In today's Daily:

- 4,000 Stores blaming no-bail reform
- Mayor Blames ORC
- Assemblyman Blames CVS, Retailers & Cops
- Everybody Blames George Soros's $40 Million PAC
- Texas Just wants to 'Boot Them Out'


4,000 NYC Independent Grocers 'UBA' Demanding Repeat Offenders Be Bail Eligible
United Bodegas of America

NYC bodegas padlock laundry detergent as shoplifting scourge hits new low
Desperate Bronx grocers are cracking down on serial thieves by slipping steel chains through the handles of laundry detergent bottles and securing them with padlocks - a new low in the shoplifting scourge across the Big Apple.

Thieves were cleaning up - to the tune of at least $1,000 a month in detergent alone in one bodega. "Before the pandemic, New York was the best. Now, I don't know what happened to the people," huffed Collado.

The lock-and-chain strategy was hatched by the United Bodegas of America in the wake of spiking thefts, explained Fernando Mateo, the organization's president.

"The justice system is just not cooperating, and it's getting to a point where you either have to padlock every item that has to be stolen, or you have to fight back," said Mateo. "And if you fight back you take the risk of going to jail for protecting your property."

The city's shoplifting crisis is showing no signs of abating, with petit larceny - or theft of less than $1,000 - up 14% this year through Jan. 15, compared to the same time period in 2022, according to NYPD data.

Residents stunned by the latest security inconvenience said the neighborhood's junkie hordes were mostly to blame, as is the city's revolving-door justice system.

"We live in a neighborhood where it's a lot of drug addicts," said Tylique Miles, 41, adding the thieves quickly flip the high-priced staples at a discount.

"The police can't do anything to help," griped Manuel San Miguel, 61, alluding to the state's 2019 controversial bail reform law that bans judges from setting bail in cases involving non-violent felonies and misdemeanors such as shoplifting.

A group representing 4,000 independent grocers is demanding that "repeat theft offenders" be made bail eligible, undoing part of the bail reform legislation - and addressing the fact that petty thieves tend not to be prosecuted. nypost.com


Retail Security Guards Instructed to Take Hands-Off Approach
Security guards at theft-plagued Walgreens stores 'not there to protect product'
Security guards at a theft-plagued pharmacy chain have been instructed not to confront the shoplifters when they walk out without paying, according to a Walgreens executive.

Walgreens, which operates 240 stores in the Big Apple, including Duane Reade, has been riddled by robberies to the point where the stores have had to put items like toothpaste behind lock and key. The chain hired unarmed guards and off-duty cops - but they haven't been much of a deterrent.

"[Security guards] are not there to protect the product," said Joseph Stein, director of asset protection solutions for Walgreen, during the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce "Anti-Crime Summit" on Thursday.

"They are there to de-escalate [a situation] and to protect the customer and the employees," he added.

Walgreens hires security guards from Allied Universal, Stein said, adding that the chain also hires off-duty police officers, "who have different powers" than the unarmed guards.

A Walgreens spokesman said in a statement, "The safety of our patients, customers and team members is our top priority. Allied Security, and any unarmed security professionals we employ are meant to serve as a deterrent."

"Lately, it seems to be a trend that, when a theft occurs in a store, security guards in the store are just supposed to watch it happen and wait for the cops to come (long after the thieves have left). I keep seeing these videos of someone unarmed just walking into an Apple store or Walmart or whatever, pocketing some phones, and just walking out without being stopped," wrote a Reddit user last month, sparking 179 responses. nypost.com


Mayor Adams Blames ORC for Uptick in Thefts
The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce's Inaugural Anti-Crime Summit - Thursday, Jan. 19 - 300 in-person Attendees - Reached Capacity

The adverse effects of crime are having a severe impact on the quality of life and safety of New Yorkers and visitors. We want to give voice to the concerns of business owners in Manhattan and help find solutions.

This half-day summit is being hosted by the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, together with other Manhattan-based organizations such as business improvement districts and civic associations.

