8/10/21

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ALL-TAG Delivers New, Meaningful "Eco-Friendly" Innovation in AM (Acousto-Magnetic) Security Labels

ALL-TAG, an American manufacturer of RF Labels, and a leading supplier of AM Anti-theft Security Tags, Security Labels, and other loss prevention products, announces the development of the industry's first eco-friendly, AM (acousto-magnetic) anti-theft label. AM technology is a critical and core loss-prevention technology utilized widely across leading retailers and their consumer good manufacturing partners.

BOCA RATON, FLA. - AUGUST 05, 2021 -- ALL-TAG, an American manufacturer of RF Labels, and a leading supplier of AM Anti-theft Security Tags, Security Labels, and other loss prevention products, announces the development of the industry's first eco-friendly, AM (acousto-magnetic) anti-theft label. AM technology is a critical and core loss-prevention technology utilized widely across leading retailers and their consumer good manufacturing partners.

Now produced with an 80% average weight of recycled plastics in our AM labels, an industry first, ALL-TAG's plastics composition is certified by Intertek and the Global Recycled Standard for using a majority of post-consumer recycled material in production. This upgrade will greatly reduce new plastics consumption for multi-billion unit disposable AM labels utilized annually in retail, a key sustainability focus for the retail industry.

ALL-TAG is already progressively switching all of their retail approved, proven AM label production to this eco-friendly standard.

"We are very proud of this new development," commented ALL-TAG's Vice President of Sales, Andy Gilbert. "It's important to note, our retailer and consumer good partners will not acquire any cost-increases, nor experience impact to our standard operations and deliveries."

"ALL-TAG also uniquely offers the only narrow AM label available in roll-format, for high-speed applications. Engineering hurdles from all global suppliers relegated narrow versions of AM label technology to expensive, hand applications, not feasible for many high-volume supply chains," commented ALL-TAG's Director of EAS Solutions, Joshua Simmons. "We overcame these hurdles, & our patent protected narrow AM label roll is proven to function reliably & seamlessly across existing high-speed machine applicators leveraged at product manufacturers & their packagers today. This high-speed applied narrow label innovation expands application options for implementing a narrower version of this proven loss prevention technology, requiring about 30% less plastic and glue to produce, furthering environmental impact reduction while providing more valuable marketing space when the AM label serves as a visible theft deterrent for high-shrink products."

Now leveraging our patented quadruple resonator performance in the narrow label housing (another industry first), lab tests and retailer approvals have confirmed comparable performance to its larger, premium performance counterparts.

To find out more about the product listed in this release, please visit https://all-tag.com/.

New Bipartisan Cyberthreat Bills Introduced
Countering Cyberthreats: 2 Legislative Proposals Introduced
Two bipartisan bills introduced in Congress this week seek to address cyberthreats. One calls for imposing sanctions against countries that allow ransomware gangs to operate within their borders. Another would require law enforcement agencies to better track cybercrime statistics to identify trends.

On Thursday, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the senior member of the committee, introduced the Sanction and Stop Ransomware Act.

In addition to calling for sanctions against governments that allow cybercriminals to operate, the bill would establish cybersecurity standards for critical infrastructure and create new regulations for cryptocurrency exchanges.

"The most important part of this bill is the sections highlighting the fact that ransomware groups are operating with impunity in locations owned by governments that are providing a safe harbor from international law enforcement and the direction to develop regulatory actions around cryptocurrency," says Austin Berglas, who formerly was an assistant special agent in charge of cyber investigations at the FBI's New York office.

Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House and the Senate has introduced legislation called the Better Cybercrime Metrics Act, which would require the Justice Department and the FBI to compile more detailed statistics about cybercrime as well as develop a taxonomy to help contextualize and sort this data.

"What we do not measure, we cannot fix. By improving reporting on cybercrime, this bill is the first step toward fighting back against a massive scourge afflicting consumers, communities and our economy," says Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., one of several senators co-sponsoring the bill. govinfosecurity.com

AI & Security
The Impact of Analytics on Security

Once over-promised and under-delivered, analytics are finally reaching their potential in security applications.

"AI and deep learning were launched around five years ago with much hype rather than an educational approach, which left both systems integrators and end users a bit confused on the differences between AI, machine learning and deep learning," says Jason Burrows, Western sales director at IDIS America, Coppell, Texas.

"Some early offerings disappointed as they were launched prematurely, before engines were fully trained and able to recognize objects reliably and accurately. The cost and complexity of early-to-market AI applications made users question the value of deployment, configuration and operator use. This was compounded by privacy concerns and a greater storage burden. As a result, many end users were reticent, and systems integrators were unclear on which solutions would be best suited to meet their customer's needs."

