LPRC: Humans + AI three times more accurate

New research reveals humans assisted by face matching technology more likely to correctly identify a subject's face

Humans assisted by AI face matching technology were three times more likely to correctly identify a subject's face than without AI, according to new research.

The Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC) provides evidence-based solutions addressing retail loss, safety, and fraud prevention. Dr. Cory Lowe, LPRC senior research scientist, presented his research results October 4, 2022, during the annual IMPACT conference hosted at the University of Florida.

In a presentation titled "Face Off: Examining the Role of AI in Reducing Bias and Improving Decision-Making," Lowe explained how he pitted unaided research participants against those using AI face matching technology. LPRC selected FaceFirst software for the tests. Researchers installed the software in the LPRC lab and conducted the tests independently.

Lowe showed a diverse array of fictional offender faces to 155 research participants; 78 unassisted, 77 assisted. Among the unassisted group, 77 percent misidentified the fictional subjects in a photo lineup just minutes after seeing the fictional subject image. The assisted group got it right 63 percent of the time. "The assisted group did nearly three times better," Lowe said. "There was a 2.7 times improvement in accuracy when assisted by facial recognition."

For context: Humans were only correct on their own 23 percent of the time, even with a small sample of faces they had been shown just minutes earlier. No technology is 100 percent accurate in the wild, but humans alone are demonstrably prone to error. Lowe noted the participants were not told of the AI's accuracy alone (100 percent accurate in this study), so individuals may have discounted the solution's accuracy.

Watch for more details from the LPRC research, including how facial recognition can be used to reduce error and bias, and how it can narrow the LP focus to those individuals who are most likely to offend in retail locations.

FaceFirst considers use of AI with human oversight vital for retailers. Consider the risks of being caught unaware when a known offender enters your store. If you knew there was a proven solution to keep your valued customers and associates safer from violent offenders, would you implement it? The real risk is answering no. FaceFirst's solution is fast, accurate, and ethical-learn more today at facefirst.com.
 

The ORC Battle Online Begins with INFORM Act Passage

In Case You Missed It
INFORM Consumers Act Passes the U.S. House of Representatives

Cracking down on the online same of stolen & fake goods that fuel ORC

H.R. 5502, the "Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act," passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 381-39.

The INFORM Consumers Act requires online marketplaces to verify the identity of high-volume third-party sellers to help curb the sale of stolen and counterfeit merchandise.

According to the text of the bill, the act "requires online marketplaces to verify certain information regarding high-volume third party sellers of consumer products on such online marketplaces and to disclose to consumers certain contact and other information regarding such high-volume third party sellers."

   Read the full text of the bill here

NRF Statement on House Passage of INFORM Act

"There is no place for crime targeting retailers in American communities. Organized retail crime (ORC) is a multibillion-dollar problem where criminal enterprises plan, organize and execute large-scale thefts from retailers to sell illegally obtained goods for financial gain. These brazen crimes are not only dangerous but also impact retailers with significant financial losses and disruptions to business operations.

"NRF supports today's action in the House to advance the INFORM Consumers Act. We urge the House and Senate to enact this bipartisan legislation and send it President Biden before the end of the year."  nrf.com

RILA's Statement on INFORM Act Passage

"We are thrilled House lawmakers acted on this vital legislation today. It's a huge step forward in the fight against organized retail crime and keeping communities across the U.S. safe," said RILA Senior Executive Vice President, Public Affairs Michael Hanson.

"Retailers continue to be harmed by organized retail crime at record levels. These are not petty thefts, and they are not victimless crimes; they hurt retail employees, customers, families and their communities. The INFORM Consumers Act is a solution that holds bad actors accountable, and is supported by retailers, marketplaces, consumer groups, law enforcement and community groups.

"We applaud and thank Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) for their tireless fight to get the INFORM Consumers Act enacted into law. We urge lawmakers to act quickly and decisively to pass the INFORM Consumers Act before the end of the year." added Hanson.

Click here to see yesterday's 'Breaking News Alert' from the Daily on the bill's passage

Target's 50% Retail Crime Surge Making National Headlines
Target Says Rising Crime and Theft Are Hurting Its Results

Retailer is investing in training and technology to deter criminal activity at its stores

Target Corp. said it was dealing with more theft and crime at its stores and would invest in training and technology to deter criminal activity.

