From Russia With Love - Again & Again
Ignoring Sanctions, Russia Renews Broad Cybersurveillance Operation

The new campaign came only months after Biden imposed sanctions on Moscow in response to a series of spy operations it had conducted around the world.

Russia's premier intelligence agency has launched another campaign to pierce thousands of U.S. government, corporate and think-tank computer networks, Microsoft officials and cybersecurity experts warned on Sunday, only months after President Biden imposed sanctions on Moscow in response to a series of sophisticated spy operations it had conducted around the world.

The new effort is "very large, and it is ongoing," Tom Burt, one of Microsoft's top security officers, said in an interview. Government officials confirmed that the operation, apparently aimed at acquiring data stored in the cloud, seemed to come out of the S.V.R., the Russian intelligence agency that was the first to enter the Democratic National Committee's networks during the 2016 election.

While Microsoft insisted that the percentage of successful breaches was small, it did not provide enough information to accurately measure the severity of the theft.

Earlier this year, the White House blamed the S.V.R. for the so-called SolarWinds hacking, a highly sophisticated effort to alter software used by government agencies and the nation's largest companies, giving the Russians broad access to 18,000 users. Mr. Biden said the attack undercut trust in the government's basic systems and vowed retaliation for both the intrusion and election interference. But when he announced sanctions against Russian financial institutions and technology companies in April, he pared back the penalties.

American officials insist that the type of attack Microsoft reported falls into the category of the kind of spying major powers regularly conduct against one another. Still, the operation suggests that even while the two governments say they are meeting regularly to combat ransomware and other maladies of the internet age, the undermining of networks continues apace in an arms race that has sped up as countries sought Covid-19 vaccine data and a range of industrial and government secrets. nytimes.com

International Cybercrime Effort
Updated Cybercrime Pact Aims to Speed Cross-Border Investigations

The proposed changes are an attempt to inject some alacrity into sluggish cross-jurisdictional inquiries that give hackers time to disappear along with evidence

Coming changes to an international cybercrime agreement aim to give law-enforcement authorities in the U.S., Europe and other countries swifter and easier access to data outside their jurisdictions.

The main changes to the Budapest Convention, in effect since 2004, focus on updating investigative tools that are too slow to be effective in cybercrime cases, where hackers move quickly and data can disappear. Under the revised agreement, new legal channels would make it easier for prosecutors and police to obtain digital evidence quickly by directly contacting technology companies outside their jurisdiction, according to cybercrime experts.

The new protocols will be presented next month at an online conference organized by the Council of Europe, a Strasbourg, France-based international organization that oversees the Budapest Convention. Governments will be able to sign on to the protocols next year.

The original convention, signed by 65 countries including the U.S., Japan, Ukraine and European Union members, set out common definitions for hacking and other types of cybercrime. That uniformity has already helped prosecutors and police cooperate across borders, said Peter Swire, a professor in the school of cybersecurity and privacy at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The accord also has prompted officials to request more data from their foreign counterparts during cybercrime investigations, he said.  wsj.com

U.S. officials caution companies about risks of working with Chinese entities in AI and biotech
U.S. counterintelligence officials have begun a concerted push to warn companies and universities about the risks of working with Chinese entities in key emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology and quantum computing.

Officials stressed that they are not advocating that industry and researchers "decouple," or cut all ties with these entities, but they say they want people to understand that the Chinese government has a sweeping national plan to dominate in these fields.

Beijing's strategy includes acquiring data and know-how, not just through hacking and other illicit acts but also through legal means such as acquisitions, investments and partnerships that businesses and researchers may not realize pose risks, top officials at the National Counterintelligence and Security Center said.

NCSC officials have begun their outreach in the past few months to raise awareness primarily about China but also about Russia, which is striving to make advances in AI and quantum technologies. washingtonpost.com

Follow the Money
DarkSide Transfers $7 Million Worth of Bitcoin
Following a massive outage of the notorious REvil - aka Sodinokibi - ransomware operation due to coordinated law enforcement efforts involving the U.S. and foreign partners, the operators behind DarkSide ransomware have moved bitcoin worth almost $7 million to multiple new wallets, making it more difficult to track.

