would normally be. The screen which is powered by a tiny lithium battery (designed to last 3 years) displays a 3 digit security number that is changed to a new, randomly generated number every 3 hours. The new numbers on the cards are then synchronised with the details held by the card operator using a similar process as that used by bank login dongles.

Rollout.

After pilot schemes in France, Poland and Mexico, the new card is due to be rolled out soon by French banks Societe Generale and Groupe BPCE.

Possible Challenges.

Some of the possible challenges to the scheme already identified by tech and security commentators include the need for extra infrastructure to be installed in order to ensure synchronisation, and that it may have been better to have the security code generated on another device. There is also the challenge that cyber criminals are now able to very quickly exploit new technologies.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Clearly, this could be one quick way for banks to cut fraud losses. It may also be a way for businesses to not lose out to fraudulent payments and to reduce the risk of falling victim to credit card fraudsters themselves.

As individuals and as businesses, we still need to keep taking proactive steps to reduce our risk of falling victims to financial fraudsters e.g. by installing updates, using strong passwords, being very careful when using public Wi-Fi networks, and by not giving away too many of our personal details online e.g. on Facebook.

Although this new card’s security features are welcomed, we should hope that banks and credit card companies keep making more use of highly secure methods such as biometrics.

Facebook has opened up its Workplace platform app to enable businesses to have their own social network while allowing Facebook to compete in the same collaborative and communications business tool market as Microsoft’s Yammer, Slack and Google’s Cloud.

New Collaborative Business Tools.

The Workplace platform supports features such as live video and instant messaging and could be used by businesses internally to replace tools such as email. The Facebook Workplace platform therefore provides Facebook with a means to compete with other popular business-focused collaborative / communications business tools and services.

Previously known in its testing phase under the working title of ‘Facebook at Work’ the Workplace platform’s all-in-one integrated structure and the incorporation of many of Facebook’s best elements could make it a very serious competitor indeed for market share currently enjoyed by platforms such as Yammer and Slack.

About the Competitors.

Workplace will therefore be in competition with:

• Yammer – Yammer (developed by a Paypal executive and purchased by Microsoft in 2012) is a private business social networking platform that allows people to work collaboratively in order to meet the needs of the business. It has been referred to as ‘Facebook for business’, its clientele includes more than 80% of Fortune 500 Companies, and as of February this year it was rolled out to all eligible Office 365 business customers.
• Slack – Slack (an acronym for Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge) is a cloud based a collaborative instant messaging tool for businesses that was launched in 2013. This ‘fremium’ platform allows several thousand users per channel and has mobile apps for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.
• Google Cloud – The Google Cloud platform is a service that offers companies worldwide a wide range of services including serving website content, storing data, and distributing large data objects to users via direct download.

For a Subscription.

Facebook’s Workplace is the first of its services to charge a subscription fee instead of using advertising revenue to fund it. Workplace already has some major high profile customers including Danone and Starbucks.

Compatible With Millennials.

As company workforces have become more made up of those from the millennial generation who are used to social networking is thought that the Facebook Workplace app is something that they can easily take to.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Facebook’s Workplace app provides businesses with a way to bring a fully integrated social network. This could allow much better and faster communication and collaboration which could improve the competitiveness of your business in an environment where competitors may already be employing similar technologies and services.

As well as being tested for years and already having over 1,000 business customers, Workplace’s credibility is of course helped by the fact that it comes from what most people would consider the definitive social networking expert company.

After angering campaigners by only paying £4,327 UK tax in 2014, Facebook is reported to have paid £4.1 million in UK tax in 2015.

Tax Credit in Future.

Even though 2015’s payment is a significant improvement, it doesn’t mean that the UK will be bringing in similar payments in years to come.

Despite Facebook amassing over $6 billion in profit according to its latest accounts, the UK is a loss maker for the company to the tune of £52.5 million. This, coupled with the effects of some favourable tax rule changes have meant that Facebook has been granted a tax credit £11.3 million that it can use to offset against future tax bills.