A Target spokesman said Wednesday that retail crime incidents at Target were up 50% from a year ago. He didn't say the number of incidents that happened each year.

"Along with other retailers, we've seen a significant increase in theft and organized retail crime across our business," Target Chief Executive Brian Cornell said on the call.

Retailers Walmart Inc. and Home Depot Inc. didn't mention crime in their earnings reports this week.

Organized retail crime was a "modest pressure" on Home Depot over the last quarter, a spokeswoman said. The company has used technology to try to make it more difficult to steal from stores, she added.

Theft is a growing problem in U.S. stores, retailers say. Organized crime rings have stolen billions of dollars worth of items from stores, the Coalition of Law Enforcement and Retail, a trade association, has said. Companies including Ulta Beauty Inc. and TJX Cos., which runs TJ Maxx and Marshalls, have said they earmarked money for investigating and stopping thieves. wsj.com

Another Calif. City - Sacramento - Fights ORC
Police boost patrols as Sacramento region deals with 'a problem with organized retail crime'

"Crime doesn't pay. This is not the way to make a future for yourself, and I would encourage you to get out while you still can."

California Highway Patrol says people can expect to see more patrols at shopping centers as this year's busy holiday shopping season kicks into high gear. Black Friday is next week, and CHP has a message for anybody planning to commit organized retail theft: "Crime doesn't pay."

Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 331, which targets organized retail theft. The bill gives CHP extra funds to collaborate more with local police and retailers. It provided funds for a CHP Task Force in the Bay Area, Southern California, and now the Sacramento region is being added to the list.

"The Sacramento Region has been identified as a region for having a problem with organized retail crime," Daughrity said.

A March smash and grab theft at the Roseville Galleria was a shock to shoppers, but since 2019, the California Highway Patrol says they have made 252 arrests related to retail theft and recovered $16 million in stolen goods from across the state.

"We want high visibility both from the California Highway Patrol and from our allied agency partners. And what that will hopefully do is deter criminal activity and dissuade people who are tempted to basically take and opportunity and keep it from happening," Daughrity said.

AB 331 also provides $255 million in grants for local law enforcement over the next three years to tackle retail theft. abc10.com

   RELATED: CA law enforcement agencies prep for increased crime during holidays

Training Must Keep Up With Rising Customer Aggression
Ways to Keep Your Store - and Employees - Safe

Training is key, and it must include realistic role-playing exercises.

Loss prevention and security at convenience stores have always been top of mind, but over the past few years, there has been increased concern over these issues.

"We've seen it through research, and experts have talked about the fact that coming out of a pandemic ... everyone's stress level has just been to the max for a long period of time," said Amber Bradley, founder and owner of Calibration Group, and this week's guest on the NACS Convenience Matters podcast. "Everybody's got a little less patience these days."

According to Bradley, because negative customer behavior has escalated, so should employee training on how to handle hostile customers. Every employee should not only be trained on how to deescalate a situation with customers, but they should also be taken through realistic role-playing exercises.

"If you're not training [with] some sort of role play, you're doing your employees a disservice," she said. "They need that muscle memory when someone comes in irate-what steps to take to keep yourself safe, of course, but also how to deescalate the situation."

Moving to loss prevention, Bradley said that a type of crime that is picking up is organized retail crime, and for c-stores specifically, fuel theft.

"You have trucks pulling up, they're manipulating the fuel pump in some manner, and they have huge cells in those cars, taking in all of this fuel. They have tripped the meter to say that it's one gallon versus 1,500 gallons," said Bradley, adding that another important piece to employee training is informing workers to not try and stop these instances from happening and call the police instead. convenience.org

Cargo Theft Prevention During the Holidays
'Tis the season: Preventing holiday cargo theft

Travelers helps clients amp up security on high-value loads

As the holiday shopping season descends, shippers should be aware that law-abiding consumers are not the only folks hoping to get their hands on this season's hottest gifts. It is time for high-value shippers to hone their theft-prevention plans and buckle down on security measures.

While all shippers should be paying attention, companies moving electronics should be on especially high alert this fall and winter. Popular electronics - namely gaming systems, smartphones, computers and tablets - tend to attract a lot of attention from cargo thieves. These pricey items sell quickly, making them easy to offload and allowing scoundrels to turn a quick profit.