The Mayor will provided introductory remarks which were followed by two panels: (1) a diverse array of business leaders giving voice to their issues; and, (2) government officials who are in a position to enact change and address concerns. In this way, we can present a unified approach and hope to educate people on the issues and help, in some small way, to brainstorm solutions and highlight key action items. manhattancc.org

   Adams blames uptick in thefts on 'organized crime' and cash-only weed stores

   https://www.crimesummit.org/


NYC Assemblyman Blames CVS & Victims For Recidivist Shoplifters at Crime Summit
NYPD chief Jeffrey Maddrey applauded for pushing back against pro-bail reform lawmaker
The audience at a Manhattan anti-crime summit burst into applause Thursday when a top police official pushed back against a state lawmaker who defended New York's controversial bail reform law and accused cops of not making enough arrests.

NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey appeared upset when Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-The Bronx) alleged that many cops "have the attitude" that bail reform would put anyone they busted right back on the streets.

When given a chance to fire back, Maddrey pointed to statistics about repeat offenders cited earlier by the moderator of their Manhattan Chamber of Commerce panel discussion.

"Respectfully, assemblyman...there would not be repeat offenders if the officers were not constantly arresting them," Maddrey said to applause.

"So...with all respect to you, I'm not gonna stand here with the notion that my cops are walking away and not making arrests. When we are constantly arresting the same people, I think it proves that we are."

At one point in his remarks, Dinowitz appeared to blame the victims of some recidivist shoplifters, saying, "I've met with owners in my district of CVS, for example, and they've been repeatedly victimized, and we know that. And I asked, and they have not necessarily taken the steps that they need to take, even though we know it costs money, and that's not really fair."

"Crime is higher than it was a few years ago...But we can't do what has to be done without resources for the police, for the DAs and to help people and keep them away from crime in the first place." nypost.com


Assemblyman Blames NYPD For Not Making Arrests Because of Catch & Release
In NY's 'conversation on crime,' progressives just refuse to listen
"There is nothing acceptable about individuals walking into stores, taking what they want, walking out and then, when they're arrested for the action, for people to say we are criminalizing the poor; no we're not," Mayor Eric Adams thundered last week. Sadly, though, that's precisely the mindset of the folks writing the laws in this state.

Indeed, at the same Manhattan Chamber of Commerce "Conversation on Crime" event, Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz (D-Bronx) actually blamed the NYPD for not arresting crooks because of the "attitude" that bail reform would put anyone they busted right back on the streets.

That prompted NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey to erupt: It's not that "my cops are walking away and not making arrests" but that "we are constantly arresting the same people," citing the evidence on repeat offenders - cue audience applause.

Progressive Democratic district attorneys, from Albany's David Soares to Staten Island's Michael McMahon, keep slamming the Legislature's recent "reforms" as ensuring that criminals won't pay a price even when caught.

But the lawmakers refuse to listen; they're going to push for more ill-conceived reforms this year, convinced they can bully Hochul into submission should she object.

Until Democratic moderates in the Legislature stand up to this madness, the revolving doors will only spin faster, mainly at the expense of the poor, communities of color, immigrants, women and young people. nypost.com


Soros Funded 75 Progressive Prosecutors Getting Elected
He's the Single-Largest Donor for Democrats Midterm Elections - $129 Million

George Soros spent $40M getting 'progressive' district attorneys, officials elected all over the country
75 prosecutors nationwide who were backed by Soros for their pro-criminal bents. After investing more than $40 million into this project, Soros-backed DAs (and their ideological allies) now represent at least one-fifth of Americans.

That $40 million is a drop in a bucket to the $32 billion that backs his political empire. But by focusing on key local races, Soros is having an outsize impact on people's lives.

Flipping a legislature and changing the law is a lot more daunting than just electing one person who refuses to enforce the law. In many cases, Soros' prosecutors decline to prosecute cases, toss charges or cut lax plea deals - bypassing the statutes on the books.

Policy failures that kill

If the philosophy of progressive policing as advertised really worked, that shifting attention away from lesser offenses would decrease more serious crimes, we wouldn't have seen the national crime wave that began in 2020 and has continued to this day, and it wouldn't be especially pronounced in the exact cities following this philosophy.

Soros has spent millions backing these extreme criminal justice philosophies, but neither he nor the prosecutors he has backed have any regrets about the increases in property crime, disorder or even murder.

