NYC's 'Shoplifting Black Market' is Thriving While Businesses Suffer
Opinion: Thank pro-crime lawmakers for NYC's $4.4B shoplifting black market
Progressives' crusade to go easy on "minor" crimes has proved a bonanza for major criminal enterprises. Here in New York, a Post investigation has revealed, "mercy" for shoplifters opened to door to a multibillion-dollar black market whose kingpins now order up goods for theft by addicts and other "petty" thieves.

The thieves at every level pad their pockets; honest businesses get screwed and customers pay the price in the form of higher costs for products and demoralizing shopping experiences.

Meanwhile, lefties like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pretend shoplifters are merely the desperate poor just trying to survive. No matter that the shoplifting boom has resulted in stores to locking up essentials, forcing costumers to wait endlessly to access toothpaste, deodorant or even baby formula.

But businesses have no choice: The alternative is shelves emptied by the crooks.

The Democrats who run the state Senate and Assembly last year refused to pass measures to beef up penalties for repeat offenders and those who assault retail workers; will they this year block Gov. Hochul's $40 million plan to crackdown on this sprawling underground economy?

To be clear, the gov's given up (at least for now) on getting the Legislature to fix the rotten bail laws that create the "anything goes" environment these crime rings thrive in. She's only out to penalize online platforms that allow the sale of stolen goods and set aside $25 million for a specialized shoplifting State Police unit.

Should the progressives block even that, we'll start looking to see if the black-marketeers have hired their own Albany lobbyists, and/or bundling campaign donations for the likes of crime-loving state Sen. Mike Gianaris (D-Queens).

If lawmakers don't start reversing course, soon the business of crime will be the only business that thrives in New York. nypost.com


Collaboration Key to Fighting Global ORC Surge
Milpitas, CA: Officials say collaboration is key to preventing retail theft

Police chief: Uptick in crime results in store closures, rising prices

Recognizing that theft and organized retail crime have become global issues, Milpitas Vice Mayor Evelyn Chua organized a community forum on retail theft prevention on March 21 to give residents and business owners insight into what's being done locally to abate these crimes.

"By fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing, we can collectively strengthen the Milpitas community's resilience against retail theft," Chua told the 70-plus attendees at the forum, held at the Milpitas Season's Marketplace.

The forum was intended to empower individuals and businesses with strategies to identify, prevent and respond effectively to instances of theft. It provided a platform to share current statistics on retail crimes and best practices for prevention, and to inform businesses and shoppers of the specifics of the city's and the Santa Clara County District Attorney Office's focus and actions.

Milpitas Police Chief Jared Hernandez emphasized how retail theft affects the entire community and not only the business owners but because stores closing and rising prices are direct consequences of the uptick in this crime. He said the police department is taking a threefold approach with effective crime prevention, deterrence and enforcement.

Hernandez reported a city-wide decrease in larceny/theft and property crimes from 2022 to 2023, the former dropping from 2,067 to 1,1997 incidents and the latter from 2,789 to 2,557. He said the decrease is likely higher, as the department changed its reporting system in October 2022.

Milpitas Police Sgt. Peter Tachis shared strategies for retailers to prevent organized retail crime and protect their businesses, including installing and monitoring surveillance systems, leveraging data analytics and Artificial Intelligence, collaborating with other business owners and with law enforcement, and hosting targeted training for employees. mercurynews.com


Progressives Walking Tightrope Over How to Deal With Retail Crime Surge 
Why California Democrats are divided on retail theft bill
Legislators may be off for spring recess, but debates about their bills are still happening outside committee rooms. One spicy intra-party exchange between Democratic Assemblymembers focuses on a measure about retail theft - underscoring the difficult balance for lawmakers responding to public concerns about crime, while not over-policing historically targeted communities.

Los Angeles Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, vice chairperson of the Legislative Progressive Caucus, introduced Assembly Bill 1990, which would allow police officers to make warrantless arrests for misdemeanor shoplifting offenses (as in, items that total $950 or less) if officers have probable cause. Officers do not need to be present when the crime occurred.

The bill has bipartisan support with the backing of Assemblymember Juan Alanis, a Republican from Modesto and vice chairperson of the Public Safety Committee. In a statement, Carrillo said that by "increasing enforcement against suspected shoplifters, we are sending a clear message: we will not tolerate these acts that threaten our public safety and economic vitality."

But Inglewood Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, a fellow progressive caucus member, urged lawmakers to reject the bill, saying on social media that it was "bad for black and brown folks."