Just hours after reports about REvil itself getting hacked and being forced offline by a multicountry operation, DarkSide ransomware operators quickly started transferring funds into multiple accounts.

"Preliminary research is showing it's starting to look like typical ransomware money heist path. Someone cashing out? govinfosecurity.com

National Vulnerability Database (NVD) API Keys are NOW Available
To better serve the growing number of NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD) users, substantial changes are being made to the way that users interact with the Application Programming Interface (API). API keys are available now - and requestors are encouraged to begin using them as soon as possible. Six months from now, those using API keys may continue making requests at today's rate. However, those not using an API key by then will experience a reduction in the number of requests that can be made each minute (keys are associated with the email address of a single requestor). Request Your Key

How We Can Narrow the Talent Shortage in Cybersecurity

Amazon Unfazed by Supply Chain Crisis
Amazon says it's prepared for supply chain snarls as holidays loom

Amazon said a combination of planes, trucks, ships, vans and well-staffed warehouses as well as inventory planning and added capacity at ports should prepare it for the holidays.

Amazon on Monday reassured shoppers and industry watchers that it's well-prepared to avoid supply-chain challenges during the holiday season.

In a blog post, Amazon said a combination of planes, trucks, ships and delivery vans, along with staffed-up warehouses, has put it in a good position to "get customers what they want, when they want it, wherever they are this holiday season."

Retailers are entering what's poised to be a particularly challenging holiday shopping period, due to existing supply-chain woes, inflationary pressures and labor shortages. Several factors are behind the issues, including skyrocketing shipping container costs and container shortages, Covid-19 outbreaks at shipping ports, as well as a shortage of workers needed to unload containers and handle goods at warehouses.

Experts have warned that consumers could see more out-of-stock notices, longer delivery times and fewer deals as a result. Many retailers nudged consumers to begin their holiday shopping early to avoid any snafus. Earlier this month, Amazon launched "Black Friday-worthy" deals to jump-start the holiday shopping season.

Amazon said it's invested more in inventory planning and partnerships with suppliers so it has enough goods on hand while making sure it can route items to where they're urgently needed.

It has also doubled its shipping container processing capacity by increasing ports of entry and partnered with more ocean freight carriers to secure space in "critical ports." cnbc.com

Amazon HR Problems Could Fuel Unions
Inside Amazon's Worst Human Resources Problem
A knot of problems with Amazon's system for handling paid and unpaid leaves has led to devastating consequences for workers.

Unbeknown to Ms. Jones, her message to Mr. Bezos set off an internal investigation, and a discovery: Ms. Jones was far from alone. For at least a year and a half - including during periods of record profit - Amazon had been shortchanging new parents, patients dealing with medical crises and other vulnerable workers on leave, according to a confidential report on the findings. As many as 179 of the company's other warehouses had potentially been affected, too.

That error is only one strand in a longstanding knot of problems with Amazon's system for handling paid and unpaid leaves, according to dozens of interviews and hundreds of pages of internal documents obtained by The New York Times. Together, the records and interviews reveal that the issues have been more widespread - affecting the company's blue-collar and white-collar workers - and more harmful than previously known, amounting to what several company insiders described as one of its gravest human resources problems.

Workers across the country facing medical problems and other life crises have been fired when the attendance software mistakenly marked them as no-shows, according to former and current human resources staff members, some of whom would speak only anonymously for fear of retribution. nytimes.com

The case against Mark Zuckerberg: Insiders say Facebook's CEO chose growth over safety
The SEC has been asked to probe whether his iron fisted management style, described in newly released documents and by insiders, led to disastrous outcomes.

While it's unclear whether the SEC will take the case or pursue action against the CEO personally, the allegations made by the whistleblower represent arguably the most profound challenge to Zuckerberg's leadership of the most powerful social media company on Earth. Experts said the SEC - which has the power to seek depositions, fine him and even remove him as chairman - is likely to dig more deeply into what he knew and when. Though his direct perspective is rarely reflected in the documents, the people who worked with him say his fingerprints are everywhere in them. washingtonpost.com

Amazon warehouse workers in New York file petition to hold unionization vote

CFPB Targets Amazon, Facebook, Others In Payments Probe

Loss Prevention Association Awards North & South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers of the Year

Raleigh, NC - The Carolinas Organized Retail Crime Alliance (CORCA) recently recognized both the North Carolina and South Carolina 2021 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year at their annual conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The 2021 North Carolina Law Enforcement Officer of the Year is Officer Joel Wing, a 22-year veteran of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Officer Wing has been a Community Coordinator in the Providence Division for approximately 13 years where he works closely with SouthPark Mall and surrounding retail businesses.