The numbers of young men, particularly black and Hispanic young men, who have been murdered in places like Chicago, Philadelphia and Baltimore in the years since "Defund the police," "No bail" and "Raise the age" laws went into effect have skyrocketed. Have they no shame? nypost.com


TX Introduce Bills to Reign in or Boot Out Progressive DAs
Texas Republicans vow to crack down on 'rogue' prosecutors - here's why
Texas Republicans are targeting prosecutors who they say refuse to enforce laws against certain offenses - a move that could limit prosecutorial discretion and could force progressive district attorneys and county attorneys to get tougher on crime.

Identical bills introduced in the House and Senate would empower state Attorney General Ken Paxton to take civil action against a prosecutor who adopts a policy to limit the enforcement of any criminal offense. The legislation lets Paxton pursue a fine of $1,000 or more and to seek the prosecutor's removal from office. However, he would have no authority to pursue criminal action.

House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, began the legislative session last week by threatening to rein in "rogue" prosecutors, echoing comments he made from last fall. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also says he wants to limit prosecutorial discretion, and Gov. Greg Abbott says he wants to end certain bail practices and to adopt mandatory minimum sentences for offenses involving firearms and for smuggling immigrants. usatoday.com


San Francisco's Drug Abuse Crisis Shows No Signs of Abating
San Francisco's Mid-Market Post Pandemic is Empty Stores - Crime & Homelessness Fueled by the Drug Crisis
It's not just the lack of office workers that are plaguing Mid-Market businesses. Like others, Haas says that his biggest challenge is just getting customers to come to the neighborhood. With Market Street closed to traffic and little parking in the area, fewer and fewer customers want to brave walking the streets, especially at night.

In his opinion, the neighborhood's problems with crime and homelessness stem from a drug abuse crisis, which is being poorly handled. So far, he says, the solution has been to push people from street to street. "What's the plan?" He asks of our city officials.

Haas is a fourth-generation San Franciscan who opened the business in 2019, lured by the promise of heavy foot traffic from neighboring offices. Post-pandemic, he says he's never seen Mid-Market in such bad shape.

It's not just the lack of office workers that are plaguing Mid-Market businesses. Like others, Haas says that his biggest challenge is just getting customers to come to the neighborhood. With Market Street closed to traffic and little parking in the area, fewer and fewer customers want to brave walking the streets, especially at night.

The open-air drug market in front of his store persisted, and it took him six to eight months to get the drug dealers to move, with little help from the police. Where did the dealers relocate to? Down the block, to an empty storefront. sfexaminer.com


Social Media Fueled Atlanta Violent Protest
 - "Police killed a protester. Stand up. Fight back."

Violent protest in downtown Atlanta over killing of activist
A protest turned violent Saturday night in downtown Atlanta in the wake of this week's killing by law enforcement officers of an environmental activist who had shot a state trooper, according to officials.

Masked protesters dressed in black threw rocks and lit fireworks in front of a skyscraper that houses the Atlanta Police Foundation, shattering windows. They lit a police cruiser on fire, smashed more windows and vandalized walls with anti-police graffiti as stunned tourists scattered.

The violent protesters were a subsection of hundreds who had gathered and marched up Atlanta's famed Peachtree Street to mourn the death of the 26-year-old, a nonbinary person who went by the name Tortuguita and used they/it pronouns.

Tortuguita was killed Wednesday as authorities cleared a small group of protesters from the site of a planned public safety training center that activists have dubbed "Cop City."

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has said Tortuguita was killed by officers after shooting and injuring a state trooper, but activists have questioned officials' version of the events, calling the killing a "murder" and demanding an independent investigation.

According to the GBI, the incident was not recorded on body cameras. The bureau said Friday that it determined that the trooper was shot in the abdomen by a bullet from a handgun that was in Tortuguita's possession.

Word of Saturday's protest had been widely circulated on social media and among leftist activists; fliers were distributed that read: "Police killed a protester. Stand up. Fight back."

Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said during a news conference that authorities made six arrests Saturday and recovered explosive devices after protesters damaged property along Peachtree Street, a corridor of hotels and restaurants. He said authorities halted the violence within two blocks, and no citizens or law enforcement officers were injured.

