The D&D Daily will continue to track this data throughout the summer to capture the weekend violence trend in our nation's big cities as warm weather typically brings about more crime and violence.

Click here to see the list of incidents per city and follow along each week as this spreadsheet will be updated every Monday. docs.google.com

Read more coverage about America's crime and gun violence epidemic in the section below
 

Retail 'CEOs for Gun Safety'
Dick's, Levi's and other retail CEOs urge Senate to take action on guns
The chief executive officers of more than 200 companies signed an open letter to the U.S. Senate asking it to "take bold urgent action to address our gun violence epidemic" in the wake of deadly mass shootings in Buffalo, New York; Uvalde, Texas; and other cities.

Among the signers were the heads of retail and apparel companies, including Dick's Executive Chairman Ed Stack and CEO Lauren Hobart; J. Crew Group CEO Libby Wadle; Kenneth Cole, chairman and CEO of the eponymously named apparel company; Levi Strauss & Co. CEO Chip Bergh; Lululemon Athletica CEO Calvin McDonald; Poshmark CEO and founder Manish Chandra and others.

Throughout the letter, the corporate leaders - who dubbed themselves "CEOs For Gun Safety" - did not advocate for any specific measures or gun reforms but rather painted a bleak picture of the heavy toll of endless gun violence in the U.S.

They cited research showing that 110 people are killed by guns daily and another 200 are wounded. "These shootings happen in homes and at cookouts, in schools and houses of worship, in local businesses and big box stores, and on the streets our children travel every day," the letter states. "Among the affected are our employees, our customers, and the communities we work in. And our kids: guns are now the leading cause of death among children and teens."

They also pointed to research showing that gun violence costs the country $280 billion per year, while employers lose a collective $1.4 million per day in productivity and revenue from gun violence.

With the persistence of mass shootings and gun violence over the years, and the lack of legislation to address the issue, some large retailers moved to limit their sales. Walmart has stopped ammunition sales for handguns and military-style rifles, raised the minimum age for gun purchases to 21, and stopped selling assault-style rifles and handguns. The retailer has also asked customers not to openly carry firearms in its stores in markets where the law allows.

Dick's also has been gradually pulling back from gun sales, removing the hunting department from hundreds of its sporting goods stores and paring back its Field & Stream banner. Dick's has also lobbied the government for more gun control measures. retaildive.com

7 Mass Shootings in the U.S. Over the Weekend
At least 5 dead, 27 injured as wave of weekend mass shootings in US continues
At least seven mass shootings have occurred across the country since Friday night, making this the fourth consecutive weekend in which U.S. law enforcement officers have responded to multiple incidents involving four or more victims shot.

Shootings this weekend have left at least five people dead and 27 injured in seven cities, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a site that tracks shootings across the country. The website defines a mass shooting as a single incident involving four or more victims.

The string of consecutive weekend mass casualty incidents began over the Memorial Day holiday, when at least 17 shootings left a total of 13 dead and 79 injured in cities across the country, including Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Memphis and Chattanooga, Tenn. Last weekend, at least 11 mass shootings erupted, leaving a total of 17 dead and 62 injured across the nation.

Since a May 14 suspected racially motivated attack at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket left 10 Black people dead and 18-year-old white teenager charged with multiple counts of murder, there have been at least 63 mass shootings nationwide, an average of two per day, including the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 students and two teachers were killed, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Adding to the carnage were mass-casualty shootings this weekend in New Orleans, Detroit, Louisville, Kentucky; Decatur, Georgia; Antioch, Tenn.; Gary, Indiana; and for the third straight weekend in Chicago. yahoo.com

Deal Reached for Modest New Gun Restrictions
Senators strike bipartisan gun deal, heralding potential breakthrough
A bipartisan group of senators announced Sunday that it had reached a tentative agreement on legislation that would pair modest new gun restrictions with significant new mental health and school security investments - a deal that could put Congress on a path to enacting the most significant national response in decades to acts of mass gun violence.