"As the Christmas cargo starts to move, we will see some targeting of that," Scott Cornell, Travelers' Inland Marine Crime and Theft Specialist for Travelers, said. "The tricky part we're seeing this year is that cargo theft has been pretty elevated since the beginning of the pandemic. Don't get lulled into a false sense of security if there isn't a big number bump, numbers are already high."

Cargo theft numbers soared in 2020, and they still have not reverted to pre-pandemic levels. Even without significant year-over-year jumps, loads are more at risk now than they were just a few years ago.

There were 1,285 reported cargo thefts across the nation in 2021, according to CargoNet. Companies weathered a cumulative loss of $57,906,276 related to these incidents.

Big ticket items like computers and other electronics were the most targeted shipments, reinforcing the notion that shippers should buckle down on security measures surrounding electronic-heavy loads.  freightwaves.com

'Defund' Efforts Have Hurt Response Times & Made Crime Worse
Op-Ed: Demand that Seattle City Council maximize public safety in budget
Our constituents are demanding faster progress on reducing crime and homelessness and the decisions we make on the city's budget during the next week will determine Seattle's ability to deliver on both.

Seattle faces a fork in the road. The best path would increase public safety by efficiently investing the ample tax dollars City Hall already collects for our $7.4 billion annual budget. The unproductive path would defund safety priorities while exacerbating the financial unsustainability of city government.

As council members opposed to defunding the police, we believe Mayor Bruce Harrell's balanced budget proposal appropriately focused on the priority of increasing public safety. But the City Council's budget chair put forward this week a revised package that overshadows its positive investments by negatively echoing missteps from 2020.

Back in 2020, some city council members supported defunding Seattle police by 50%. Since then, 400-plus officers and detectives departed Seattle. In exit interviews, several cited the City Council as a reason. Emergency 911 response times and crime rates worsened.

Many people experiencing homelessness and suffering from addiction continue to be victimized by drug dealers and pulled into organized retail theft, while several homelessness encampments have experienced assaults, fires and even murders. Nearly 20% of all citywide shootings this year have a nexus to homelessness. It's not compassionate when government policies look the other way or to let people remain in those dangerous conditions.

Despite polling results, data on rising crime and what we hear from our constituents every day - as well as the clear message for change at City Hall sent by voters in November 2021 - the ill-advised policies still linger in a revised budget that a majority of City Council might enact this month. seattletimes.com

Houston sees 8.5% drop in violent crime, but the work continues, HPD chief says

Memphis intervention program credited for dip in violent crime

US: 100.1M Cases - 1.1M Dead - 97.6M Recovered
Worldwide: 642.1M Cases - 6.6M Dead - 621.4M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 362   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 813

1st Holiday Shopping Season in 3 Years That Isn't Dominated by COVID?
U.S. holiday shopping 2022: 'Tis the season to be (cautiously) optimistic
The holidays are back. After nearly three years of suppressed behavior resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, people are primed to go all out to celebrate for the holidays. In the survey, 55 percent of US respondents say they are excited about holiday shopping, and most people have the savings to spend.

Holiday shopping has already begun. Concerns about ongoing inflation and product availability-along with retailers' early planning this year-have encouraged US consumers to shop earlier than ever: 56 percent have already started shopping in October instead of waiting until later in the season.

Consumers are looking for value. Given economic uncertainty, consumers are being more surgical about how they spend. Nearly half of US survey respondents say they would switch stores if they found a better price elsewhere.

Even though many US consumers are in a better financial position than they were before the pandemic, inflation has remained above 8 percent since March 2022. mckinsey.com

Estimated Illnesses from Flu Doubled the Week of Oct 28
SHRM: Uptick in Respiratory Illnesses Hinders Attendance, Productivity
The rapid spread of flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), COVID-19 and the common cold this fall is causing a big wave of employee absences, with many staying at home to care for sick children or cope with closings in day cares and schools.

More than 100,000 Americans missed work last month because of child care problems, an all-time high that's even greater than during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It means missed paychecks, disruptions at home, and staffing shortages that erode productivity growth and increase business costs, said Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG.