Investigator Donald "Donny" Sands was named the 2021 South Carolina Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. A member of the criminal investigations division of the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office, Investigator Sands has spent 25 years working in emergency services. Currently Investigator Sands covers shoplifting in the south/central region of Spartanburg County, is assigned to the Arson Unit and is the Arson K9 handler.

Target Asset Protection Team Leader, Jacob Krawiec, from Spartanburg County nominated Investigator Sands for the award.

Read more here
 

New York, NY: Grab-n-Go Thieves Swipe $18,526 in Eyewear from LensCrafters, Including Lots of Prada
Last Thursday around noon, a team of six thieves allegedly walked into LensCrafters at 2050 Broadway (70th), grabbed 37 pairs of sunglasses and glasses frames and fled with the loot, valued at $18,526, an NYPD spokesperson told WSR. Some pairs were priced at $1,395, $1,446 and $1,524 apiece, NYPD said, noting the complaint mentions 13 Prada items swiped. "There was no use of force threatened. No injuries," NYPD said. Though the complaint mentioned six male suspects, a 20th Precinct tweet says detectives are seeking five men and one woman for the grand larceny. westsiderag.com

Chicago, IL: Concealed carry holder foiled organized tobacco thieves at River North Walgreens - but they are still raiding stores
Two men who have stolen large volumes of cigarettes from Walgreens stores across the North Side had a little scare when they targeted one of the chain's River North stores on October 14: They came face to face with a concealed carry holder who sent them running. CWBChicago first told you about the thieves one month ago. But, according to a new community alert from Chicago police, the thieves have struck several more times since then - including two thefts within hours of being confronted by the licensed gun carrier.

Police went to the Walgreens at 641 North Clark in River North around 8:30 p.m. on October 14 after two men hopped the front counter, confronted a manager, and began collecting cigarettes. But a concealed carry holder interrupted the theft, and the duo ran away. But they must not have been too scared. According to a CPD report, they struck again 30 minutes later at Walgreens' 834 West Armitage location in Lincoln Park. Once again, they forced their way over the counter and stole tobacco products.

Last week, Chicago police issued a community alert to warn stores in Jefferson Park and Albany Park about two men who have repeatedly gone behind the front counters of retail stores to steal "large amounts of cigarettes" in plastic bags. Then, they targeted two more stores in Logan Square within 30 minutes: at 2440 West North Avenue and 3110 West Armitage. CPD records show the men hit a Walgreens at 4343 North Central in Portage Park earlier in the day. On Friday, police issued a community alert about the thieves, who are also responsible for stealing piles of tobacco products from Walgreens stores at 3222 North Milwaukee at 8:47 p.m. October 19; 5935 West Addison at 9:55 p.m. October 19; and 4343 North Kedzie at 3:24 p.m. on October 20. cwbchicago.com

Ventura County, CA: Vegas man arrested after string of Home Depot thefts
A Las Vegas man was arrested earlier this month in connection with a string of power tool thefts from Home Depots in Camarillo, Oxnard, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, authorities said. The Ventura County Sheriff's Office said the 24-year-old Nevada man was ultimately taken into custody Oct. 13 after he was spotted at the Camarillo store walking out with brand name power tools. A store employee confronted the man, and the alleged thief pushed past the worker and fled, sheriff's officials said. Employees were able to get a description of the man's vehicle and his license plate. Sheriff's deputies determined the vehicle had been reported stolen from Inglewood. The man was later arrested by sheriff's deputies after he was pulled over in Thousand Oaks, authorities said. Deputies said they also found evidence of power tools stolen from a Home Depot in Goleta. The man allegedly walked out of other Ventura County locations five times without paying, the sheriff's office said. The man is accused of stealing thousands of dollars in merchandise during September and October in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. vcstar.com