Twenty senators - 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans - signed a statement announcing the framework deal. That indicated that the agreement could have enough GOP support to defeat a filibuster, the Senate supermajority rule that has impeded prior gun legislation.

Under the tentative deal, a federal grant program would encourage states to implement "red flag" laws that allow authorities to keep guns away from people found by a judge to represent a potential threat to themselves or others, while federal criminal background checks for gun buyers under 21 would include a mandatory search of juvenile justice and mental health records for the first time.

Other provisions would prevent gun sales to domestic violence offenders beyond just spouses, closing what is often called the "boyfriend loophole"; clarify which gun sellers are required to register as federal firearms dealers and, thus, run background checks on their customers; and establish new federal offenses related to gun trafficking.

The agreement does not include a provision supported by President Biden, congressional Democrats and a handful of Republicans that would raise the minimum age for the purchase of at least some rifles from 18 to 21. Handguns are already subject to a federal 21-and-over age limit. washingtonpost.com

NY's Effort to Fight Climb Explosion
New Push in NY to Force Gunmakers to Adopt Microstamping

Microstamping is a type of technology that imprints codes to ammunition as it is fired, creating a unique signature police could use to help solve crimes

New York this week became the second state to enact a law intended to force firearms manufacturers to adopt microstamping, a technology in which guns imprint tiny codes on ammunition cartridges as they are fired - creating a unique signature police could use to help solve crimes.

Big questions remain, though, about whether the new law will actually result in such guns being offered for sale. California passed a similar law 15 years ago, and since then no handgun capable of microstamping has been introduced for sale in that state.

Instead, gunmakers have pulled new handgun models from the California market rather than equip them with the technology, which critics say is costly, unworkable and of questionable valuable as a crimefighting tool. Both states are now trying new tactics to pressure manufacturers. Backers of New York's new law say it has a chance to succeed where California initially failed.

A pair of engineers in New Hampshire are credited with inventing microstamping as a potential law enforcement tool three decades ago. The process involves engraving a serial number inside the firearm, on the tip of the firing pin or breech face.

When the gun fires, that unique number or code is stamped on the shell casing. Law enforcement investigators could then pick up casings at crime scenes and turn to a database that could indicate which gun fired the round and where that weapon was last sold by a licensed firearms dealer. nbcnewyork.com

'We Have to Harden our Stores'
Starbucks may close its bathrooms to the public again amid crime & safety concerns
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz says his company might not be able to keep its bathrooms open to the general public.

The coffee company opened its bathrooms to the public in 2018 after two Black men were denied use of the bathroom in a Philadelphia Starbucks while they were waiting for a friend to arrive. When they then sat down in the store without ordering anything, a Starbucks employee called the police, and they were arrested for trespassing. No charges were ever filed.

The incident sparked protests and negative publicity. The company apologized and closed all of its stores for a day to hold racial bias training for employees.

But Schultz said at a New York Times DealBook conference in Washington, DC, Thursday, that the company may have to change its policy once again. He said that a growing mental health problem was posing a threat to staff and customers and making it difficult for Starbucks employees to manage its stores with the current policy in place.

"We have to harden our stores and provide safety for our people," the Times quoted Schultz as saying at the conference. "I don't know if we can keep our bathrooms open."  cnn.com

New Robbery & Crime Trend
Austin police warn of 'jugging' crime trend
The Austin Police Department (APD) is warning of a new robbery and crime trend called "jugging" in which suspects follow victims after they leave a bank or ATM.

"There, they are approached, threatened with violence, or assaulted while the suspect demands the money or aggressively takes the cash bag," APD said in a Friday statement posted to Facebook. "This crime happens when cash bags are visible as the victim leaves the bank or ATM."

Over the last year, APD has counted at least 62 juggings at Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Chase bank locations. APD is warning Austin residents to be aware of their surroundings and "try not to be distracted" while going to banks or ATMs; notice vehicles that may be following them; secure cash in a purse, briefcase or other bags before leaving a financial institution; lock car doors; and call 911 or drive to a police station if they believe someone may be following them. foxnews.com

Carolina Place Mall introduces firearm-detecting dog as new security measure

Cheyenne, WY: Some crimes in city on downward trend for 2022

Black Lives Matter-Home Depot Complaint Dismissed by Judge
Judge dismisses complaint from Home Depot employees who claimed company violated workers' rights by prohibiting them from wearing BLM imagery
A judge on Friday ruled to dismiss a complaint from Home Depot employees who claimed the company violated workers' rights by prohibiting them from wearing Black Lives Matter imagery on the job.