Many of these concerns are quickly fading, though. IDIS' 2020 global survey of more than 700 security integrators, consultants and end users showed that more end users had already begun adopting deep learning or had short- to medium-term plans to do so. The survey also showed that both integrators and end users had a clearer understanding of the main security challenges deep learning-powered analytics can overcome.

SDM's 2021 Industry Forecast Study showed similar changing attitudes. Of those surveyed, 45 percent said they currently offer video analytics, while 26 percent are planning on offering them in the next one to two years, 9 percent are planning on offering them in three to five years, and only 20 percent have no plans to offer them. In addition, 55 percent of security professionals surveyed expect revenue from analytics to increase over the next year.

Analytics can even detect cyber and terrorist attacks, Baker says. "Law enforcement and homeland security officials use analytics to monitor social media, phone communications, travel records and many other data sources to spot potential crimes or terrorist attacks before they occur." sdmmag.com

Security Patches Key to Preventing Breaches
Back-to-Basics: Keep Software Patched
As small and medium businesses begin to re-open following the pandemic, it's important to do so securely in order to protect customer's payment card data. Too often, data breaches happen as a result of vulnerabilities that are entirely preventable. The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) has developed a set of payment protection resources for small businesses. In this 8-part back-to-basics series, we highlight payment security basics for protecting against payment data theft. Today's blog focuses on keeping software patched.

Unpatched software is one of the leading causes of data breaches for businesses. Often, software has flaws or mistakes made by programmers when they wrote the code. Vendors regularly issue updates known as patches to fix these software vulnerabilities. When businesses don't apply software patches from vendors, hackers exploit these vulnerabilities to break into their computers and systems and steal payment data.

Timely installation of security patches is crucial to minimize the risk of being breached. In order to apply patches quickly, it is important that you know how your software is being regularly updated with patches and who is responsible (it could be you!). blog.pcisecuritystandards.org

New Android Malware Infects Thousands of Facebook Accounts
 

Register Now for the 2021 RH-ISAC Summit - September 28-29

Hey LP/AP senior: If your retailer is a member you might want to consider attending yourself or sending one of your team members who works with cybersecurity on investigations or e-commerce fraud.

Especially now with the increased ransomware attacks and data beaches and the corresponding increased attention from law enforcement. Cross pollinating and building those relationships could pay off long term.  Register here

4 Ways to Do More With Your Smartphone Camera

Smartphones create unique ways for us to capture and share the world around us, and with a reasonably up-to-date phone, you can utilize a few different functions to do more with your device. One option is to enable your phone's virtual assistant and go hands-free. By doing so, you can simply say "Hey, Siri, take a photo," or "OK, Google, take a selfie." Samsung Galaxy users can use Bixby to take photos and videos on command as well. Need to take a picture that's too wide? Use your phone's panoramic option to take photos and let the software combine them into one big picture. Choosing the slow-motion setting when recording videos is a great way to add drama to videos of sporting events, storms rolling in, or other nature scenes. Google Lens is a great tool which uses artificial intelligence, powered image-recognition, to identify objects in your shot and retrieve information about them from the internet. iPhone and Samsung users can download the Google or Bixby app to utilize on their devices.

Vaccinated or Not - Masks Return to Amazon
Amazon warehouse workers in the US are required to wear masks again

Masks must be worn, regardless of vaccination status

Amazon informed US warehouse employees on Friday that it is once again requiring them to wear masks to work in response to the spread of the more contagious COVID-19 delta variant (via CNBC and Bloomberg). The company says it offers access to vaccines to over half a million of its employees, but it will require employees to mask up, regardless of their vaccination status.

Amazon confirmed the mask mandate in an email statement to The Verge:

In response to the concerning spread of new COVID-19 variants in the U.S. and guidance from public health authorities and our own medical experts, we are requiring face coverings indoors regardless of vaccination status. We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to follow local government guidance and work closely with leading medical healthcare professionals, gathering their advice and recommendations as we go forward to ensure our buildings are optimized for the safety of our teams.

Non-warehouse employees currently don't have to deal with Amazon's policy change. The company recently adjusted its return-to-office plans on August 5th, pushing back its return date to January 2022. Like other companies, Amazon had previously considered implementing a hybrid work schedule, with plans to bring office workers back to offices for at least part of the week starting on September 7th.

Taking the extra precautions for warehouse employees seems like the right idea if it plans to continue having staff work in person. Amazon reported in October 2020 that 19,816 workers of its 1,372,000 frontline employees across Whole Foods and Amazon had COVID-19 "or where presumed positive" from March 1st to September 19th, 2020. theverge.com

Criticism Pushes Amazon to Respond
Amazon plans to cut waste following backlash over the destruction of unused products

They come less than two months after British broadcaster ITV reported that Amazon is destroying millions of items of unsold stock at one of its 24 U.K. warehouses every year, including smart TVs, laptops, drones and hairdryers.

