Dollar General Safety Violations Continue to Pile Up
180+ Investigations Have Resulted in More Than $15M in Fines

Blocked Emergency Exits and 'Dangerous' Fire Hazards: Dollar General again found in violation of federal workplace safety standards

The inspection is one of more than 180 investigations where OSHA has found Dollar General to be jeopardizing worker safety, the DOL said.

Dollar General has again been found in violation of federal workplace safety regulations for "willfully exposing" staff to fire hazards at a Pennsylvania store, the Department of Labor said Friday.

Investigators found "dangerous safety hazards," including blocked emergency exit routes and electrical panels, at a Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, store during a November inspection that was sparked by a complaint made to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The hazards were similar to violations found at other stores operated by the discounter throughout the U.S., and the inspection is one of more than 180 investigations in which OSHA has found Dollar General to be jeopardizing worker safety, the DOL said.

The company, which operates roughly 18,000 stores across the country and employs more than 150,000 workers, has been fined $15 million for safety violations since 2017 and "continues to defy federal workplace safety requirements" despite repeated penalties, the agency said.

"Exposing employees to these hazards can be dangerous, especially in an emergency," OSHA Area Director Mary Reynolds said in a statement. "Dollar General Corp. has a substantial history of the same violations and hazards found at stores all around the U.S. They must end their repeated failures to correct these violations before an emergency turns tragic."

Just last week, OSHA said Dollar General was in settlement talks with federal regulators after the retailer was labeled a "severe violator" of workplace safety rules. Dollar General was the first company to be added to the "severe violators" list last fall after OSHA expanded the reach of one of its longstanding safety enforcement programs. cnbc.com  retaildive.com


RFID's Retail Expansion Continues
The tech is becoming a top priority for retailers in 2023 and 2024

Uniqlo's Parent Company Bets Big on Tiny RFID Chips

Next-generation self-checkout machines are part of a broader effort to improve the supply chain with radio technology, Fast Retailing CIO Takahiro Tambara says

At Uniqlo's Fifth Avenue store in New York, shoppers can checkout simply by placing their goods in gleaming bins of automated stations. Unlike the self-checkout process at many stores, customers of the casual apparel retailer don't need to scan individual items or look up prices on a screen-they can simply drop their items in a bin and pay.

This next-generation process is powered by radio frequency identification readers inside the checkout machines, which automatically read hidden RFID chips embedded in price tags.

Mr. Tambara said the self-checkout machines are part of a broader effort to improve Uniqlo's supply chain with RFID. All Fast Retailing brands, including Theory and Helmut Lang, began embedding RFID chips into their price tags in 2017-allowing the retailer to track individual items from its factories to warehouses and inside stores. That data is critical for Uniqlo in improving the accuracy of inventory in stores, adjusting production based on demand, and getting more visibility into its supply chain, the company said.

Newer and cheaper RFID chips, reader hardware, and software are enabling retailers such as Uniqlo to implement the technology at lower cost and with more precision, said Praveen Adhi, a senior partner at McKinsey & Co. who leads the consulting firm's retail-operations practice in the Americas. The cost of RFID tags has fallen from as high as 60 cents a tag a few decades ago to about 4 cents a tag, and reader hardware has improved in range and accuracy, he said.

Uniqlo said that RFID has resulted in "significant reduction in out-of-stock" items on the sales floor, and that it has contributed to "reducing lost opportunities and improving customer satisfaction."

While the most common use case for RFID is improving inventory management, the use of RFID at self-checkout machines is gaining traction as more apparel retailers explore ways to apply the technology once their merchandise has been tagged. For the majority of apparel brands, implementing RFID "will be on their 2023 or 2024 agenda," Mr. Adhi said.  wsj.com


'Stop the Merger': Kroger-Albertsons Merger Protests
Workers nationwide protest proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger

Employees at dozens of stores run by the retailers participated last week in a nationwide effort to call on regulators to block the planned deal.

Local unions under the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) hosted protests last week across the U.S. against the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger under a coordinated effort led by Stop the Merger, a group of more than 100 organizations opposing the merger.

Last Monday, Stop the Merger said grocery store workers from seven UFCW unions, which represent over 100,000 Kroger and Albertsons workers in 12 states and Washington, D.C., would hold actions in front of stores during the week.

Workers at 34 stores under the Kroger and Albertsons banners across Washington, West Virginia, California, Virginia and Washington, D.C. participated in the protests, per Stop the Merger's website. Stop the Merger said in an email it gave away 5,000 "Stop the Merger" reusable grocery bags to shoppers in front of 65 King Soopers and Safeway stores in the Denver metro area on Friday.