Carrillo pushed back, however, arguing that her bill "is committed to fairness, equity, and the protection of all individuals' rights, regardless of race or background."

The debate is emblematic of the tightrope progressive lawmakers attempt to walk on public safety. And it's an issue that Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, chairperson of the Public Safety Committee, will have to navigate as Carrillo's bill heads to the committee.  calmatters.org


'Strategic Cargo Thefts' Surge in the U.S.
"The trends tell us that cargo theft is currently at a 10-year high"

Cargo thefts spiked 68% in Q4, led by food and beverage freight

Security experts see strategic cargo thefts soaring across US

Cargo thefts surged 68% year over year (y/y) in the fourth-quarter of 2023 compared with 2022, according to CargoNet, a subsidiary of data analytics firm Verisk. During the third quarter of 2023, cargo thefts were up 57% y/y compared to the same year-ago period.

"The trends tell us that cargo theft is currently at a 10-year high," Scott Cornell, transportation lead and crime and theft specialist at Travelers, told FreightWaves. "So far, the numbers for the beginning of 2024 are projecting that 2024 will have higher theft numbers than 2023, which had higher numbers than 2022."

Cornell said they are seeing higher incidences of strategic cargo theft, which involves fraudsters using stolen motor carrier operating authorities or logistics broker identities to obtain freight and misdirect it from the intended receiver in order to steal it.

"Strategic theft is when they use various means to trick you into giving them the freight and that's through methods like identity theft, fictitious pickups, double brokering scams, those methods are where we're seeing the biggest increase in cargo thefts over the last 18 months," Cornell said.

Commodities such as food and beverage goods, electronics and household goods are top targets of thieves.

California, Texas, Florida, Georgia and Kentucky continue to be hotspots for cargo thefts, according to Danny Ramon, an intelligence and response manager at Overhaul, a real-time visibility and risk management platform based in Austin, Texas.  freightwaves.com


3 Strikes and You're Out? Not Anymore in Some Places
Maine House advances bill to end 3 strikes law for thefts

Republicans warned that removing a possible felony charge for a 3rd conviction would embolden organized retail crime, while Democrats say the policy is outdated, and that most theft crimes don't warrant a felony conviction.

A bill proposing to end Maine's three strikes law for thefts, which allows for felony charges on a third offense, cleared the House of Representatives on Monday.

Republicans said the bill would increase retail theft and smash-and-grab crimes, while Democrats argued that felony charges for petty thefts are extreme, and that a felony conviction for such crimes would make it more difficult for someone to find housing and employment.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. David Sinclair, D-Bath, would prohibit charging a person who already has at least two prior theft convictions with a Class C felony if the third theft is of property valued at $500 or less. Current law allows a felony charge for the third conviction if all three occur within a 10-year period.

"What this legislation does is seek to make sure that we are imposing the worst outcomes on those who actually commit the worst offenses," Sinclair said. "Someone who is labeled a felon after a felony conviction suffers lifelong outcomes. ... Petty theft - even repetitive petty theft - is not one of those worst offenses."

Republicans argued that removing the threat of a felony conviction for a third offense would only embolden thieves and encourage organized retail crime operations to target Maine stores. pressherald.com


'Roving Bands of Thieves' Hitting Stores & Shoppers
Utah: Theft gangs roaming St. George, Utah area, distracting and preying on shoppers, businesses

Supermarkets, jewelry stores and the elderly are frequent targets.

Roving bands of thieves are driving shoppers and business owners in Washington County to distraction and making them pay.

Police in several cities along the Interstate-15 corridor in southwest Utah say there's been a surge in activity from theft rings, some of them from foreign countries and some with gang ties, whose modus operandi is to distract and then steal from shoppers and shop owners. Thieves are also targeting cars in parking lots at churches, department stores and trailheads.

"We have really seen an uptick in theft," said St. George police spokeswoman Tiffany Mitchell. "Distraction theft and smash and grabs are some of the crimes we are seeing from [these] groups."  sltrib.com


Retail Workers Facing Violence & Abuse
Australia: NSW Govt Urges Respect for Retail Workers pre-Easter Rush
The NSW Government is reminding consumers to behave respectfully towards retail workers as shoppers and retailers prepare for the rush ahead of stores closing on Good Friday (March 29).

A 2023 survey of more than 4600 retail workers reported 87% of workers experienced verbal abuse from a customer, 12.5% reporting physical violence, and 52% reporting they had the same customer act abusive or violent on more than one occasion.