Hospitals nationwide are at capacity because of RSV and other respiratory viruses. Workplaces are reporting unfilled shifts and lost revenue as employees call out for extended periods of time. Worker productivity posted the sharpest plunge on record in the first half of this year. shrm.org

China Lockdowns Continue Wreaking Havoc
Covid Lockdown Chaos Sets Off a Rare Protest in a Chinese City

Weary migrants thronged a street in the manufacturing hub of Guangzhou to protest food shortages and lengthy stay-at-home orders under China's strict "zero-Covid" policy.

A lengthy lockdown and shortages of food prompted residents to take to the streets in China's southern manufacturing hub of Guangzhou, a rare protest that reflected the growing public frustration with disruptions caused by the country's Covid restrictions.

China maintains the world's most stringent approach to Covid, a policy that relies heavily on mass lockdowns, quarantines and mandatory near-daily testing across the country. Whole regions and cities, including Shanghai, have been placed under strict lockdowns, derailing millions of people's lives, forcing businesses to close and stirring public outrage.

The psychological toll of China's "zero-Covid" policy is mounting. Earlier this month, a poorly managed outbreak in the world's largest iPhone assembly complex in Zhengzhou led to a worker exodus and a delay in iPhone shipments around the world. nytimes.com

BA.5 is no longer dominant in the U.S. for the first time since July

Leaders Share Perspectives on Managing Remote Workers

'Enterprise Trust' & The Chief Trust Officer (CTrO; 2.7%)

New Concept & C-Level Reputational Role Evolving Amidst the Chaos?
There's a lot of discussion about this & a few new positions

The Chief Trust Officer Role Can Be the Next Career Step for CISOs
On retail giant Walmart's cybersecurity careers page, some of the first words you see are "Trust is essential at Walmart." Major companies are taking trust seriously.

Cisco, SAP and Salesforce have all added a chief trust officer (CTrO) to their c-suite as the digital economy has elevated the importance of trust. Should retailers follow?

Some organizations are implementing creative approaches to establishing an enterprise trust strategy by expanding their C-suite benches to create dedicated management positions.

Is the chief trust officer position title inflation, or a C-suite role that matters? Jeff Pollard, VP, principal analyst at research and advisory company Forrester had his doubts, but once he started researching the role it became clear that the CTrO position is the natural, and important, next step in the CISO's career path.

During a keynote speech at the Forrester Security & Risk Forum 2022, Pollard talked about how trust is becoming essential to cybersecurity and by extension all business functions. Technology trust equals brand trust," he said.

Pollard has invested his time in speaking with CTrOs to learn about their responsibilities and how they got that title. "Every single chief trust officer that we found was a former chief information security officer," he said.

Many CISOs are already unofficially doing the work that comes with the CTrO role, according to Pollard. They are doing customer-facing work, navigating third-party risk management, and focusing on enterprise resilience.

"CISOs that spend more time on customer-facing activity, they are at companies that grow faster," Pollard asserted. "Cybersecurity touches revenue, and security leaders that are able to carve out the time to focus on customer activity help drive hyper growth."

A survey of just over 1,000 U.S. consumers by Clarify Capital found 55 percent seeing Amazon.com as trustworthy, making the platform the most trusted brand across industries. Trust levels for other major retailers included Walmart, 44 percent; Target, 36 percent; and Macy's, Albertsons and Lowe's, all at 22 percent. informationweek.com prnews.com weforum.org retailwire.com

Editor's Note: This will continue to become a focus point as metrics prove the value. Question is in retail are the CISO's the best candidate and will the C Suite seem the as such? And same holds true for the CSO's. And what about the those who reach the senior vice president roles in LP/AP? Are they likely candidates? If not it certainly is a focus that should be incorporated in one's professional development. Just a thought Gus Downing

OSHA's Workplace Safety Crackdown Continues
OSHA Implementing Measures to Reduce Food Processing Worker Injury Rate

In 2019, OSHA found that food production workers in Ohio had a nearly 57% higher rate of amputations and a 16% higher rate of fractures compared to the overall rates for manufacturers in the private sector.

Citing injury rates among the more than 90,000 food production workers in Illinois and Ohio significantly higher than other manufacturing workers, the U.S. Department of Labor has stepped up its outreach and enforcement efforts to reduce workplace hazards and better protect workers in these states.

In 2019, OSHA found that food production workers in Ohio had a nearly 57% higher rate of amputations and a 16% higher rate of fractures compared to the overall rates for manufacturers in the private sector. In Illinois, these workers experienced a nearly 29% higher rate of amputations and 14% higher rate of fractures when compared to rates for private-sector manufacturing jobs.

