Three internet heavies have developed a new plan to stop, or at least harass phishers. Yahoo!, eBay and PayPal have joined forces to create a tool to protect their users from the constant scams that flood their inboxes. The new technology is an email authentication tool that validates the origins of an email and makes black and white lists work more effectively.

Phishing
Phishing is the fastest growing internet crime. In a phishing scheme, an email is sent to an individual demanding immediate action for their account – usually a bank or ecommerce account. The individual clicks through the email to visit the site and the phisher is able to record as much personal information as possible as the individual types in their usernames, passwords, credit card information and even their social security number.

Phishing is obviously illegal, but is growing more common despite this. Often websites like eBay and PayPal as well as credit card and banking sites are subjected to phishing scams where their site is targeted as the sender of email. This makes it difficult for individuals who use the services to recognize when an email is authentic and when it is part of a scam. You should not even open email from phishers as they can download Trojans or software to record keystrokes. (more…)

Back to school is a huge time in retail. Students need new clothing and new supplies and retailers are glad to make their products available both in stores and online. Of course, once everyone is outfitted and prepared for their academic adventures, retail must focus on what comes next. Is September too early to prepare for the holidays?

Back to School Blues
The start of the school year means big business for clothing manufacturers who specialize in children and teen apparel. With the number of shoppers who take their business online, the boom is not only in the malls, but in cyber space as well. Children, teens and their parents snatch up the latest styles and take advantage of tax holidays and big sales to get all of the essentials they need for the school year. This drives sales in a big way.

Then, suddenly the malls are quiet and the online sales slow. Not only are the students already outfitted, they are also out of the stores and back in the classroom. Shopping is a popular summertime activity, but it simply won’t fit into many schedules once the regular school year begins anew.

So retailers push forward and look to see what is coming down the pipe. For many, the next focus is Christmas. For most consumers, Christmas shopping begins in earnest around mid November. These retailers take these autumn months to prepare for what is absolutely the biggest season of the year. (more…)