The GBI said about 25 campsites were located and removed in Wednesday's raid, and mortar-style fireworks, edged weapons, pellet rifles, gas masks and a blow torch were recovered. latimes.com


America's Mass Shooting Epidemic Continues
10 Killed - 10 Injured - Suspect Dead After Latest Mass Shooting in California

Monterey Park, Calif. mass shooting: Gunman identified, confirmed dead
Ten people were killed, and another 10 were injured in a mass shooting late Saturday in Monterey Park following a Lunar New Year celebration that attracted thousands. According to authorities, at approximately 10:22 p.m., officers from the Monterey Park police department responded to a "shots fired" call at a dance studio in Monterey Park.

Preliminary information indicated the suspected gunman was an Asian male, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna at a news briefing Sunday. He said the dead included five females and five males. Sheriff Luna said he didn't have information on the victims' ages. He added that investigators were still trying to determine a possible motive.

Sources have confirmed to CBS News that the suspect has died. According to the sources, it appears the suspect shot and killed himself inside the van which was the subject of an armed standoff with Torrance police on Hawthorne and Sepulveda Boulevards, next to the Del Amo Mall.

Armored tanks - and a bomb squad - descended upon the white van in Torrance, Calif. before noon local time, in what became a more than hour-long standoff. Just before 1 p.m. local time, a SWAT team opened the passenger door of the vehicle, and then the side doors. Photos showed a man slumped over in the driver's seat. nypost.com cbsnews.com wsj.com


Chase Bank ATM's in NYC Closing early over 'rising crime' and 'vagrancy'
"You get a homeless person taking a crap or someone committing a crime, putting in a skimmer. It gets to be too much work," said John Weilbaker, president of NewYorkATM.com

Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, warned, "When a major bank like Chase is closing ATMs early or limiting access because of crime, it's about time that Albany acts. We know retail is getting crushed by crime and now banks are worried about their customers. Lax policies, dumb laws, DAs that don't prosecute, and incompetent politicians, are doing their best to usher in the 1990s." nypost.com


ORC's 'Most Wanted' List Makes Dozens of News Outlets Across the Country Saturday
Organized retail thieves' most-wanted list: Survey reveals which items are most likely to be stolen from stores
 

US: 103.8M Cases - 1.1M Dead - 100.9M Recovered
Worldwide: 673.3M Cases - 6.7M Dead - 644.9M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 362   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 828

 
The Tripledemic Threat Never Materialized
Covid, flu, RSV declining in hospitals as 'tripledemic' threat fades
Doctors braced for a dire winter - a looming disaster some dubbed a "tripledemic" - with flu season revving up, coronavirus roaring back and the holidays providing fuel for viruses to spread.

But no such surge materialized. The RSV wave has receded in Connecticut and across the country. Flu cases have rapidly dwindled. Covid hospitalizations rose briefly after Christmas, only to fall again.

"We are seeing the normal busy, but not the very busy that I thought we would see," said Juan Salazar, physician in chief at Connecticut Children's in Hartford. "I'm just so pleased we are now able to be back to normal staffing. Busy staffing, but not anything near to what we saw in the fall."

It turns out that early waves of respiratory syncytial virus and influenza peaked before the new year, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the expected winter uptick of coronavirus is nowhere close to overwhelming hospitals, as it did in 2021 when covid wards were filled with unvaccinated people struggling to breathe and last winter when the highly transmissible omicron variant ignited a massive wave of illness. washingtonpost.com


Remote Working Hitting Big Cities
D.C. Mayor to Biden: Your Teleworking Employees Are Killing My City

Washington has the highest work-from-home rate of any major city. With an empty downtown, the city faces a real risk of economic peril.

At the swearing-in this month for her third term as the District of Columbia's mayor, Muriel Bowser delivered a surprising inaugural-address ultimatum of sorts to the federal government: Get your employees back to in-person work - or else vacate your lifeless downtown office buildings so we can fill the city with people again.

Bowser's demand amounted to telling the boss of a lot of her constituents - a good chunk of whom appear to like remote work - to force staff back to the office.

