America's Protests
Law Enforcement Technology & LP Under Scrutiny
Racial Profiling - LP Tools - Locked Cabinets

LP Tools
Walmart to stop keeping 'multicultural' beauty products in locked display cases
Retailer previously claimed locked products have higher theft rates
Walmart Inc will stop keeping personal care products designed for people of color in locked display cases, the retailer said, after the practice drew flak online with many saying it suggested customers for these products cannot be trusted.

"We have made the decision to discontinue placing multicultural hair care and beauty products in locked cases," the company said in an email statement on Wednesday.

Walmart said the practice was in place in about a dozen of its 4,700 stores in the United States and the cases were in place to deter shoplifters from products such as electronics, automotive, cosmetics and other personal care products.

The criticism of the retailer comes at a time when the United States has been rocked by protests against racial discrimination, following the killing of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, on May 25.

The change in Walmart's policy was prompted by a June 8 CBS News report that a Walmart customer had complained of the practice being discriminatory against people of color, while visiting a store in the city of Denver.

Another said she once asked a Walmart employee why they kept those products under lock and key and was told that those products have higher theft rates, but was not presented with any data to support that. Walmart confirmed to NBC News that the decision to place certain hair and beauty products in cases was based on theft data, and that it varied by market. It would not share that data.

Walmart isn't alone in facing scrutiny for this practice. Many other personal care stores and national chains such as CVS and Walgreens have been accused of doing this. Walgreens and CVS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  

Denver Walmart Customer Believes Retailer Discriminates Against People Of Color

Multiple Walmart customers tweet their frustration with locked up products

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon's Remarks on George Floyd's Death

Public Criticism - Walmart's Response - Will Other Retailers Join? | Read more here


In an email to the D&D Daily, Walmart spokesperson Kory Lundgren
issued the following statement:

"As a retailer serving millions of customers every day from diverse backgrounds, Walmart does not tolerate discrimination of any kind. Like other retailers, the cases were put in place to deter shoplifters from some products such as electronics, automotive, cosmetics and other personal care products.

"We're sensitive to the issue and understand the concerns raised by our customers and members of the community and have made the decision to discontinue placing multicultural hair care and beauty products - a practice in place in about a dozen of our 4,700 stores nationwide - in locked cases."

Read the Daily's full coverage of this developing Walmart story


Racial Profiling
Questioning Retailers' Sincerity
US service industry giants condemn racism but critics say profiling persists
As racial justice protests have swept the US, leading retailers have taken to social media to proclaim their commitment to equality.

But such statements decrying racism in the wake of the George Floyd's murder have been met with incredulity by some nonwhite customers, who recount instances of being quizzed by sales staff on how they make their money or watched "through the shelves" by security, as one shopper put it on Instagram.

Racial profiling, which inspired the hashtag #shoppingwhileblack, has proven a nettlesome problem that the industry has largely avoided directly engaging in recent days, even as retailers come out publicly to condemn racism and promise greater diversity in their leadership.

Black and Hispanic shoppers have questioned companies' sincerity, saying even if they haven't been stopped by security guards, they feel routinely surveilled and unwelcome in stores in ways that white people do not.

The tension has in the past resulted in retailers making major payouts to settle profiling lawsuits.

In one of the most well-publicized incidents, Starbucks closed 8,000 stores for a day to give employees training on how to avoid implicit bias after the April 2018 arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia store.

More to be done

Jerome Williams, a business professor at Rutgers University, recalled an episode in the 1980s when three of his children failed to meet back up during a shopping excursion.

After much worry, Williams discovered they were detained by mall security, who deemed the kids suspicious because they were wearing new shirts.

Besides the encounter itself, Williams was troubled by white work colleagues who told him the incident was no big deal.

Since then, "there has been tremendous progress, but we have not eliminated all of the problem," said Williams, who advises retailers on addressing profiling.

Continue Reading: Profiling Behavior - LPRC's Read Hayes Quoted - "retailers emphasize profiling - but only for behavior, not race."


"Fake" Accusation Gets 908,000 Views
NC Smoothie King worker claimed black girl's $20 bill was fake, igniting outrage
Smoothie King apologized and vowed to retrain workers nationwide after a worker at one of its NC stores claimed a black girl's $20 bill was fake. The girl's older brother posted video on social media of what happened next at the Harrisburg store: The girl's mother is shown entering the store and successfully using the bill before she confronts the worker.

"Someone just died after he was falsely accused of having counterfeit money," the mom tells the Smoothie King worker, referring to George Floyd, whose death in Minneapolis Police Department custody has sparked weeks of street protests nationwide.

The mother asks the worker to put the bill through a device the worker told her had earlier indicated the bill was fake. He did, and it did not indicate the bill was fake. He then tells the woman the device sometimes indicates a bill is fake if it is "crumpled" going through the device.