Controversial Results From Change In The Tax Rules.

Although the £4.1 million in tax is a significant and welcome payment that Facebook has been pleased to make public news, campaigners are still angry that changes in the UK tax rules have meant that the country has missed out on bigger payments from the company in years to come.

For example, the rule changes have meant that Facebook has been offset £15.5 million (out of £71 million) of staff bonuses that were paid last year. Advertising sales were also transferred from Dublin to London at the beginning of April, perhaps as a response to the new diverted profits tax aimed at multinationals. This meant that even though turnover for that period in 2015 doubled to £210 million the millions generated from the UK advertising sales were excluded. It does, however, mean potentially larger tax payments from Facebook in the future provided that advertising revenues remain high.

Transparency Says Facebook.

Facebook has been reported as saying that it is proud to have grown its business in the UK and is reported to have said in a staff memo that its response in changes to the tax rules in the UK would help to provide greater transparency to its operations here. It’s also pointed out that it has created over 300 new high-skilled jobs in the UK and that it pays what it is required to under UK law.

Criticism.

However, critics have replied that Facebook’s accounts may not represent the company’s real sales in the UK as they are booked in Ireland without disclosing their true value. Some tax commentators online have described the company’s accounts as being more opaque than transparent.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

In the current climate in the UK, many business owners would particularly like to see large multinational companies and overseas competitors paying what is perceived to be their fair share of tax in the UK, particularly where the companies concerned are worth hundreds of billions.

Research by WhiteHat Security has found that retail websites have an average of 13 serious security vulnerabilities and that half of all retail websites have at least one serious security flaw.

This research highlights one of the reasons why cyber-crime figures remain stubbornly high. The WhiteHat figures show that on average retail websites have 23 unique vulnerabilities which could be exploited by criminals.

Critical Flaws.

To give an idea of how bad the 13 “serious” security vulnerabilities are in most retail websites, if the Open Web Application Security Project (Owasp) were applied to them they would be classified as ‘critical’ or ‘high risk’. Owasp is a trusted online community for resources that can be used to improved web application security.

Other Research.

The findings of WhiteHat Security are unfortunately no surprise and are backed up by research from other organisations. Dutch developer Willem de Groot, for example, have uncovered shocking evidence that nearly 6,000 online retailer websites contain code (which is unknown to the website administrators) that has been designed to steal credit card details.

In these cases, it is believed that hackers have been able to access the online store code via unpatched software flaws. Hackers can exploit and monetise these flaws by installing a (JavaScript) wiretap which intercepts and directs live payment data to an offshore collection server.

De Groot has also found that there has been a shocking 69% increase in credit card skimming since November 2015.

Key Logging Attacks.

Security researchers at RiskQ have also uncovered a key-logging attack being used on shopping card software. The attack known as ‘Magecart’ inserts JavaScript into the online retail website in order to steal credit card details.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

This means that businesses could face an uphill struggle in making sure that their online shops are safe and secure, and therefore action needs to be taken as soon as possible.

If, as the research suggests, there may be many serious vulnerabilities in the web applications of online retailers, the most sensible move by those businesses may be to prioritise the critical and high-risk security flaws for remediation. Less serious flaws can be dealt with later as resources allow.

Credit card skimming risks could be nipped in the bud if businesses with online shops would upgrade their software regularly. It is also important for businesses to maintain vigilance and to scan their own websites for Owasp‘s top 10 most critical web application security risks. Maintaining a web application firewall and applying patches immediately are also ways that businesses can reduce the risk.
To reduce the risk of crimes such as key-logging attacks, website shop owners could partner with integrators and contractors to ensure that the desired compliance, transparency of technology, and e-commerce security standards are met. Website shop operators should also make sure that web stack software is updated, and that there is conformance with recommended security controls and best practices.