Being a person who residents blame when they have to start commuting again - let alone being a blue-city Democrat who makes strange bedfellows with GOP ultras - is the sort of thing usually avoided by a pol skilled enough to win a landslide third term as mayor, as Bowser just did.

But the way the local government sees it, something has to give or else the city is in deep trouble. politico.com


China still grappling with COVID surge as Lunar New Year celebrations kick off

Ron DeSantis pushes for sweeping protections against COVID mandates in Florida

Pickets Coming Feb 4th & 22nd - How Close Are Your Stores? Collaboration is key
Are CVS and Walgreens prepared to be at the center of the abortion debate?
CVS and Walgreens have both begun the certification process to sell abortion pills under a new Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation that will allow the medication to be offered by retail pharmacies for the first time. Not unsurprisingly, the backlash has begun.

Anti-abortion groups are calling on people to protest and boycott their local CVS or Walgreens locations in response to the companies' plans to seek approval to dispense mifepristone, which is used with misoprostol to induce an abortion.

Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising is organizing picketing outside of CVS and Walgreens locations in over a dozen cities, including Washington, D.C., Detroit, and Akron, Ohio, on Feb. 4 in hopes of reversing the companies' plans to carry abortion medication, a method that accounted for roughly half of all abortions in the U.S. in 2021.

Faith-based 40 Days for Life has also announced plans to hold vigils and demonstrations at CVS and Walgreens locations across the country beginning Feb. 22, including areas where abortion providers might have closed their doors due to restrictive state laws.

We want people to be uncomfortable going into a CVS that has a demonstration going on and to consider going to a different pharmacy," Caroline Smith, a leader of the group Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, told Politico. "We also want to put enough pressure on the companies to retract this decision and not get certified to sell abortion pills."

Risks also include backlash from staff. A nurse practitioner in Texas recently filed a federal lawsuit against CVS after she was fired for refusing to prescribe birth control, citing her "Christian faith."  washingtonexaminer.com


Could Last Year's Baby Formula Shortage Been Avoided?

First of Four Whistleblower Complaints Warned FDA & Abbott 1 Yr. Before Deadly Baby Formula Outbreak
Last years deadly infant-formula bacteria outbreak - Abbott's recall & plant shut down impacted millions & Caused the shortage

Abbott Under Federal Criminal Investigation Over Deadly Baby Formula
The DOJ is investigating conduct at the Abbott Laboratories infant-formula plant in Sturgis, Mich., that led to its shutdown last year and worsened a nationwide formula shortage, and one of the biggest manufacturers of $4B baby formula industry (Similac, Alimentum and EleCare formulas).

Abbott Laboratories and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were notified about possible problems at an Abbott plant in Sturgis, Mich., in February 2021.

The revelation is potentially damaging in that it suggests officials knew about possible problems at the plant much earlier than previously known.

A whistleblower repeatedly warned, Abbott and the FDA of possible issues with the Sturgis plant in February 2021, a year before it was shut down, and in October 2021. The complaint said formula was being distributed without proof of safety and that some equipment involved in producing it needed to be fixed.

FDA inspection on January 31, 2022, found evidence of unsanitary conditions at the plant and that multiple strains of bacteria that can be deadly to infants were present in the facility.

Abbott's internal records indicated environmental contamination with cronobacter and that the company had destroyed product due to its presence, an FDA review found.

Abbott spokeswoman said to the Wall Street Journal that the four complaints came between September 2021 and January 2022. wsj.com wsj.com thehill.com

Editor's Note: If the DOJ consumer protection group finds a smoking gun, somebody's going to jail. Just like the Peanut Corporation of America CEO who got 28 years in prison - the stiffest sentence ever in a food safety case.


Consensus: Something will be Enacted
How Should Employers Respond to Proposal to Ban Noncompete Agreements?
Backlash to the rule has begun. Some experts argue that the agency has overstepped its authority, while others say the agreements are an important tool in fostering innovation and preserving competition.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)-which is preparing a formal comment for submission to the FTC-believes the agency should differentiate between agreements designed to limit labor market mobility and those designed to protect confidential trade secrets or strategic planning.

"The broadly drafted regulation would jeopardize the ability of HR practitioners to require the repayment of education or training benefits; it would also endanger the use of nondisclosure and nonsolicitation clauses," SHRM said.