The video of the Smoothie King encounter has drawn 908,000 views since the brother posted it on Twitter at 1:30 p.m. Monday. Following an apology, Smoothie King posted on Twitter that the store's cash reading machines were "unreliable" and that the machines have been removed. charlotteobserver.com

Amazon Won't Let Police Use Its Facial Recognition Technology For One Year
After facing scrutiny for its ties to police in the wake of the George Floyd protests, Amazon said Wednesday it would ban police from using its controversial facial recognition technology for one year.

Key Facts:

In a statement, Amazon said it hopes Congress will pass legislation governing the use of facial recognition during the moratorium.

Organizations working to end human trafficking, such as Thorn, the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and Marinus Analytics, can continue using the technology, which is called Rekognition. forbes.com

Cops With Technology
Microsoft Urged To Follow Amazon And IBM
After global protests about police violence against the black community, tech companies have stopped supporting cops with technology. Already, Amazon is to stop selling its Rekognition tech to law enforcement and IBM said it too was nixing its surveillance business given the tools have been proven to have a bias against non-white people.

Now it's Microsoft's turn, according to two of the biggest human and digital rights bodies in America. Though the tech giant has been vocal on its support for the black community, it hasn't yet changed how or what it sells to police agencies.

"The world Microsoft seems to want is one where police have an invisible but inescapable surveillance presence in our communities," wrote Matt Cagle, technology and civil liberties attorney at the ACLU. "Where an infrastructure exists to scan your face and identify you as you walk down the street, go to a protest, attend a place of worship, and participate in public life. Building a surveillance apparatus this big would have severe consequences - chilling demonstrations, fueling a for-profit surveillance industry, and creating racist watchlists that governments and businesses will use for discriminatory ends."

Action on Amazon Ring too?

The Electronic Frontier Foundation said that not only should Microsoft stop selling facial recognition, but there should be a total ban on the tech across America. And it said Amazon's Ring business should also cease working with police.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation
Amazon Ring Must End Its Dangerous Partnerships With Police

'Ring plays an active role in enabling and perpetuating police
harassment of Black Americans'

This is a historic moment of reckoning for law enforcement. Technology companies, too, must rethink how the tools they design and sell to police departments minimize accountability and exacerbate injustice. Even worse, some companies profit directly from exploiting irrational fears of crime that all too often feed the flames of police brutality.

So we're calling on Amazon Ring, one of the worst offenders, to immediately end the partnerships it holds with over 1300 law enforcement agencies.

One by one, companies that profit off fears of crime have released statements voicing solidarity with those communities that are disproportionately impacted by police violence. Amazon, which owns Ring, announced that they "stand in solidarity with the Black community-[their] employees, customers, and partners - in the fight against systemic racism and injustice."

We've written extensively about why Ring is a "Perfect Storm of Privacy Threats," and we've laid out five specific problems with Ring-police partnerships. We also revealed a number of previously-undisclosed trackers sending information from the Ring app to third parties, and critiqued the lackluster changes made in response to security flaws. eff.org

Ending inner-city violence also means dethroning the gangs
Many groups bear responsibility for the recent chaos in American cities: the rioters themselves, ­police departments and unions that fail to discipline bad cops, politicians who deliberately enflame resentment and hotheaded social-media influencers.

Add another group to the mix: gangsters, who for decades have turned many inner-city, mostly African-American neighborhoods into war zones.

The Bloods, Crips, Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords and other such factions draw cops into black neighborhoods - often at the urging of black citizens. These gangs commit a large share of the thousands of gun crimes in our cities. Even during the pandemic, gangsters have continued to kill black men across the country. Though gangs make up a small minority of urban America's young men, they have an outsize influence over the relationship between cops and black communities. nypost.com

Protests in N.Y.C.: Police Officers Without Face Masks
Mayor to Commissioner: 'It Has To Be Fixed'
Handcuffs, a gun, a baton: Police officers carry tools they consider necessary to do their job. After the coronavirus outbreak took hold in New York City, their gear expanded to include face masks. But on any day, at the protests taking place throughout the city, it is common to see officers who are not wearing them.

Last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was "frustrated" by the situation. In an interview on WNYC, Mr. de Blasio said he spoke to Police Commissioner Dermot F. Shea about it "multiple times," adding, "It has to be fixed, and it bothers me."

More than 40 members of the Police Department who were infected with the coronavirus have died, the police said. As of May 29, the most recent date that numbers were made available, 901 uniformed members of the department - about 2.5 percent of the total number - were out sick from the virus, down from 19.8 percent at the peak in April. nytimes.com

Giant Eagle Donates $350,000 To Social Justice Causes, Closes Stores For Internal Discussions, Stops Sales Of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A&E drops reality series 'Live PD' days after 'Cops' canceled
 

DOJ Protests Charges Continue
Arson - Looting - Weapons - Assault

Third Individual Arrested & Charged With Arson Of St. Paul Health & Nutrition Store

Federal Grand Jury Returns Indictment Charging Illinois Man With Arson, Riot

Jacksonville Man Indicted For Possession Of Molotov Cocktail At Protest

San Diego, CA: Man Charged with Pointing Laser at Police Helicopter During Protests
 

2020 RH-ISAC Cyber Intelligence Summit | October 6-8 | Virtual | Register here

The RH-ISAC is proud to present the fully virtual 2020
RH-ISAC Cyber Intelligence Summit on Oct. 6-8

Join us for a virtual, three-day event that brings together top cybersecurity leaders and teams representing the most prominent organizations in retailers, restaurants, hotels, gaming casinos, food retailers, consumer products, and other consumer-facing companies.