The Stop the Merger group, which is calling on the Federal Trade Commission to block the deal from moving forward, claims that the merger would create a monopoly in many areas across the country, including Colorado and Wyoming, job loss for grocery workers, higher food prices and financial hardship for farmers and suppliers. grocerydive.com


'Fair Chance Act' Would Ban Most Employer Background Checks
California bill would ban most criminal background checks

Fair chance laws seek to reduce the barriers that formerly incarcerated individuals encounter trying to get a job.

A California bill under consideration in the state senate would ban most private employers from seeking a background check into a job candidate's conviction history.

If enacted, the Fair Chance Act of 2023 (SB 809) would allow employers to seek a job applicant's conviction history report only in three circumstances: federal or state law or federal regulation requires an employer to obtain the information; federal or state law prohibits an individual with a particular conviction history from holding the position sought, regardless of whether the conviction has been expunged, sealed or dismissed; or federal or state law prohibits an applicant with that particular conviction from being hired. In addition, SB 809 would prohibit employers from rejecting an applicant because of their conviction history without first conducting an individualized assessment as to whether their conviction history has a "direct and adverse" relationship to the job.

The bill would also expand the number of employment practices deemed unlawful, including ending an interview, rejecting an application or otherwise terminating the application process based on conviction history information the applicant provides or the employer learns from another source. SB 809's proposed changes "would more or less upend the ordinary hiring process for just about every employer in California," Littler attorneys Alice Wang and Rod M. Fliegel wrote in a March 27 post. hrdive.com


McDonald's to lay off hundreds as burger giant restructures company, source says

McDonald's is closing its field offices in the U.S. as it moves to a national model

Shoe City files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy


Quarterly Results

Albertson's Q4 identical sales up 5.6%, digital up 16%, FY identical sales up 6.9%, digital up 28%

Car Max Q4 net revenue down 25.6%, Retail used units down 12.6%, FY net revenue down 6.9%
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

Director I of Security job posted for Southern Glazer's in Aurora, CO
The Dir I, Security will provide a secure environment by developing physical and technical security programs. The Dir I, Security will implement security programs and procedures to protect company personnel, property and reputation. The Dir I, Security will ensure that security procedures are properly executed by employees. The Dir I, Security will conduct internal and external investigations to resolve theft, workplace violence and misconduct at company facilities. recruiting.southernglazers.com

Director, Data Security job posted for RingCentral in Belmont, CA
As part of the RingCentral CISO team, you will work across the organization to ensure data security is built into our products and business using modern practices and disciplines. This role can be located at any of our US-based corporate offices (Belmont CA, Denver CO, Dallas TX, Charlotte NC.) As the Director, Data Security you will be responsible for the identification, classification, protection and recovery of our most critical data assets. ringcentral.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
 

Last week's #1 article --

Major US mall closes after 43 years of business

Saks Fifth Avenue & More Hit by Ransomware Attacks
March ransomware disclosures spike behind Clop attacks

The Clop ransomware gang claimed responsibility for several disclosed ransomware attacks on major enterprises

The Clop ransomware group was busy last month, claiming responsibility for attacks against several prominent companies such as Rubrik, Saks Fifth Avenue and Procter & Gamble.

While the number of attacks increased slightly from February to March, which saw 22 total disclosures and confirmed attacks, many of the victims were related to Clop ransomware attacks that exploited a zero-day vulnerability in Fortra's GoAnywhere managed file transfer software.

First observed in 2019, the Russian-linked ransomware group has been known for double extortion tactics that it used in an attack against German-based Software AG in 2020. Unlike past activity, the group did not appear to deploy ransomware or encrypt data in the GoAnywhere attacks, which highlights an evolution in ransomware extortion tactics. Instead, operators behind Clop relied on its public data leak site to pressure victims into paying.

Hatch Bank and Rubrik were two of the first victims to confirm that they suffered a ransomware attack earlier last month related to the Fortra GoAnywhere zero-day vulnerability. The cybersecurity vendor's disclosure came right after Clop added Rubrik to its extortion site.

Since then, many more high-profile companies disclosed attacks stemming from the Fortra zero-day flaw. While none of the victims reported that its data or systems had been encrypted, the attacks led to the thefts of sensitive data. Other victims that have issued public disclosures include Tennessee-based Community Health Systems, U.S. Wellness, Blue Shield of California, Saks Fifth Avenue and Procter & Gamble. However, threat researchers have reviewed Clop's data leak site, which shows many more big-name victims.

The LockBit ransomware group also took credit for a March 6 attack against Staples-owned office wholesale distributor Essendant. In a security incident statement, which has been continually updated, Essendant said an investigation determined that the outage resulted from a ransomware attack that disrupted certain systems and operations. techtarget.com


ChatGPT & Other AI Regulations Coming?
Fears grow over possible use of AI to commit crimes

Biden Administration Weighs Possible Rules for AI Tools Like ChatGPT

Fears grow over the potential use of artificial intelligence to commit crimes and spread falsehoods

The Biden administration has begun examining whether checks need to be placed on artificial-intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, amid growing concerns that the technology could be used to discriminate or spread harmful information.