Amazon has launched two programs as part of an effort to give products a second life when they get returned to businesses that sell items on its platform or fail to get sold in the first place.

The so-called Fulfilment by Amazon programs, announced in a blog post on Wednesday, will help to build a circular economy, the company said.

It comes less than two months after British broadcaster ITV reported that Amazon is destroying millions of items of unsold stock at one of its 24 U.K. warehouses every year, including smart TVs, laptops, drones and hairdryers.

The online giant was sharply criticized by U.K. lawmakers and environmental campaigners at the time and Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to look into the allegations. In a blog post on June 28, Greenpeace said ITV's investigation showed it was clear Amazon "works with within a business model built on greed and speed." The group also described the environmental and human cost of Amazon's wastefulness as "staggering."

In response, Amazon had said it is working toward a goal of zero product disposal and that no items are currently sent to landfill in the U.K. cnbc.com

DoorDash delivery can now include products from multiple stores

Spring, TX: Suspect fatally shot after opening fire on deputies responding to Walmart shoplifting call
Deputy constables shot and killed a man who allegedly opened fire on them outside a Spring-area Walmart store late Sunday, according to Harris County Precinct 4. The gunfire happened shortly after the deputies responded to a call about possible shoplifters at the store. Constable Mark Herman said store staff spotted a man and woman inside the business who were accused of previously stealing merchandise from another Walmart location.

Herman said the man and woman late Sunday were "literally filling baskets up" with merchandise, but they fled outside when they were confronted by the store's manager. Responding deputy constables were pointed to where the suspects went in the parking lot. They approached and ordered one male suspect to get out of the vehicle. He allegedly started to walk away but with a gun in his hand.

Constable Herman said the suspect brought the gun down to "shooting position" and began to fire at deputies. That's when the deputies returned fire, shooting and killing the suspect. The deputies were not hurt.

The woman and other male suspect in the vehicle fled the scene but were later arrested near Rankin and I-45 North, authorities said. Herman said the couple filling their basket inside the store Sunday night were previously spotted by Walmart security at another store location, who then notified other stores. "They would fill baskets of merchandise, take them out and put them in the car and take off," said Herman, who believes the same suspects are likely responsible for similar crimes at other Walmarts, too. khou.com
 

Robberies, Incidents & Thefts

Guam: Sex offender sentenced for stealing over $250,000 in merchandise from Navy Exchange
A former Guam Navy Exchange employee convicted of stealing over $250,000 worth of electronics was given two years in federal prison by a district court judge last week. Jesse Cruz Camacho, 57, of Harmon, Guam, pleaded guilty on April 6 to 16 counts of theft of government property, the Pacific Daily News reported at the time.

Prosecutors called Camacho a sexual predator who concealed past sexual assault convictions to obtain his position at the military retail store, The Guam Daily Post reported after the sentencing on Wednesday. After stealing the items, he sold some online while giving others as gifts to high school students, according to the report. "What we have here is a very disturbing pattern from a sexual predator," assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Petersburg said during the sentencing, the Post reported.

Camacho, a level-one sex offender, spent several years in custody and was dishonorably discharged after being convicted of sexually assaulting three younger service members in the early 1990s, Petersburg said, according to the Post. Information on Camacho's prior service was unavailable Tuesday. He also worked for a brief time at a local school as an aide but was fired after it learned about his past, the Post said. stripes.com

Houston, TX: HPD looking for suspect behind $22K worth of jewelry robberies across Houston area
Houston police need your help identifying a suspect wanted in connection to multiple robbery by force incidents at department stores across Houston. HPD's Robbery Division released surveillance video of a robbery at a department store at Memorial City Mall on July 6. Police say a man walked into the department store at about 12:15 p.m. and acted like a customer inquiring about a piece of jewelry. The man reportedly asked about a 14-carat, 8-millimeter Cuban bracelet or necklace that was valued at $6,300. When the employee took the item out of the display case and held it to show the man, he forcibly grabbed it from her and ran out of the store, police said. He got into a red Toyota Corolla with California plates and sped away from the scene, according to police. Investigators believe he is the same suspect that has targeted six different locations of the same department store throughout the area. Police say he tends to go for heavy chains and has reportedly stolen almost $22,000 worth of jewelry so far. abc13.com

Cleveland, OH: Man sentenced to 25 to 29 years in prison for 18 Armed Robberies
A 21-year-old Cleveland man was sentenced to 25 to 29 years in prison Monday for 18 armed robberies of gas stations within a 30-day period across Cuyahoga County in 2020. Mye Kel Cannady, 21, pleaded guilty to 18 counts of aggravated robbery, one count of failure to comply, one county of vandalism and one count of having weapons under disability. Between Aug. 27 to Sept. 26, Cannady robbed 17 gas stations, one of which he robbed twice, which included six in Cleveland, three in Parma, two in Lakewood, two in Independence and one each in Maple Heights, Brooklyn, Brook Park and Beachwood. According to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office, Cannady waited outside and then entered the stores and demanded money from the victims at gunpoint. The victims, males and females, ranged in age from 19 to 62 years old. During some of the robberies, he pistol-whipped victims and threatened their lives.  news5cleveland.com