The RH-ISAC Summit features an RH-ISAC member-driven agenda including sessions delivered by prominent thought leaders, experts from the provider community, collaborative workshops, cybersecurity exercises, and exceptional networking opportunities. This is the "can't miss" event for cybersecurity professionals from the retail and hospitality industries. We look forward to seeing you on webcam in October!

More Upcoming Virtual Events:

RH-ISAC CISO Executive Roundtable:
Fraud Implications of Mass Digital Adoption in the Era of COVID-19 | June 30 | 1:00 - 2:30 PM ET | Register here

Cyber Thursday Webinars:
Magecart & Formjacking Victimology: The Malicious Script Impacting the eCommerce World | June 25 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM ET | Register here

2020 Virtual Regional Intelligence Workshops:
RH-ISAC Virtual Regional Intelligence Workshop Hosted by Lowe's | June 24 | Southeast | Register here
RH-ISAC Virtual Regional Intelligence Workshop Hosted by AT&T | July 8 | Pacific Northwest | Register here
RH-ISAC Virtual Regional Intelligence Workshop Hosted by Staples | July 14 | New England | Register here
 

FTC Reaches $220,000 Penalty Settlement with Kohl's
Alleges it Failed to Provide Victims with Information Related to Identity Theft
Kohl's Department Stores, Inc. has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $220,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the Wisconsin-based retailer violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by refusing to provide complete records of transactions to consumers whose personal information was used by identity thieves.

In a complaint filed by the Department of Justice on behalf of the FTC, the Commission alleges that Kohl's refused to provide information identifying the thieves to identity theft victims, despite the fact that the FCRA guarantees victims access to this information. The FTC also alleges that the company failed to provide the information within 30 days, as required by the FCRA. The information sought by identity theft victims included records of sales made by the identity thieves using stolen personal information, along with the perpetrator's name and contact information. ftc.gov

3 Ways the Pandemic Will Affect Enterprise Security in the Future
While CISOs have been focused on immediate threats, it's time to look ahead to what a post-COVID-19 future will look like.

Here are three ways the pandemic will affect the cybersecurity industry and what our "new normal" might look like.

1. Highly leveraged, remote workforces will be much more common, changing the threat landscape. As regions enacted shelter-in-place orders, businesses scrambled to figure out how to quickly enable a wide-scale remote workforce.

CISOs must make end-user awareness and security training a priority now and moving forward. Security policies should be refreshed and employees should be reminded of security best practices - everything from not clicking on links they're unsure of to not using services like Google Drive or Box if they're not tied to a company plan. Now is the time to tighten controls on email and web gateways and configure them to be more sensitive to anything that looks suspicious or leverages the COVID-19 topic. CISOs should also look to set up a type of virtual "war room" for their security teams to collaborate in to deal with security threats in real time.

2. CISOs will change the skills they look for when hiring. Post-pandemic, cybersecurity hiring will remain steady, but the skill sets and level of experience that CISOs look for will change. That's because the rapid move to wide-scale remote working has made security managers' jobs more challenging. Many of the traditional tools and controls they used in the past have changed.

CISOs will need individuals on their teams with higher-level skills and more experience - people who can think on their-feet. Experience in remote forensics will be in high demand.

3. "Failing out" will be essential. In planning for disaster recovery, companies can choose a model to fail out or fail in. If a disaster or power loss happens, an organization that has disparate locations may consolidate to one location or move employees from the affected location to another.

CISOs should have fail-out continuity plans in place so when there is an indication of a disaster, they can quickly transition to keeping a bare-bones staff on location and having everyone else work from home. To be effective in this scenario, an organization must have the right cloud-based services already in place and a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).

By incorporating the right strategies and having the right skill sets in place, CISOs can reduce added pressure they face to maintain business continuity no matter how COVID-19 plays out. darkreading.com

What to Know About the Approved Scanning Vendor Program
New vulnerabilities, security holes and bugs are being discovered daily. It is vital to have Internet-facing systems scanned regularly for vulnerabilities to help identify new threats so they can be addressed as soon as possible. Gill Woodcock, VP Global Head of Programs, answers common questions about the Approved Scanning Vendor program. pcisecuritystandards.org

Are Legacy WAN Routers Putting Your Cloud Transformation at Risk?