If adopted, it would not become effective for at least 240 days, and then it is likely to be met with legal challenges. But experts say that whether the rule is adopted or not, employers should be prepared to act on the issue this year.

"And after the recent FTC enforcement actions, companies should think carefully about whom they give noncompetes to," he said. "Revisit your use of noncompetes to see if they are necessary. Ask yourself, 'Is the noncompete necessary to protect legitimate business interests?' Can you protect yourself with a less burdensome covenant, such as a customer nonsolicit or a confidentiality agreement?"

The FTC is accepting public comments through March 6. shrm.org

Read How a Non-Compete Ban Impacts IP Theft - Top Article in the 'The Future of LP' column below


Workplace Discrimination & AI
Artificial Intelligence Takes Center Stage at EEOC
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released draft its new Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP), outlining its priorities in tackling workplace discrimination the next four years.

The playbook, published in the Federal Register in January, indicates that the agency will be on the lookout for discrimination caused by artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

According to the EEOC, technology that can result in discrimination may include:

• Software that incorporates algorithmic decision-making or machine learning.
• Automated recruitment, selection, or production and performance management tools.
• Other existing or emerging technological tools used in employment decisions. shrm.org


Facebook Offices & Amazon Tower Offices Pulling Out of Downtown Seattle
Nike is closing a flag ship in downtown as well. And parts of downtown can still sometimes feel like the set for a zombie film, with sparse crowds, vacant storefronts and, lately, a lot of downbeat news.

Five Below to open 200+ stores & convert 400 to higher-price format

Target to open 23 stores in 2023

Dollar Stores Are the 'Fastest-Growing' Food Retailers In US, Study Finds

Discount Retailer Tuesday Morning Nears Another Bankruptcy
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

Director, Security Operations job posted for Veritone
As a Director, Security Operations you'll lead a group focused on building, maintaining, and operating an integrated and cross-functional NOC / SOC to support Veritone's employees and customers worldwide. You'll be responsible for strategic planning and day-to-day operational oversight of Security Operations' products and services, creating and maturing processes, and driving innovation in the cybersecurity space across Veritone. veritone.com
 

Last week's #1 article --

Deadly Kroger Shooting: The Security Impact
Columbus Kroger shooting impacting shoppers and those in private security
Scary moments for customers and workers at a west side Kroger as gunfire rang out in the supermarket. Police are investigating after they said a security officer shot and killed 26-year-old Paris Royal during an altercation Sunday about 6:45 p.m.

Dean Boerger trains security officers through his company Strategic Training Group. Boerger tells us the case will likely have an impact on those in the profession. "Nobody wants to take anybody's life or be in that kind of situation where they have to make that kind of decision," said Boerger.

"I think it has a big impact on whether other security officers feel that they may be prepared for that kind of a situation, able to handle that kind of situation appropriately and effectively," said Boerger.

Boerger said the incident points to the need to increase the 20-hour course required for security officers to carry a firearm. With more gun violence, Boerger said security officers are on heightened awareness. abc6onyourside.com

Insider Risks Could Multiple As IP Theft Becomes Easier With Non-Compete Ban
How Would the FTC Rule on Noncompetes Affect Data Security?

Without noncompetes, how do organizations make sure employees aren't taking intellectual property when they go to work for a competitor?

Jadee Hanson, CIO and CISO, Code42: The Federal Trade Commission's proposed rule grants employees well-deserved autonomy regarding where they work, and when. However, it also complicates the relationship between employer and employee when it comes to data ownership, and security teams need to be aware that, if passed, their employees could easily leave their company for a competitor, with sensitive data and intellectual property (IP) in tow.

One reason noncompetes exist is to keep company data and intellectual property from leaking to competitors. It's easy to verify when a former employee takes a new position with a competitor, but not so easy to know if that employee took company data with them. I would argue that companies should not be relying solely on noncompete agreements to keep their valuable IP safe - but their potential ban makes it even more important to have the proper data security in place.

Organizations should incorporate technologies and processes that can identify risky file movements without inhibiting the organization's collaborative culture and employee productivity. They need technology that can see movement across a variety of cloud applications, automate security alerts, and prioritize insider risk concerns. Today, data is highly portable, and users are doing their jobs off the company network - greatly decreasing security's visibility into file movements.

