Retailers Celebrate New York's New Protections Against ORC & Violence
Governor Hochul, Retail Workers and Small Business Owners Celebrate New Landmark Protections Against Organized Retail Theft
Governor Kathy Hochul today joined a coalition of frontline retail workers and small business owners to celebrate new protections against organized retail theft that were signed into law with the FY25 State Budget.

This comprehensive approach puts more power in the hands of law enforcement, prosecutors and business owners - targeting every area of vulnerability. The new protections include increased criminal penalties for anyone who assaults a retail worker elevating it from a misdemeanor to a felony, and includes a $5 million tax credit to help small business owners invest in added security measures.

Governor Hochul's focus on organized retail theft comes as crime data shows a significant spike in these crimes over the past six years. Larceny offenses in New York City have spiked by 51 percent between 2017 and 2023. Robberies, grand larceny and petit larceny in New York City are up by 86 percent during that same time period.

The FY25 State Budget includes Governor Hochul's five-point plan to fight organized retail theft:

• Increases criminal penalties for anyone who assaults a retail worker by elevating it from a misdemeanor to felony.

• Allowing prosecutors to combine the value of stolen goods when they file larceny charges.

• Making it illegal to foster the sale of stolen goods to go after third-party sellers.

• $40.2 million for dedicated Retail Theft Teams within State Police, District Attorneys' offices and local law enforcement, including 100 New York State Police personnel dedicated to fighting organized retail theft.

• $5 million tax credit to help small businesses invest in added security measures such as cameras.  governor.ny.gov

   Related Coverage of New York's New Organized Theft Crackdown

   • Hochul makes official new protections for small business owners, retail workers

   • Hochul celebrates retail theft policy win in state budget

   • Hochul announces new safeguards for NY retail workers


'Disturbing Escalation' of Retail Crime & Violence Across the Pond
Scottish retail representatives write letter to minister urging action on retail crime

Representatives from across Scottish retail have written a joint letter to the Scottish Government's Minister for Community Safety, highlighting the devastating impact that the surge in retail crime is having on staff wellbeing and business.

The letter provides four separate reports, carried out by the Scottish Grocers Federation, Retailers Against Crime and Co-op and is co-signed by the likes of the Scottish Retail Consortium, representing retail businesses on high streets the length and breadth of Scotland.

Details include the damaging effects of threatening abuse and violent behaviour toward staff and the cumulative cost of shop theft and vandalism for Scottish business - estimated to be in the hundreds of millions.

SGF chief executive, Dr Pete Cheema OBE said: "Over the past eighteen months, retailers have been forced to contend with a disturbing escalation in both the volume and seriousness of incidents happening in stores, and it is only getting worse."

Maxine Fraser, managing director for Retailers Against Crime, added: "Along with multiple thefts being submitted from our members every day, we also receive reports of deeply distressing incidents.

Staff being clawed and spat at, raids by organised gangs and intoxicated individuals wielding knives and other weapons. Often threatening to seriously injure or even kill staff."

"We need to see much more from the Scottish government, more dedicated resources for the police and action taken by our courts, as well as early intervention and education programmes to turn people away from committing these crimes."  talkingretail.com


UK Leader Calls for 13K Extra Cops to Fight Shoplifting Surge
Starmer pledges crackdown on shoplifting in speech to retail workers
Sir Keir Starmer has promised retail workers he will crack down on crime and reverse what he called a Tory "Shoplifter's Charter" in a speech. The Labour leader spoke at retail union Usdaw's conference in Blackpool, where voters are due to go to the polls in a by-election later this week.

In the speech on Tuesday afternoon, he pledged to reverse a policy that means shoplifting of goods under £200 is not investigated.

Sir Keir said: "We'll put 13,000 extra neighbourhood police on the beat, tackling crime on your streets. "We'll scrap the Shoplifter's Charter - the £200 rule that stops the police investigating theft in your workplace. And we will legislate to make sure assaulting and abusing shopworkers is a standalone criminal offence because you deserve to feel safe at work."

Figures released last week showed the number of shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales had risen to the highest level in 20 years.

Of the 408,690 police-recorded shoplifting offences in England and Wales in 2023 that were assigned an outcome, 16% (65,521) were charged or summonsed while 58% (238,794) of the investigations were closed with no suspect identified, according to PA news agency analysis of Home Office data. This compares with 15% and 55% respectively in 2022.  independent.co.uk


The View from the Left
How Corporations Enable Property Crime - And Use It To Fuel a Self-Serving Panic

Upon closer examination, many of the most widely covered property crime phenomena can be better understood as the predictable result of a callous corporate push for profits.

Over the past few years, Americans have been swept into a protracted panic fueled by a supposed wave of property crime. Amid the pearl-clutching, purveyors of this panic have seized upon a series of separate trends-from shoplifting, to porch pirates, to shipping container heists, to "Kia Boys" car thefts-to call for more policing and punishment to combat what they have depicted as a broader disintegration of law and order.

There is good reason to be skeptical of this narrative. For one, the recent increase in police-reported property crime is only relative to a drop during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when people were cooped up indoors; longer-term trends suggest we're just returning to pre-pandemic norms. But crime data alone is perhaps not the most effective antidote to sensationalized, politicized hysteria driven primarily by vibes and rank opportunism. By focusing on statistical arguments, we also miss an important opportunity to call out one of the primary culprits of this panic-specifically, the corporations that continue to enable the very theft to which they fall victim.

Upon closer examination, many of the most widely covered property crime phenomena can be better understood as the predictable result of a callous corporate push for profits.

