Retail's Facial Recognition Expansion
Will retailers use facial recognition tech to reshape store layouts?
New university research explores how grocers can take advantage of in-store cameras employing advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to read facial expressions - raising an eyebrow, opening eyes, smiling - to enhance store layouts.

"Emotion recognition algorithms work by employing computer vision techniques to locate the face, and identify key landmarks on the face, such as corners of the eyebrows, tip of the nose and corners of the mouth," said Dr. Kien Nguyen of Australia's Queensland University of Technology, in a press release.

He added, "Other behaviors like staring at a product and reading the box of a product are a gold mine for marketing to understand the interest of customers in a product."

Researchers note that while use of facial recognition in the retail setting is "still controversial" due to privacy concerns, the footage data can be de-identified or made anonymous so that customers would be examined only at an aggregate level.

AI has also become widely used with in-store cameras for shoplifting prevention and increasingly used for applications such as pay-with-your-face, check-out free grocery stores, and visual and voice search, according to the study.

Along with understanding emotions through facial cues and customer characterization, layout managers could employ heatmap analytics, human trajectory tracking and customer action recognition techniques to inform their decisions.

Privacy concerns haven't abated. In July, Kmart and Bunnings in Australia were forced to pause the use of facial recognition technology in their stores they claimed was being used for security purposes amid an investigation from Australia's privacy regulator. retailwire.com

$3.1B Walmart Opioid Settlement
Walmart to Pay $3.1 Billion to Settle Opioid Lawsuits

Retailer joins CVS, Walgreens in landmark settlement with states, cities and tribes

Walmart Inc. has agreed to pay $3.1 billion to settle opioid-crisis lawsuits brought by several U.S. states and municipalities, adding to a landmark settlement with rival pharmacy chains.

The agreement resolves a collection of lawsuits brought by states, cities and Native American tribes. Earlier this month, CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. agreed to pay roughly $5 billion apiece to settle the lawsuits. The companies didn't admit wrongdoing in their deals.

The Walmart agreement was announced the same morning that the retail giant reported its latest quarterly results. The company said it took $3.3 billion in charges in the last quarter related to opioid settlements.

Each state, local government and tribe will need to decide whether to participate in the settlement. Plaintiff's attorneys that lead negotiations are encouraging them to do so, saying the payments hold the pharmacies accountable for their alleged roles in the opioid abuse.

Walmart said in a statement that it strongly disputes allegations made in the lawsuits and that the settlement isn't an admission of liability. The company said its settlement payments will reach communities faster than other deals. CVS is paying out over 10 years, and Walgreens over 15 years.

Walmart has roughly half as many locations as either CVS or Walgreens, which combined have roughly 19,000 U.S. drugstores. Walmart has faced scrutiny related to how it prescribed opioids from the federal government.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in December 2020 over its alleged role in the opioid crisis, claiming Walmart sought to boost profits by understaffing its pharmacies and pressuring employees to fill prescriptions quickly. The settlement with the states doesn't cover the federal case, which Walmart has sought to have dismissed. wsj.com

The Progressive View of the Kroger-Albertsons Merger
Op-Ed: How Albertsons, Kroger merger could hurt California's economy
Federal and state regulators have the power - and the obligation - to prevent monopolies that gouge our pocketbooks. If they don't, consumers could wind up paying even higher prices for essentials while stores shutter.

Attorneys general in California and five other states filed lawsuits to halt the $4 billion dividend until regulatory review of the merger is completed, but a federal court denied the petition. Fortunately, a Washington court has issued a temporary restraining order, but it's only a pause on the payment.

Consumers depend on fair play when they go to the grocery store. Elected leaders from the local to federal level must urge the Federal Trade Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission to stop this merger to protect shoppers, jobs and communities.

It is urgent to act now because Albertsons is providing Kroger with a powerful "failing firm" defense of the merger. The $4 billion dividend Albertsons wants to pay out to its private equity shareholders is one-third of its current value, and sets up a potential Albertsons bankruptcy since the company is ravaged by debt.