Goshen, IN: Suspect charged in robberies of eight local businesses including McDonald's, Meijer and 7-Elevens

Savannah, GA: Man sentenced to 15 years in prison in spree of armed robberies

Montgomery, AL: Convicted Felon Sentenced For Illegally Possessing A Firearm During A Geneva Pawn Shop Burglary
 

Legislation

Ohio: Proposed bill to crackdown on counterfeit, stolen items posted on Online Marketplaces
Online shopping increased as many were forced to stay home during peak pandemic orders. With more turning to the internet, instead of stores, purchasing on online marketplaces became the norm. Instead of feeling and trying on goods, online shoppers put their faith in online platforms to determine if the items are legitimate. But many marketplaces online, have very few regulations. A proposed bill co-sponsored by State Representative Haraz Ghanbari (R-Perrysburg) is aiming to change that. "It requires verification of the seller," said Ghanbari. "If you are a legitimate seller, you are likely not going to have a problem registering your business. You are going to want to provide who you are, your business ID, what address you are operating from. Those are normal day-to-day transactions businesses have to provide anyways. But this will be one step to require that."

The Ohio Council of Retail Merchants represents more than 7,000 businesses in the state. Alex Boehnke, the Manager of Public Affairs testified in favor of a bill, looking to crackdown on illegal activities on the new online pawnshops. "It used to be when organized retail crime rings steal products from one of our members' stores and take them to a pawn shop and try to pedal them that way," said Boehnke. "Some of these online marketplaces have become a more convenient outlet." Boehnke said consumers may not even know they are purchasing from illegitimate sellers. "There are a tremendous amount of counterfeit products that are listed on these websites," said Boehnke. "To the unsuspecting consumer, they are aware that they are buying something that it is not purported to be."

Ghanbari tells 10TV the proposed legislation gives law enforcement more resources to investigate if online marketplaces had to vet each seller before allowing their business on a site. "If you are fraudulent, you are not going to want to provide that information or maybe you are going to set up an account or cancel an account," said Ghanbari. "This will allow law enforcement officers to observe some of those red flags or criminal indicators." But what will this do to the small business or person looking to sell items online? Ghanbari said the bill targets those selling at a certain dollar or transaction amount.

More than a dozen other states have similar legislation proposed. Proponents of this bill in Ohio include Ohio Chemistry Technology Council, The Game Manufacturers Association, Home Depot, Retail Industry Leaders Association, Meijer, Ohio Grocers Association, Ohio Manufacturers' Association, The Toy Association, Walgreens, and Walmart. 10tv.com

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	Seasonal Asset Protection Associate Charlotte, NC - posted August 10 The Asset Protection Associate (APA) is responsible for the detection, apprehension, or deterrence of customer and associate activity that could result in a loss to Ralph Lauren. APAs are also responsible for ensuring a safe environment for all customers, associates, and vendors...
	Area Loss Prevention Manager Pittsburgh, PA and/or Cleveland, OH - posted July 30 Our Area Loss Prevention Managers ensure safe and secure stores through the objective identification of loss and risk opportunities. Our Area Loss Prevention Managers plan and prioritize to provide an optimal customer experience to their portfolio of stores. They thrive on supporting and building high performance teams that execute with excellence...
	District Loss Prevention Manager Chicago South / Illinois Central - posted July 28 The District Loss Prevention Manager develops and implements the Loss Prevention program for 6 -15 selling locations. The DLPM is responsible for driving results through achievement of goals related to inventory shortage, budget lines, cash variance and operational compliance...
	Regional Manager LP, Audit & Firearms Compliance Indianapolis, IN - posted July 21 The Central Regional Loss Prevention Manager is responsible for the control and reduction of shrinkage at the stores in their Territory and the company's Distribution Centers. Investigate and resolves all matters that jeopardize or cause a loss to the company's assets...
	Senior AP Operations Manager, Supply Chain Albany, OR - posted July 14 As a Senior Assets Protection Operations Manager (SAPOM), you'll manage a multi-level team comprised of both exempt AP leaders and non-exempt AP Security Specialists responsible for the execution of Assets Protection routines and initiatives to support secure environments and protect Target's profitability...
	Field Loss Prevention Manager Chicago, IL - posted July 9 Manages and coordinates Loss Prevention and Safety Programs intended to protect Staples assets and ensure a safe work environment within Staples Retail locations. Conducts investigations in conjunction with Human resources involving Workplace violence and Ethics...

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