In a first step toward potential regulation, the Commerce Department on Tuesday put out a formal public request for comment on what it called accountability measures, including whether potentially risky new AI models should go through a certification process before they are released.

The administration's action comes amid a boom in the use of artificial-intelligence tools that can quickly generate humanlike writing, images, videos and more. ChatGPT, the chatbot from Microsoft Corp. startup OpenAI, has been estimated by some analysts to have reached 100 million users faster than any consumer app in history.

"It is amazing to see what these tools can do even in their relative infancy," said Alan Davidson, who leads the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Commerce Department agency that put out the request for comment. "We know that we need to put some guardrails in place to make sure that they are being used responsibly."

The comments, which will be accepted over the next 60 days, will be used to help formulate advice to U.S. policy makers about how to approach AI, Mr. Davidson said. He added that his agency's legal mandate involves advising the president on tech policy, rather than writing or enforcing regulations. wsj.com


'Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit'
Microsoft leads effort to disrupt illicit use of Cobalt Strike, a dangerous hacking tool in the wrong hands

The action against illicit versions of legitimate Cobalt Strike applications represents the culmination of a year-long investigation.

Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit, cybersecurity firm Fortra and the Health Information Sharing & Analysis Center announced legal action Thursday to seize domains related to criminal activity involving cracked copies of the security testing application Cobalt Strike, which has become a favorite tool for cybercriminals to carry out attacks around the world.

Cobalt Strike, an adversary emulation tool that information security professionals use to evaluate network and system defenses to enable better security, like other legitimate hacking tools, is regularly abused by cybercriminals as part of attacks ranging from financially motived cybercrime to high-end state-aligned attacks.

Fortra, the maker of Cobalt Strike, works to prevent Cobalt Strike getting into the hands malicious hackers, but manipulated versions of the software have inevitably proliferated online. Thursday's action attempts to disrupt the use of these cracked, older versions of Cobalt Strike that cybercriminals widely use to carry out attacks, especially to deploy ransomware.

"If you identify their preferred method of attack and make it no longer usable that's a good thing," said Amy Hogan-Burney, Microsoft's general manager for cybersecurity policy and protection.

The court order names a range of entities and groups the companies allege misuse their technologies, including the LockBit and Conti ransomware groups and a series of cybercrime operations tracked by Microsoft under various designations. In a 223-page complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York, the companies detail known IP addresses associated with the criminal activity, along with the range of domain names utilized by the criminal groups. cyberscoop.com


Selling App-Takeover Tools & Malicious Wares on the Dark Web
Apps for Sale: Cybercriminals Sell Android Hacks for Up to $20K a Pop

The marketplace for malicious Google Play applications and app-takeover tools is thriving, thanks to novel hacking techniques and lax enterprise security.

Cybercriminals are finding ways around the official Google Play app store's security, developing tools for trojanizing existing Android applications and selling their malicious wares for up to $20,000 a piece on cybercrime markets.

In an April 10 blog post, researchers from Kaspersky published the results of a broad study of nine of the most popular Dark Web forums. Tracking activity from 2019 and 2023, they found a thriving marketplace of buyers and sellers trading access to app developer accounts, botnets, and malicious Android applications, sometimes for thousands of dollars at a time.

In some cases, particularly useful wares - like source code that can burrow you into an existing cryptocurrency or dating app on Google Play - are going for multiple thousands of dollars.

"It's an infinite cat and mouse game," Kaspersky researcher Georgy Kucherin says of Google's app security. "The attackers find a way to bypass security scanners. Then the people developing the security scanners deploy patches to ensure that doesn't happen again. Then the attackers find new flaws. And it goes on and on." darkreading.com


FBI says you should avoid public USB stations if you don't want malware on your phone

Pair of Apple Zero-Days Under Active Exploit; Patch & Update Accordingly

Tallahassee, FL: Attorney General Moody, Sheriff Judd and FDLE Shut Down Organized Retail Theft Ring Spanning 16 Counties
Attorney General Ashley Moody, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement shut down a major organized retail theft operation that spanned 16 counties. An investigation by Attorney General Moody's Office of Statewide Prosecution, the Polk County Sheriff's Office and FDLE found that an organized retail crime ring caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses to Home Depot. Attorney General Moody's Statewide Prosecutors are charging six defendants with felony counts of grand theft.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, "The suspects in this case went to great lengths and long distances to execute this elaborate construction rental scheme-stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in heavy construction equipment. They thought they were being clever by using stolen identities and smashing the GPS trackers on the equipment, but it wasn't enough to outsmart Sheriff Judd's deputies, FDLE and my Statewide Prosecutors."