Instead of having workers struggle with wages below the cost of living and disrespectful work requirements, Kroger and Albertsons can use the $4 billion dividend to pay their workers more, make stores safer or lower prices for customers pinching every penny they can.

This merger will just bring more pain to California's communities - more families struggling to buy groceries, more understaffed and unsafe stores, and more jobs lost. calmatters.org

   RELATED: Kroger more likely to divest closer to 375 stores

Walgreens Closures Under Fire in Boston
Boston officials accuse Walgreens of 'racism' for closing some stores
Boston city officials have accused Walgreens of racism after the pharmacy giant said it would be closing three stores in primarily Black and Hispanic neighborhoods.

The statement came in response to Walgreens announcing it was closing three pharmacies in the Boston neighborhoods of Hyde Park, Nubian Square and Mattapan - all of which are mostly non-white working-class communities.

Councilor Brian Worrell also accused Walgreens of closing these facilities without conducting studies on the possible impacts or giving enough notice to customers. On Wednesday, the city council passed a resolution requesting that Walgreens postpone all closures of Boston locations until it meets certain commitments.

City councilors argued that having a Walgreens in the neighborhood was vital for many residents who do not have cars, are low-income and need access to medicines and household goods. foxbusiness.com

Retailers' biggest holiday wish is to get rid of all that excess inventory
Walmart, Target, Gap, Kohl's and others are trying to sell through a glut of extra merchandise piling up in store backrooms and warehouses.

Major retailers closing on Thanksgiving 2022

Party City taps new COO to optimize supply chain

Salary negotiations: If people expect inflation to slow, raises stay low
 

Retailers Vulnerable to Black Friday Cyberattacks
UK: Retail sector vulnerable to cyberattacks over Black Friday weekend

Retailers were more likely to have significant vulnerabilities than other organisations

Britain's retail sector is one of the worst equipped to deal with cyber attacks ahead of the busy Black Friday and Christmas period, according to security advisor Coalfire.

Some 64% of retail brands have at least one significant cybersecurity weakness that could be easily exploited by a hacker, according to Coalfire's data.

Coalfire conducted 1,500 penetration tests on 564 businesses, it said, simulating real-world cyberattacks, adding that retailers were more likely to have significant vulnerabilities than other organisations.

Financial services were second, with 61% having at least one significant vulnerability, followed by healthcare with 57% and tech with 56%.

Cyber-attacks have been on the rise this year, boosting business for cybersecurity firms such as Darktrace and Crossword Cybersecurity.

Darktrace upped its profit guidance as the fear of a cyberwar in Ukraine increased demand for defence services, while Crossword reported a 85% increase in sales due to the "rising number" of attacks.

The impact of a cyber-attack on a retail business has already been seen, when TheWorks was forced to close its stores as a result of a hack earlier this year. proactiveinvestors.co.uk

CISOs Facing Rapid Changes in the External Threat Landscape
How can CISOs catch up with the security demands of their ever-growing networks?
Vulnerability management has always been as much art as science. However, the rapid changes in both IT networks and the external threat landscape over the last decade have made it exponentially more difficult to identify and remediate the vulnerabilities with the greatest potential impact on the enterprise.

With a record of 18,378 vulnerabilities reported by the National Vulnerability Database in 2021 and an influx of new attack techniques targeting increasingly complex and distributed environments, how can CISOs know where to start?

Why has maintaining network visibility become such a challenge?

Heavy investments into digital transformation and cloud migration have rendered significant, foundational changes to the enterprise IT environment. Gartner predicts end-user spending on public cloud services will reach almost 600 billion in 2023, up from an estimated $494.7 billion this year and $410.9 in 2021.

Long gone are the days when security teams could concern themselves only with connections to and from the data center; now they must establish effective visibility and control of a sprawling, complex network that includes multiple public clouds, SaaS services, legacy infrastructure, the home networks of remote users, etc. Corporate assets are no longer limited to servers, workstations, and a few printers; teams must now secure virtual machines on premise and in the cloud, IoT devices, mobile devices, microservices, cloud data stores, and much more - making visibility and monitoring infinitely more complex and challenging.