Once OSHA completes the three-month outreach effort, the program empowers the agency to schedule and inspect select food industry employers in Illinois and Ohio whose injury rates exceed the state average among all manufacturers. In April 2022, OSHA established a similar program in Wisconsin.

Between 2016 and 2020, OSHA investigated multiple fatalities, along with dozens of workers suffering amputations, fractures and crushed hands or fingers. Investigators often determined that the employers commonly failed to control hazardous energy or allowed workers to operate machines without adequate guarding.

In its outreach phase, OSHA will raise safety and health awareness with employers, professional associations, local safety councils, apprenticeship programs, local hospitals and occupational health clinics. Agency representatives will also deliver presentations to industry organizations and stakeholders, and encourage employers to use OSHA's free consultation services to help them implement machine safety strategies and ensure compliance with OSHA standards. ehstoday.com

Retailers Getting Creative To Hire
The retail labor shortage 'just isn't going away'
According to September data from integrated workforce management platform Magnit, retail associate pay is up 22% since 2018. In addition, with consumers' return to physical stores, demand for hiring retail workers is outpacing demand to hire warehouse workers for the first time since 2019. Competition is especially high for attracting and retaining staff for retail mall brands, with many upping the perks to attract both seasonal holiday workers and long-term staff.

"The labor shortage isn't going away for another few years. We just don't have as many people entering the workforce as we do leaving it," said Raleen Gagnon, vp and gm of total talent intelligence at Magnit. While the high unemployment compensation during the pandemic has often been cited as the main reason driving the retail worker shortage, Gagnon said several longer-term trends are at play, including competition from warehouses and shifting priorities among younger workers.

Hilary Lloyd, vp of marketing and CSR for North America at The Body Shop. She said the company was able to achieve a 15% increase in retail job applications in 2021 due to its Open Hiring policy enacted in 2020. Geared toward removing bias in hiring practices, the policy hires the first person to apply for the job if they are legally authorized to work in the U.S., can lift 25 pounds, can work eight hours and can describe why they want to work with customers. glossy.com

EU LE: 8 Criminal Networks Disrupted - 80 Arrests - 175 Criminal Cases
Europol: Food fraud: about 27,000 tonnes off the shelves
Operation OPSON XI targeting food fraud has led to an increased number of seizures of fake food and beverages across Europe. The operation, coordinated by Europol for EU-wide actions, took place between December 2021 and May 2022. Europol received reports from 26* countries that almost 27 000 tonnes of fake food had been seized. The operational activities were supported by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the European Commission Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE), European Commission Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), as well as national food regulatory authorities and private-sector partners. INTERPOL coordinated the activities led outside the EU.

Operations against food fraud target criminal networks that can seriously harm consumer health and safety. From rotten tuna to fake vodka with methyl alcohol and counterfeit vitamins, illegal food and beverages are a serious threat to EU citizens, who are often unaware that they are consuming poisonous products. To detect criminal activities, the national authorities conducted checks in customs areas, in physical and online market places, and across the food supply chain. Operational actions focused on seafood fraud and conducted targeted actions on alcohol and wine. europa.eu

Black Friday's In-Store Surge
Mastercard: Black Friday sales to rise 15%; in-store sales to see big increase
With many retailers closed again this year on Thanksgiving, shoppers are gearing up for a Black Friday shopping blitz - particularly in stores.

That's according to Mastercard Spending Pulse, which expects that U.S. retail sales (excluding automotive) will grow 15% on Black Friday (Nov.25) compared to last year. Mastercard SpendingPulse measures in-store and online retail sales across all payment types and is not adjusted for inflation.

In-store holiday sales are anticipated to be up 18% year-over-year, the report noted, building on last year's in-store momentum. The post-pandemic return of doorbusters, window displays and brick-and-mortar collaborations are continuing to drive shoppers back into stores, Mastercard noted. chainstoreage.com

Thanksgiving Weekend Shopping Explosion
Record 166.3 Million Shoppers Expected During Thanksgiving Weekend
WASHINGTON, November 17, 2022 - An estimated 166.3 million people are planning to shop from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday this year, according to the annual survey released today by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. This figure is almost 8 million more people than last year and is the highest estimate since NRF began tracking this data in 2017.