In particular, insider risk management tools allow you to monitor, filter, and prioritize risk events, detecting when files are moving to noncorporate locations, including personal devices and cloud storage solutions.

This being said, it's not solely about the tools. Security and HR teams should also be sure to define formal onboarding and offboarding policies for employees, proper data handling training, and processes to address insider risks as they are found. A good security culture starts with a security team that is willing to empower the entire organization to get its job done. Using a "trust but verify" approach allows leaders to facilitate positive, trusting relationships with employees, using monitoring tools to ensure they're only intervening when it's absolutely necessary. darkreading.com

5 Breaches in 5 Years Makes One Wonder - Insider Help or 3rd Party Weakness?
T-Mobile's $150 Million Security Plan Isn't Cutting It

The mobile operator just suffered at least its fifth data breach since 2018, despite promising to spend a fortune shoring up its systems.

T-Mobile is one of the US's largest mobile carriers and is estimated to have more than 100 million customers. But in the past 10 years, the company has developed a reputation for suffering repeated data breaches alongside other security incidents. The company had a mega breach in 2021, two breaches in 2020, one in 2019, and another in 2018.

"It is also concerning that the criminals were in T-Mobile's system for more than a month before being discovered. This suggests T-Mobile's defenses do not utilize modern security monitoring and threat hunting teams, as you might expect to find in a large enterprise like a mobile network operator."

In July 2022, T-Mobile agreed to settle a class action suit about that breach in a deal that included $350 million to customers. At the time, the company also committed to a two-year, $150 million initiative to improve its digital security and data defenses.

The information involved in the new breach could be especially useful to attackers for SIM swap attacks, in which they take control of victims' phone numbers and then abuse the access to take over accounts, including by capturing two-factor authentication codes sent over SMS.

"The information stolen in this breach is ideal for SIM swapping attacks and other forms of identity theft," Sophos's Wisniewski says. wired.com


173,000 Tech Jobs Eliminated 13 Months
Tech layoffs are turning 'brutal.' More may be coming
The pace of the cuts, which began late last year, has hit big tech companies like Salesforce and Coinbase and startups, and has picked up in the first few weeks of 2023. More than 23,000 employees at more than 80 tech companies have been laid off in January alone, after a grim 2022 when more than 150,000 employees were let go, according to Layoffs.fyi.  sfexaminer.com

Editor's Note: Most of these tech co's added tens of thousands of jobs during the pandemic to deal with the numbers blowing up online. So, to a certain extent this is as much a market correction as it is signs of the overall economy. Just my opinion. - Gus Downing


Privacy Fines: GDPR Sanctions in the EU Last Year Surged to $3 Billion

Olympia, WA: Theft Suspect Has Stolen More Than $30,000 in Merchandise
A theft suspect, who was not identified, has been arrested on suspicion of 11 counts of first-degree theft, ending a streak of crimes that started in July 2022, according to Olympia police. Police announced the arrest on Jan. 19. Since July, the suspect allegedly stole more than $30,000 in merchandise from area retailers that sell sunglasses, according to police. In addition to the 11 counts of first-degree theft, the suspect also was booked on suspicion of one count of second-degree robbery and one count of organized retail theft.  chronline.com


Roxbury, NJ: Kohl's Shoplifting Suspects Had $10K in Stolen Goods
A response this week to a report of shoplifting at the Sucasunna Kohl's store resulted in the arrest of three suspects from Passaic County and the recovery of about $10,000 worth of stolen goods, according to the Roxbury Police Department. The incident began at about 2:43 p.m. on Jan. 17, said the department. It said police were called to the Kohl's store in the Roxbury Mall in reference to suspected shoplifting. "Upon arrival, officers encountered the two suspects leaving the store," police said. "A search of the suspect's vehicle revealed they were in possession of approximately $10,000 of merchandise from the Kohl's in Roxbury and surrounding towns." They said a third suspected shoplifter "fled the scene but was apprehended a short time later at the Wendy's on Route 10." Police said they arrested Yovana Valdiviego, 25, of Haledon, Jose Gonzalez, 25, of Paterson and Percy Eduardo Rojasllenque, 27, of Paterson.  tapinto.net