In the complaint, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) claimed Home Depot violated federal labor law by barring employees from placing BLM logos on their aprons. The company gave staffers an ultimatum to either remove the messaging or quit.

The NLRB complaint further alleged that the retailer threatened and retaliated against employees for participating in the collective action, including a Minneapolis staffer who said he was suspended after wearing the logo on his apron and encouraging colleagues to join him.

Administrative law judge Paul Bogas wrote in his ruling on Friday that BLM messaging did not have "an objective, and sufficiently direct, relationship to terms and conditions of employment," as first reported by Bloomberg.

He continued: "[The messaging] originated, and is primarily used, to address the unjustified killings of Black individuals by law enforcement and vigilantes. To the extent the message is being used for reasons beyond that, it operates as a political umbrella for societal concerns and relates to the workplace only in the sense that workplaces are part of society." businessinsider.com

'National Outlet Shopping Day'
As inflation surges, mall owner creates new sales holiday

Simon Property Group said the event is for people seeking deep discounts - like an Amazon Prime Day but for retail outlets.

As consumers feel the pinch of inflation, the biggest shopping mall owner in the country, Simon Property Group, has devised a new annual sales event dubbed National Outlet Shopping Day (NOSD), which kicked off on Saturday, June 11.

This campaign aims to raise efforts to increase in-person shopping - like an Amazon Prime Day but for retail outlets. It will run at the real estate owner's 90 premium outlets and Mills-branded outlet properties in the United States.

"Our sales have actually exceeded pre-COVID numbers for several of our brands last year and that's we've seen that consistently throughout this year as well," said Monica Esparza, director of marketing at Round Rock Premium Outlets. kvue.com

Walmart's Redesign Prepares to Roll Out Nationally
Walmart launched a lot of apparel and home brands. Now, that strategy will be put to the test

Walmart has launched style-forward brands, added national brands and debuted a new store design to try to sell more discretionary merchandise.

Walmart's redesigned SuperCenter, located just 16 miles from its Northwest Arkansas headquarters, reflects the retailer's ambitions to get more customers to turn to its stores and website to fill their closets and living rooms, along with their fridges.

It is the retailer's new model, and it will soon spread across the country. Walmart plans to open 30 more redesigned stores by late January and and hundreds more in the following fiscal year, Chief Merchandising Officer Charles Redfield said.

He said the locations will vary slightly and will have different elements of the pilot store. They'll be used to test and learn before Walmart rolls out the look more widely, he said. cnbc.com

Stitch Fix lays off 15% of its salaried workforce

Americans flock to warehouse clubs for cheap gas & groceries as inflation gets worse

FDA investigated up to nine infant deaths linked to baby formula


Last week's #1 article --

These Two Popular Chains Are Closing Stores, Starting June 15

The Ongoing FBI-DOJ Ransomware Crackdown
FBI, DOJ say less than 25% of NetWalker ransomware victims reported incidents
Just one fourth of all NetWalker ransomware victims reported incidents to law enforcement, according to officials from the FBI and Justice Department who led the takedown of the group.

Ryan Frampton - a member of the cyberaction team at the FBI's Tampa Division - and Carlton Gammons - the lead prosecutor for the US Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida - spoke at length about their work shutting down the infrastructure of the NetWalker ransomware at the RSA conference on Thursday.

The FBI and DOJ were able to obtain a trove of information on the group after seizing NetWalker's backend servers in Bulgaria during an investigation throughout 2020. Frampton said just 115 NetWalker victims filed reports with the FBI's IC3 center or their local FBI office. But that number is dwarfed by what they found on the NetWalker servers used to host their TOR site.