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said, "We appreciate the hard work and cooperation from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and Attorney General Ashley Moody's Office of Statewide Prosecution-because of the multi-county theft and fraud that occurred in this case, we could not have held these thieves accountable without their state-wide resources. Retail theft is a serious problem in Florida. It drives up the cost of goods and we all suffer through higher prices. These brazen thieves made a living systematically stealing. They made the mistake of stealing in Polk County-our detectives are among the best in the nation investigating organized retail theft. We will absolutely hold them accountable and put their butts in jail and then prison."

Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass said, "Organized retail theft has real-life impacts on our hard-working citizens who pay more for goods because of theft. I appreciate FDLE's Orlando Regional Operations Center special agents and analysts that worked to recover a portion of the stolen property. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, in partnership with Attorney General Moody's Office of Statewide Prosecution and the Polk County Sheriff's Office, will continue to fight these crimes."  einnews.com


Chicago, IL: Police Bust Illegal Pharmaceutical Fencing Ring, Recover $1.3 Million in Goods
The Chicago Police Department's Organized Retail Crime Task Force recently announced the conclusion of a 13-month investigation that focused on the illegal fencing of stolen pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter merchandise. Four offenders have been charged, and more than $1.3 million worth of products have been recovered. The investigation was the result of the collaboration between the CPD, led by the Organized Retail Crime Task Force, the United States Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, private retail investigators, The Cook County Regional Organized Crime Task Force & Illinois Department of Revenue. The investigation revealed that the pharmaceutical and over-the-counter products were stolen from various retail stores and later sold for cash profit to individuals who would then resell and ship approximately $2 million worth of stolen merchandise out-of-state each month. All four offenders are facing felony theft charges, and three of them have also been charged with felony continuing financial crimes enterprise. One of the offenders also faces felony narcotics charges. The Chicago Police Department's Organized Retail Crime Task Force has been working diligently since its launch about 15 months ago. Since then, the task force has cleared more than 200 cases with arrests and recovered more than $4 million in stolen merchandise. countryherald.com


Coconut Creek, FL: Act over for 'magician' stealing jewelry from South Florida Kohl's stores
A man was put behind bars after police accused him of distracting workers at South Florida Kohl's stores and swapping pricey jewelry for fakes. Angelo Strano, 43, is suspected of targeting other Kohl's stores in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. Using a distraction method, he would ask for expensive items at the jewelry counter in each store and swap those items with fake ones, police said. They said he would then walk out of the store with the real jewelry. In March, Coconut Creek police arrested Strano after they said he tried to target the chain store's location there. Police spokesperson Scotty Leamon said Strano would use sleight-of-hand to steal from stores, likening him to a "magician." Strano, who was out on bond as of Monday, has a lengthy criminal history.  local10.com


Fort Lauderdale, FL: Macy's, North Face Robberies Highlight Aggressive Shoplifting Epidemic
Violent encounters between increasingly aggressive shoplifters and loss prevention staff at retail stores continue to be a problem, as was evidenced last week in an incident at a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-area Macy's. Shortly after 11 p.m., last Tuesday, police responded to reports of shoplifters fleeing after having ransacked items in the store and when approached by Macy's staff, allegedly pepper-sprayed the employee before fleeing to the parking lot, according to WPLG TV in Fort Lauderdale. According to Broward County court records, police began following a 2019 white Lexus in a chase that picked up speed after cops turned on sirens. The Lexus then crashed into a 2016 Kia Soul, resulting in minor injuries suffered by its occupants. The driver, Armani Green, 21, and a 17-year-old minor fled the Lexus on foot, according to police reports. Green gave himself up in a canal just off the road, while the minor ran into a line of shrubs in an attempt to hide before the responding officer's K9 partner subdued the suspect. The minor was taken to the hospital and cleared for injuries resulting from the dog bite before both were processed at the Lauderhill PD. According to media reports, there was a third person in the vehicle who was not charged.  yahoo.com


Atlanta, GA: Phipps Plaza Saks Fifth Avenue smash-and-grab: $90,000 in watches gone in seconds

San Paulo, CA: 2 accused of robbing man of $45K Rolex watch outside San Pablo jewelry store

Macon, GA: Burglars at Howard's Pawn and Jewelry take around 60 firearms

North Greenbush, NY: Mother and her child are arrested, charged with theft from Ulta Beauty

Utica, NY: Lewis County man accused of stealing nearly $1,800 worth of merchandise from north Utica Walmart

Albany, NY: Vermont man accused of multiple shoplifting cases totaling over $1,000 at Lowe's