St Louis, MO: Armed robber steals cash, video games and more from St. Louis GameStop
An armed robber took off with a haul of cash, video games and video game consoles Friday afternoon from a St. Louis GameStop shortly before police arrested him. Orlando Perez, 35, is behind bars after the theft in the Tower Grove South neighborhood. The robbery happened shortly after the noon hour at the GameStop in the 3700 block of South Kingshighway Boulevard. Investigators say Perez entered the GameStop and waited for other customers to leave the store. Once they left, he pulled out a handgun and announced his intent for a robbery. The St. Louis Police Department says Perez took off with $250 in cash, in addition to an undisclosed number of video games, video game consoles and other goods. Police spotted Perez at Gravois Plaza, where he was found in possession of the stolen merchandise, in addition to methamphetamine. Prosecutors are expected to charge Perez with several felonies in the case, including first-degree robbery, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a controlled substance, per police. fox2now.com


Update: Tupelo, MS: Mississippi women arrested after the allegedly travel out-of-town to steal thousands from department store
Two Starkville women were arrested after officers said they tried to steal more than $2,000 in merchandise from a Tupelo department store. Officials with the Tupelo Police Department arrested Lacandria Elliot, 37, and Alexis White, 24, both of Starkville and charged them with felony shoplifting. On Jan. 16, 2023, at approximately 7 p.m., TPD was called to 1001 Barnes Crossing (Belk) for 2 shoplifters that had been detained by loss prevention. The suspects, later identified as Elliot and White, were alleged to have stolen over $2,100 in merchandise. An investigation led detectives to charge both suspects with Felony Shoplifting. On Jan. 18, Tupelo Municipal Court Judge Weir set bond at $10,000 each. This case will be presented to the Lee County Grand Jury. magnoliastatelive.com


Menifee, CA: Target store fire reportedly set as diversion for theft
A fire inside the Target store in Countryside Marketplace was apparently set as a diversion for theft, police said. Police and firefighters responded about 7:30 a.m. Sunday to the store, which had recently opened for business, according to Menifee PD. Store employees and the sprinkler system quickly extinguished the fire, which burned some clothes in the Men's Department. Witnesses reported hearing an explosion in the area, followed by the fire. An investigation and check of the store video surveillance system indicated that a suspect set off fireworks, apparently as a diversion to steal items from the electronics department. The suspect, who remains at large. Firefighters cleaned up the scene in about 30 minutes but reported heavy water damage.  menifee247.com


Kent, WA: After break-in, video game store is back in business within a week
Early on the morning of Jan. 14, two thieves hit four separate retail outlets in Kent, Wash., by backing a stolen Audi SUV through their front doors. This included GameBound, an independently-operated, locally-owned store that specializes in "everything that is geek and nerdy." A week later, GameBound was back in business, using the break-in to reorganize and come back "even better." It was the first robbery at the Seattle-area store since owner Kiet Pham opened it in 2017. "I thought I had everything down, to the security, the cameras, the sensor, the bars," Pham told GeekWire. "My store was heavily secured and gated. The one thing I couldn't plan for was the car." The thieves stole multiple games and consoles from GameBound, in addition to inflicting what Pham estimates to be roughly $22,000 in damage. The thieves also hit a GameStop, an Xfinity outlet, and an eyeglasses store over the course of the night, using the same SUV.  geekwire.com


Convicted shoplifter gets 6-year sentence with only 1.5 years behind bars
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) - A serial shoplifter will spend the next 1.5 years behind bars. He was sentenced for stealing more than $10,000 worth of merchandise.

Marcos Concepcion was in court Friday afternoon. He pleaded guilty to felony shoplifting for stealing from Target stores multiple times over an eight-month span in 2021. Ultimately, the judge decided to sentence him to 6 years: 1.5 years locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Center and 4.5 years on probation. krqe.com


Roswell, GA: Thief smashes into Roswell trading card store, steals $15K worth of cards

West Lampeter Township, PA: Police seek men who stole $6,700 worth of iPhones, iPads from AT&T and T-Mobile stores in Lancaster County