The servers contained more than 1,000 "builds" - different versions of the NetWalker ransomware customized for each victim based on an analysis of already-breached systems.

"We've fully identified over 450 victims in this investigation, but only 115 actually filed a report. There were 1,500 builds, so the real number of victims in this case was somewhere between 400 and 1,500, and we're never going to know exactly how many there actually were," Frampton said.

"It is important to note that only a quarter of the ones we have fully identified actually filed a report. Those victims that filed a report said they paid $6.7 million dollars. But if you look at the blockchain research and the information that we obtained from the backend server, Netwalker actually extorted nearly $60 million. So whatever numbers you see in the public, it's probably way higher than that."

Only 15 victims told the FBI they paid a ransom but the actual number is more than 200, according to Frampton, who noted that the highest ransom demanded was $12 million and the highest actual payout was $3 million. therecord.media

CISA's List of 800 Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities
CISA's list of 'must-patch' vulnerabilities has expanded  in size & who's using it
When the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency debuted its list of known, exploited vulnerabilities in November, it was nearly 300 flaws long and came attached to an order for federal agencies to fix them quickly.

Now, as of this week, the catalog known as "KEV" or the "Must-Patch" list is well on its way to 800 listings, and it's the "No. 1 topic" that CISA Executive Director for Cybersecurity Eric Goldstein says comes up in his frequent, daily meetings with businesses.

The reason, said Goldstein, is that the private sector has - without any order from his agency - adopted the KEV list as a guide for the vulnerabilities they focus on, rather than relying on the traditional open-source industry standard Common Vulnerability Scoring System for assessing the severity of software weaknesses.

The KEV list features flaws in a who's-who of big tech products, from Adobe to Oracle to Microsoft.

"I think it has driven extraordinary focus and really a big re-conceptualization of how organizations rate and prioritize vulnerabilities, moving away from CVSS as the default, and more towards what's actually being used 'in the wild,'" Goldstein told CyberScoop in an interview, referring to a term for threats actively used in real-world attacks, rather than just theoretically.

CISA, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, has placed 41 additions on the KEV catalog this week alone. But Goldstein said he doesn't fear swamping users with too many vulnerabilities. Ideally, with available technological tools, no human ever has to interact with the list; it should, he said, be entirely "ingested by machines with the use of prioritized, automated mitigation." cyberscoop.com

Slow Cybersecurity Incident Response Times
Only 43% of security pros can respond to critical alerts in less than an hour
Deepwatch released the State of the Modern SOC report, which found that most IT security professionals believe they could have stopped business impacting cyber events if equipped with better response capabilities. Many seek more automation and less alert noise to shorten response times.

The report found that 85% of IT security professionals have experienced preventable business impacts resulting from insufficient response procedures, while 97% said that more accurate alerting would increase their confidence in automating threat response actions. More than 300 security professionals, working at U.S. organizations with 1,000 or more employees, were surveyed by Dimensional Research for this report.

"Stronger detection paves the way for trustworthy automated response and fast, effective containment of cyber threats," said Wesley Mullins, CTO at Deepwatch. "Modern security operations centers (SOCs) should be equipped with high-fidelity alerts, that include proper contextualization and correlation to provide as clear of a picture of the threat as possible. Not only does that enable analysts to work better, but it also unlocks the ability to implement automated response actions that stop threats with speed and precision. The key is confidence in the detection."

93% of security professionals are working to reduce response times, and 99% either believe they need more automation or want to learn more about automating security incident response in their organizations. Automation would significantly benefit organizations strapped for resources. The research found that 38% of security teams for companies with over 1000 employees are still not resourced for 24/7 SOC coverage; of that, 30% have SOC coverage during business hours only, and 8% have no SOC. helpnetsecurity.com

Cybersecurity Job Cuts Come as Ransomware Attacks Surge
Job cuts hit cybersecurity industry despite surging ransomware attacks

Cybersecurity companies are seeing record growth as ransomware attacks increase and businesses bolster spending to protect their data.