Workplace violence can be via a threat or action which causes either physical or psychological harm or injury. In the retail industry workplace, this includes intimidating behavior which creates a fear of violence such as verbal threats, throwing objects or shoving, spitting or other physical contact.

Retailers should have systems and policies in place to help staff respond when faced with violence and aggression from customers. miragenews.com

 
Overland Park, KS: Police say shoplifting is a 'crisis.' What does the data say?

Memorial being planned for one-year anniversary of Allen mall shooting
 

DOJ's Crackdown Against Hackers Continues
Chinese State-Sponsored Hackers Charged, Sanctions Levied by US

US & UK charge seven Chinese nationals for operating as part of threat group APT31.

The Department of Justice this week charged seven Chinese nationals with widespread cyber espionage against US businesses and politicians.

Aided by UK law enforcement in identifying the cybercriminals as affiliates of threat group APT31 this week, all seven are believed to reside in the People's Republic of China, according to the indictment. Likewise, on March 25, the Department of the Treasury unveiled sanctions against the shell company that runs APT31 and is funded by the PRC's Ministry of State Security (MSS) in Wuhan, China.

According to a statement from US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, the APT31 worldwide hacking campaign included more than 10,000 malicious emails and thousands of victims over more than 14 years.

"APT31 Group's practices further demonstrate the size and scope of the PRC's state-sponsored hacking apparatus," special agent in charge Robert W. "Wes" Wheeler Jr. of the FBI Chicago Field Office said, also in a statement.

Cybersecurity experts applauded the DoJ for taking action against the Chinese.

"It's high time the administration takes more aggressive action to suppress the overt colonization of American infrastructure by the PRC," says Tom Kellerman, senior vice president of cyber strategy at Contract Security. "We must stop playing defense. These sanctions are long overdue; however, I would love to see forfeiture of their Western assets."  darkreading.com


AI Integration Into Cybersecurity
Reinforcement learning is the path forward for AI integration into cybersecurity
AI's algorithms and machine learning can cull through immense volumes of data efficiently and in a relatively short amount of time. This is instrumental to helping network defenders sift through a never-ending supply of alerts and identify those that pose a possible threat (instead of false positives). Reinforcement learning underpins the benefit of AI to the cybersecurity ecosystem and is closest to how humans learn through experience and trial and error.

Unlike supervised learning, reinforcement learning focuses on how agents can learn from their own actions and feedback in an environment. The idea is that reinforcement learning will maximize its capabilities over time by using rewards and punishments to calculate positive and negative behavior. Enough information is collected to make the best decision in the future.

How reinforcement learning can help

AI capabilities help mitigate the threat posed by large social engineering, phishing, and spam campaigns by understanding and recognizing the kill chain of such attacks before they succeed. This is important given the security resource constraints most organizations experience, regardless of their size and budget.

More sophisticated dynamic attacks are a bigger challenge and, depending on the threat actor, may only be used a limited number of times before the attackers adjust or alter a part of the attack sequence. Here is where reinforcement learning can study the attack cycles and identify applicable patterns from previous attacks that have both failed and succeeded. The more exposed to sophisticated attacks and their varied iterations, the better-positioned reinforcement learning is positioned to identify them in real-time.

Granted, there will be a learning curve at the onset, especially if attackers frequently change how they pull off their attacks. But some part of the attack chain will remain, becoming a pertinent data point to drive the process. helpnetsecurity.com


Be Careful When Downloading Apps!
Apps secretly turning devices into proxy network nodes removed from Google Play
Your smartphone might be part of a proxy network, and you might not even know it: all it takes is for you to download apps whose developers have included the functionality and didn't mention it.

If that doesn't sound so bad, you should know that being part of a residential proxy network means that your device might be that "last mile" of a threat actor's traffic before they access a victim's environment.

Downloading mobile apps is something that most of us do regularly, but only security-savvy users know that that simple action carries many risks. helpnetsecurity.com


17,000+ Microsoft Exchange servers in Germany vulnerable to attack, BSI warns
Around 12% of the 45,000 or so Microsoft Exchange servers in Germany that can be accessed from the Internet without restrictions "are so outdated that security updates are no longer offered for them," the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) has warned today.

Also, around 25 percent of all those internet-facing servers run Exchange 2016 and 2019, but are not up-to-date with security patches.

Urgent action is needed: helpnetsecurity.com


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