"While there is much speculation about inflation's impact on consumer behavior, our data tells us that this Thanksgiving holiday weekend will see robust store traffic with a record number of shoppers taking advantage of value pricing," NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. "We are optimistic that retail sales will remain strong in the weeks ahead, and retailers are ready to meet consumers however they want to shop with great products at prices they want to pay." nrf.com

LPF Announces LPC & LPQ Professionals for October
The Loss Prevention Foundation would like to recognize and congratulate the following individuals who successfully completed all of the requirements set forth by the board of directors to be LPQualified (LPQ) and/or LPCertified (LPC). View Full List Here

Southeastern Grocers Said to Be Looking for a Buyer
Move comes after Kroger-Albertsons merger news, last year's IPO withdrawal

UK: Retail sales rise but stores could face difficult Christmas

'Thundersnow' storm aimed at Buffalo could dump up to 6 feet of snow as Hochul declares state of emergency
 

Quarterly Results

Williams-Sonoma Q3 Comparable brand sales up 8.1%
   Pottery Barn sales up 19.6%
   West Elm sales up 4.2%
   Williams Sonoma sales down 1.5%
   Pottery Barn Kids and Teen sales down 4.8%

The Buckle Q3 comp's up 3%, online sales up 8.8%, net sales up 4%

Gap Q3 store sales up 1%, online sales up 5%, net sales up 2%
   Old Navy comp's down 1%, net sales up 2%
   Gap comp's up 4%, net sales flat
   Banana Republic comp's up 10%, net sales up 8%0
   Athleta comp's flat, net sales up 6%

Foot Locker Q3 comp's up 0.8%, total sales down 0.7%

Ross Stores Q3 comp's down 3%, net sales flat*

Children's Place Q3 store comp's down 10%, digital sales represent 50% of total sales, net sales down 8.8%

*First time ever the Daily has reported both Off-Pricer's sales decreases

FTC Prepping to Target Twitter Data Security?
Senate Democrats call on FTC to investigate Twitter's data security
A group of Senate Democrats including Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are calling on Federal Trade Commission to investigate potential security issues at Twitter since Elon Musk purchased and took over the company late last month.

In a letter to the FTC sent Thursday, lawmakers expressed concerns that the company may be in violation of consumer protection laws as well as in breach of a 2011 agreement the company reached with the agency over repeated security failures.

Fraudsters immediately used the service, Twitter Blue, to create accounts to impersonate corporations and individuals and spread fake news. Washington Post reporters were even able to create a verified account impersonating Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., one of the letter's signatories.

"Twitter knew in advance that there was high likelihood the Twitter Blue product could be used for fraud, and still it took no action to prevent consumers from being harmed until this rampant impersonation became a public relations crisis," wrote the letter's signatories, which also included Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Cory Booker, D-NJ, and Robert Menendez, D-NJ.

Lawmakers also expressed concerns that since Musk's takeover key executives responsible for the privacy, cybersecurity and safety have resigned and many employees tasked with preserving the platform's security have been cut.

Twitter was already under increased lawmaker scrutiny prior to the finalization of Musk's purchase after its former chief information security officer, Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that the company had misled regulators, consumers and its own board members about its security performance. cyberscoop.com

Cyberattack Costs Surge to $1 Million Per Incident
Zero-Trust Initiatives Stall, as Cyberattack Costs Rocket to $1M per Incident

Current data protections strategies are failing to get the job done, and IT leaders are concerned, while a lack of qualified IT security talent hampers cyber-defense initiatives.

Organizations are struggling with mounting data losses, increased downtime, and rising recovery costs due to cyberattacks - to the tune of $1.06 million in costs per incident. Meanwhile, IT security staffs are stalled on getting defenses up to speed.

That's according to the 2022 Dell Global Data Protection Index (GDPI) survey of 1,000 IT decision-makers across 15 countries and 14 industries, which found that organizations that experienced disruption have also suffered an average of 2TB data loss and 19 hours of downtime.

Most respondents (67%) said they lack confidence that their existing data protection measures are sufficient to cope with malware and ransomware threats. A full 63% said they are not very confident that all business-critical data can be reliably recovered in the event of a destructive cyberattack.