Nothing has lowered Cybereason's expectations for growth. Rather, the continuing rise in ransomware attacks has forced its clients to bolster spending on security systems, putting the security software company ahead of schedule when it comes to revenue.

But Cybereason is cutting costs anyway, confirming last week that it's laying off 10% of its workforce, or about 100 employees. The reductions follow the dramatic swing in the economy this year and the beating that software stocks have taken in the public market.

Cybereason's story resonates with many of the 450-plus vendors in attendance at RSA, the premier conference for companies in security software. The size, scale, complexity and potential damage caused by cyberattacks means that no matter how corporate IT and finance departments are responding to inflation and a potential economic slowdown, budgets are expanding when it comes to protecting data and networks. cnbc.com

What cybersecurity investors should be aware of in 2022

Researchers unearth highly evasive "parasitic" Linux malware

Design Weakness Discovered in Apple M1 Kernel Protections

Memphis, TN: Only Two Months After Nike Distribution Train Robbery Another $150K+ Attempted Theft of Nike Products Happens Again
Corderion Harris was arrested after officers said he was one of at least 15 people breaking into a rail yard on June 10 around 2 a.m. Police said at least 17 train cars were broken into and at least 30 boxes were removed. They also said that all of the boxes contained Nike Air Max shoes totaling up to over $150,000 of merchandise. For every team of boosters who get caught, another team is succeeding giving the Nike Loss Prevention Team headaches. Memphis is Nike's defacto second home because of the proximity to Fed Ex's hub and the logistics which have made Memphis the distribution center of the country. In previous articles I've explained that reselling has always been propped up by thefts of this nature. arch-usa.com

Los Angeles, CA: Four men dressed in black steal thousands in Jewelry at Puente Hills Mall
A jewelry store at the Puente Hills Mall in the city of Industry was struck by smash-and-grab robbers Saturday afternoon, and mall patrons appeared to capture the robbers' escape on camera as they fled. The robbery was reported about 4:15 p.m., when the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department responded to the mall in the 1600 block of South Azusa Avenue, according to Sgt. Magdaleno. Four black-clad robbers entered Daniel's Jewelers, smashed the front case, took an unknown amount of jewelry and fled on foot, Magdaleno said. Video showed the thieves sprinting across what appeared to be a coffee shop or restaurant's dining area, much to the surprise of shoppers. The exact amount that was taken has not yet been tabulated by the store, the Sheriff's Department added. ktla.com

New York, NY: Brooklyn store is robbery crew's latest victim in string of thefts
Surveillance video captured a trio of thieves brazenly yanking new phones right off of their displays at a Brooklyn store - part of a string of thefts that has netted the criminals more than $32,000 so far, cops say. The phones in the video were stolen around 3:20 p.m. May 3 from inside a T-Mobile store at 1367 Broadway in Bushwick, authorities said. The three crooks swiped $3,200 worth of electronics from the display before fleeing the store in a silver sedan, cops said. The NYPD posted video of the crime on Twitter on Sunday. reportdoor.com

Oceanside, NY: Rockville Centre Woman Commits Multiple Larcenies at Victoria's Secret
Fourth Squad Detectives report the arrest of a Rockville Centre woman for an Assault that occurred on Friday, June 10, 2022 at 3:00 pm in Oceanside. According to detectives, police responded to Victoria's Secret located on Long Beach Road for multiple larcenies that occurred in June. While a Loss Prevention Officer was reporting the prior incidents, the female responsible entered the store, began to take store merchandise and concealed it in the front of her pants. Angela McCallum, 45, of 59 S. Centre Avenue was arrested and transported to the Fourth Precinct for arrest processing. The female officer suffered pain and swelling to her knee. She was transported to an area hospital for treatment and evaluation. Defendant McCallum is charged with Assault 2nd Degree, Grand Larceny 4th Degree, Resisting Arrest, five (5) counts of Petit Larceny and Harassment. longisland.com

Lancaster, PA:Thousands of Dollars Worth of Items Stolen from Under Armour store

Durban, South Africa: Seven robbers smash their way into a Gateway mall game store, rob it of Playstations