In many cases, security investments have not kept up with the rapid increase in network scope and complexity. In other cases, agile processes have outpaced security controls. This results in security teams struggling to achieve effective visibility and control of their networks, resulting in misconfigurations, compliance violations, unnecessary risk, and improperly prioritized vulnerabilities that provide threat actors with easy attack paths.

Adversaries are specifically targeting these blind spots and security gaps to breach the network and evade detection. helpnetsecurity.com

North Korea Stole $1B in Crypto So Far This Year
How North Korea became a mastermind of crypto cybercrime

Cryptocurrency theft has become one of the regime's main sources of revenue.

The successful crypto heists illustrate North Korea's growing sophistication as a malign cyber actor. Western security agencies and cyber security companies treat it as one of the world's four principal nation-state-based cyber threats, alongside China, Russia, and Iran.

According to a UN panel of experts monitoring the implementation of international sanctions, money raised by North Korea's criminal cyber operations are helping to fund the country's illicit ballistic missile and nuclear programs. Anne Neuberger, US deputy national security adviser for cyber security, said in July that North Korea "uses cyber to gain, we estimate, up to a third of their funds for their missile program."

Crypto analysis firm Chainalysis estimates that North Korea stole approximately $1 billion in the first nine months of 2022 from decentralized crypto exchanges alone.

The rapid collapse last week of FTX, one of the biggest exchanges, has highlighted the opacity, erratic regulation, and speculative frenzies that have been the central features of the market for digital assets. North Korea's growing use of crypto heists has also served to demonstrate the absence of meaningful international regulation of the same markets. arstechnica.com

The Lasting Mental Impact of Ransomware Attacks
Video: The psychological fallout of a ransomware crisis
Northwave has conducted scientific research into the psychological fallout of a ransomware crisis on both organizations and individuals. The findings reveal the deep marks that a ransomware crisis leaves on all those affected. It also shows how their IT and security teams can turn into disarray long after the problem has passed.

In this Help Net Security video, Inge van der Beijl, Director Behaviour & Resilience at Northwave, talks about the research findings and illustrates how the psychological impact of ransomware attacks can persist on people in affected organizations for a very long time. helpnetsecurity.com

Australia Declares War on Cybercrime Syndicates
An international counter-ransomware task force has been announced by Australian authorities following the recent Optus and Medibank data breaches.

Unwanted emails steadily creeping into inboxes

Researchers Sound Alarm on Dangerous BatLoader Malware Dropper

St Louis County, MO: Suspects steal over $22K in merchandise from Kohl's
Four Texas women are being held on $75,000 cash-only bonds for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars in merchandise from St. Louis department stores. According to the St. Louis County Police Department, 33-year-old Lavina Ghelmegeanu, 39-year-old Desdemona Dila, 31-year-old Ana Curuera and 32-year-old Ecsmira Vasile were charged with stealing $750 or more. Police said the women entered the Kohl's department store on Gravois Bluffs Plaza Drive in Fenton at about 2:30 p.m. Friday and stole more than $12,000 worth of cosmetics from the Sephora located within the store. The women were found in possession of the stolen cosmetics as well as merchandise stolen from other area Kohl's stores. In total, more than $22,000 in stolen merchandise was recovered. kmov.com

Suisun City police continue probe into armed robbery of pot shop
Four armed men robbed a Suisun City dispensary of cash and marijuana late Sunday night, but the thieves made a getaway, the Suisun City Police Department reported. In a social media post, department officials said dispatchers received a call at 10:55 p.m. about a vehicle that had crashed into a fence at a "business in the 500 block of Railroad Ave." While police did not identify the business in their post, another social media site, Solano County Community Awareness, identified the business. While responding to the collision, dispatchers received additional information that someone had a gun at the location and a possible robbery was in progress. At about 11 p.m. officers arrived on scene but the suspects were gone. The investigation revealed four armed men approached an employee to gain access to the dispensary. "The men held the employees at gunpoint and stole merchandise and currency from the store," the post's author wrote, adding that officers canvassed the scene for evidence and witnesses. thereporter.com

