Players from Apple to Bulgari to multiple startups are embedding payments into rings, watches, even clothing, and now Visa and MasterCard are building platforms to run the transactions. But getting the right fit might take a while. Consumers who own wearable technology feel a deep connection to their device. An …

Loyalty points have become as valuable as traditional currency. That’s attracting fraudsters—and forcing program managers to redouble their efforts to protect members. The risk of fraud threatens each and every aspect of our digital lives, including loyalty programs. Nearly 72% of loyalty-program operators admit to experiencing fraud issues, with cybercriminals …

Call-center fraud is becoming a bigger problem for card issuers and financial institutions, increasing 45% globally since 2013, according to a new study from Atlanta-based Pindrop Labs. In 2013, an average of one in every 2,900 calls to a call center was fraudulent. This year, the rate is one fraudulent …

Call-center fraud is becoming a bigger problem for card issuers and financial institutions, increasing 45% globally since 2013, according to a new study from Atlanta-based Pindrop Labs. In 2013, an average of one in every 2,900 calls to a call center was fraudulent. This year, the rate is one fraudulent call …

A well-crafted email message from an executive can cause employees to take swift action. That’s just what criminals hope for when they send phishing messages that purport to be from senior executives to more junior ones, says Scott Montgomery, vice president and chief technical strategist at Intel Security, the data-protection …

With financial institutions, merchants, and software application developers all looking for better online security than that afforded by the traditional, static user name and password, the Fast IDentity Online (FIDO) Alliance’s brand of authentication products is starting to get traction. The Mountain View, Calif.-based industry consortium reported Monday that 150 …

A grassroots campaign is under way to educate payment-application resellers and integrators about data-security best practices. Will costs prove to be a barrier? Data breaches at small merchants may not grab the headlines that hacks at huge chains such as Target Corp. do, but make no mistake, small merchants are …

All of us in the security business face a humiliating reality: Everything we do is only effective against hackers who are dumber than we are. A smarter hacker, with more imagination, could devise a penetration strategy that we are not smart enough to conceive, and hence can offer no countermeasures …

With its enforcement action against Dwolla Inc., announced early last month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made plain it is expanding its writ to include data-security practices and putting digital-payments startups in its cross-hairs. The ripple effect could reach a number of payments providers if they are incautious about data …

Once widely disparaged as an unwieldy fraud solution, 3-D Secure is back on the radar screens of risk managers at major online merchants and card issuers. Improvements in the 15-year-old technology, combined with surging e-commerce fraud, are driving the renewed interest, experts say. “Two-and-a-half years ago, zero U.S. online merchants …