For corporations, the cost of theft and the cost of preventing theft both put a dent in a balance sheet. To maximize profits, they must weigh the costs of stolen product against the costs of securing it-and they often determine that it makes economic sense to simply let theft happen.

Through this lens, many forms of property crime can be seen as a natural byproduct of rapacious capitalism, much like pollution. theappeal.org


Florida #1 Mass Shooting Hot Spot - Followed By Texas, Calif. & Illinois
As of May 1, there have been 133 mass shootings nationwide

With 3 shootings in 3 days Florida shoots to top of mass shootings list in US for 2024
Three mass shootings in three days have propelled Florida into an unwanted achievement: the Sunshine State has had the most mass shootings in the U.S. in 2024 so far.

That makes 13 mass shootings in Florida so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), the same number the state saw last year over the same period. As of May 1, there have been 133 mass shootings nationwide, compared to 190 by the same time in 2023.

Florida is currently in the lead for most mass shootings in 2024 to date, according to GVA data. A shooting in Texas that left two dead and four injured Sunday brought the Lone Star State up to second with 11, leaving California and Illinois all tied for third with 10 mass shootings each.

Last year showed an overall 8-10% decrease in deaths and injuries from gun violence compared to 2022, the GVA said, with some cities seeing 20+% decreases. The FBI reported violent crime, robberies and burglary were all down in 2023. news-journalonline.com


Another 'Crime Suppression Partnership' Underway in California
California Highway Patrol efforts focus on crime prevention
Governor Gavin Newsom announced a crime suppression partnership underway in Bakersfield to continue improving public safety, address roadway violence, and stop criminal activity. Details of the coordinated enforcement effort involving the CHP and Bakersfield Police Department were unveiled on April 24 by the Governor's Office. As part of this coordinated law enforcement operation, the CHP is conducting enforcement actions in and around Bakersfield to address auto theft, retail crime, and high-visibility, proactive traffic enforcement.  oakdaleleader.com


FBI data shows U.S. is seeing drop in crime, despite heated political rhetoric

Shuttered by mass killing, Maine bowling alley reopens amid hope and heartbreak
 

All Business Sizes Facing Rising Number of Cyberattacks
Cyberattacks are on the rise, including small businesses. Here's what to know
Cyberattacks on businesses are rising, including small businesses. It's a troubling trend because a breach can be very costly and time consuming if owners don't have a plan to deal with one.

According to the Verizon 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report, the median cost per ransomware attack - which features a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid - more than doubled over the past two years to $26,000.

That's partly because there has been a dramatic increase in ransomware attacks, which represent 24% of all breaches.

Small businesses should first have a plan in place to prevent cyberattacks. The human element is the cause of 74% of breaches, so owners should make sure all of their employees use safeguards such as two-factor identification to make it harder to be hacked. Requiring employees to regularly change their passwords can also help.

If your business has been breached, it's best to work with a cybersecurity executive within your company or a trusted third party to assess what happened and the damage done. Trying to contain it without having the right technical knowledge can just make things worse.

It's also important to let the authorities know what happened. Attacks must be reported to federal authorities within 72 hours after a company is reasonably sure one has occurred. canadiansecuritymag.com

 
In Case You Missed It: Verizon's 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report
5 key takeways from Verizon's 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report

The rapid of exploitation of zero-day vulnerabilities, such as MOVEit, and the effectiveness of ransomware attacks are two of the major findings from last year's breach data.

Cyber criminals are deploying new and innovative lines of attacks along with variations on tried-and-true methods that remain successful, Verizon's 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report has found.

The report, now in its 17th year, analyzed more than 30,000 real-world security incidents, including a record high of just over 10,000 confirmed data breaches, spanning 94 countries.

"We've seen an overall increase in the volume of data breaches as the threat landscape continues to expand," Rob Le Busque, regional VP at Verizon Business, told CSO.

The top three most popular vectors for data breaches were unauthorized uses of web application credentials, email phishing and exploiting vulnerabilities in web applications, when excluding errors and misuse, typically honest mistakes by employees. It paints a picture of a complex, changing environment of global cyber-crime impacting organizations of all sizes and types.

Main findings of Verizon's data breach report

1. MOVEit zero-day vulnerability drives big jump in breaches
2. Ransomware and extortion attacks continue to grow
3. The human element still accounts for a substantial percentage of breaches
4. Unintended errors are leading to incidents
5. Education is improving how people identify phishing attempts csoonline.com


UnitedHealth hack may impact a third of US citizens: CEO testimony

Despite paying a $22 million ransom in Bitcoin to regain access to encrypted files, the company cannot confirm whether copies of the data were made or published online.

UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee that the personal data of potentially a third of US citizens may have been exposed on the dark web following the ransomware attack on its Change Healthcare unit. Despite paying a $22 million ransom in Bitcoin to regain access to encrypted files, Witty admitted that the company cannot confirm whether copies of the data were made or published online. csoonline.com


Dropbox says attackers accessed customer and MFA info, API keys
File hosting service Dropbox has confirmed that attackers have breached the Dropbox Sign production environment and accessed customer personal and authentication information.

"From a technical perspective, Dropbox Sign's infrastructure is largely separate from other Dropbox services. That said, we thoroughly investigated this risk and believe that this incident was isolated to Dropbox Sign infrastructure, and did not impact any other Dropbox products," the company shared on Wednesday. helpnetsecurity.com


'Cuttlefish' Zero-Click Malware Steals Private Cloud Data

New SOHO router malware aims for cloud accounts, internal company resources