Oak Forest, IL: Thieves ram stolen car into Oak Forest gun range, steal 23 guns
Plywood covered a front window panel at the Eagle Gun Range on Monday morning. That is where thieves used a stolen car to smash their way into the range and make off with nearly two dozen guns. Security cameras captured numerous images of the suspects who were wearing stocking caps and masks. Police released several of the images, hoping someone may recognize the suspects. "Concerning, yes," said Giovanni Magana, a customer. "They're gonna have a bunch of guys running around shooting, selling guns under the table, so it's scary, you know?" Police said they responded to an alarm at the store at 5900 West 159th Street a little after 3:00 a.m. on Sunday. They recovered the stolen vehicle. Detectives said there were four suspects, who were able to steal 23 guns before fleeing the scene. abc7chicago.com

Jonesboro, AR: Smash and Grab Jewelry Robbery at JC Penney
An evening smash-and-grab in Craighead County has those in one community wondering if they're safe. On Sunday, Nov. 13, Jonesboro police responded to a robbery at the JCPenney on Highland Drive, where employees said five men smashed cases and ran off jewelry. kait8.com

Suwannee County, FL: Three suspects accused of shoplifting at multiple stores captured
According to the Suwannee County Sheriff's Office (SCSO), they responded to a report of four suspects that were shoplifting at Walmart. SCSO says a loss prevention employee told the deputy these suspects were going to multiple Walmart locations in a Uhaul van they rented. The suspects were also seen inside of a local Walmart and where they tried to leave without paying for their items. They were later stopped by an employee. "While he was speaking to the Walmart loss prevention employee, she advised him that two of the same subjects were now running out of Hibbett Sports carrying merchandise," according to the Suwannee County Sheriff's Facebook page. After demanding multiple times, the K9 then captured the driver Peter Joe Knight, who suffered a K9 bite. Deputies say they searched the truck and found the stolen items from Hibbett Sports along with cocaine. mycbs4.com

Odessa, TX: Man with 17 prior theft convictions accused of stealing Tide Pods
An Odessa man with multiple theft convictions on his record was arrested earlier this month for allegedly stealing again. Tony Hudson, 53, has been charged with felony Theft. According to court records, on November 8, officers with the Odessa Police Department were called to United Supermarket on E 8th Street to investigate a shoplifting suspect. Officers said a man, later identified as Hudson, was caught on camera stuffing two hoodie style jackets and four containers of Tide Pods. Hudson then tried to exit the store without paying for the merchandise, valued at more than $150, but was stopped by employees. Investigators then discovered Hudson has been convicted of theft at least 17 times; most recently, he was convicted of theft in Ector County in February. Hudson was arrested and taken to the Ector County Law Enforcement Center where he remained as of Monday afternoon. His bond has been set at $5,000. yourbasin.com

Cabarrus County, NC: Cabarrus County Deputy named North Carolina CORCA North Carolina Law Enforcement Officer of the Year
A Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office investigator was given the Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award by Carolinas Organized Retail Crime Alliance. The CORCA board, presented the award to Investigator Joe Calabro in person Thursday, Nov. 10. Calabro was an integral part in two large-scale investigations that dismantled two separate organized retail theft operations in the past year. "The partnership between law enforcement and retail loss prevention officers is extremely important in combatting this growing crime trend," the sheriff's office wrote in a Facebook post. "The Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office is proud of Deputy Calabro and the hard work and dedication he brought to these investigations and the many others he works throughout the year."  independenttribune.com

   Click here to read the D&D Daily's recap of 2022 CORCA conference

Collierville, TN: Surveillance video shows 4 thieves stealing cases of liquor