Their fears seem founded: Nearly half of respondents (48%) experienced a cyberattack in the past 12 months that prevented access to their data (a 23% increase from 2021) - and that's a trend that Colm Keegan, senior consultant for data protection solutions at Dell Technologies, says will likely continue.

"The growth and increased distribution of data across edge, core data center and multiple public cloud environments are making it exceedingly difficult for IT admins to protect their data," Keegan explains.

On the protection front, most organizations are falling behind; for instance, 91% are aware of or planning to deploy a zero-trust architecture, but only 12% are fully deployed.

And it's not just advanced defense that's lacking: Keegan points out that 69% of respondents stated they simply cannot meet their backup windows to be prepared for a ransomware attack.  darkreading.com

CISA Advisory
#StopRansomware: Hive Ransomware
Today, CISA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) #StopRansomware: Hive Ransomware to provide network defenders tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and indicators of compromise (IOCs) associated with Hive ransomware variants. FBI investigations identified these TTPs and IOCs as recently as November 2022.

Hive ransomware has targeted a wide range of businesses and critical infrastructure sectors, including Government Facilities, Communications, Critical Manufacturing, Information Technology, and-especially-Healthcare and Public Health (HPH).

CISA encourages network defenders to review the CSA and to apply the included mitigations. See StopRansomware.gov for additional guidance on ransomware protection, detection, and response.  cisa.gov

NIST Workshop on Performance Measurement Guide for Information Security
The NIST Cybersecurity Risk Analytics Team is hosting a virtual workshop to provide an overview of the proposed changes to Special Publication 800-55, Revision 2, Performance Measurement Guide for Information Security. The workshop will feature a panel of experts to discuss metrics for assessing security controls, policies, and procedures, as well as the current state of information security performance measurement.

The virtual public workshop will be held on December 13, 2022. Visit the workshop homepage at https://www.nist.gov/news-events/events/2022/12/cybersecurity-measurement-workshop for more details. See the publication details for a copy of the draft. Contact [cyber-measures@list.nist.gov] with any questions. content.govdelivery.com

Top security priorities for 2023

$18M Cargo Theft Crackdown
22 arrested in Train Cargo Thefts that netted $18 Million in goods
The Los Angeles Police Department said it has made a significant crackdown on a criminal network that was targeting railroad cargo containers. On Thursday, LAPD announced the arrests of 22 people in connection with the theft of $18 million in merchandise. In January, the Union Pacific tracks in downtown L.A. were littered with thousands of boxes after thieves routinely stole from passing trains. A public-private partnership called the Train Burglary Task Force is using a combination of modern technology and old-fashioned police work to stop the crimes. Tools like security cameras, artificial intelligence and fencing combined with increased patrols have reduced calls about railroad theft by 60 percent. The LAPD said it hopes publicity about the mass crackdown will send a clear message to anyone thinking about stealing from railroad cargo containers. wcjb.com

Chicago, IL: 'They know exactly what they're going after': Brazen theft at luxury retailer Moncler in Chicago
A video that's been seen more than 300,000 times shows a woman leaving a high-end retailer with an arm full of clothes and getting away in a waiting car. CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reported Thursday night from Oak Street, where police are still looking for the woman caught on video. That woman is seen on the sidewalk, then, she starts running onto to Oak Street with her arms full of merchandise. A woman runs with what appears to be at least two coats in her arms from luxury retailer Moncler, 59 E. Oak St. A police officer tries to stop her after seeing she left the store without paying for the merchandise. He reaches out for the woman, but she gets away. That's when a red Nissan pulls up and stops. The woman runs around the front of the car, goes to the rear passenger door and gets in. The driver tries to escape as the woman's foot is dragged on the ground. It happened at 2:45 Wednesday afternoon. Chicago police said two men also got into a waiting red sedan after taking merchandise from a store here on Oak Street.  cbsnews.com

Seattle, WA: $100,000 of merchandise stolen from Madrona jewelry shop
A Madrona business owner is trying to recover after thieves stole an estimated $100,000 in merchandise from her custom jewelry shop. The break-in happened overnight around 3:40 a.m. on Nov. 10 at HONED by Claire Kinder on the 1100 block of 34th Avenue. Surveillance video from the business shows three people in masks rummaging through merchandise. The store's owner, Claire Barrett, woke up to an alert of a break-in at her business, helplessly watching as the thieves pried a safe out of her shop and swiped her life's work and her gem collection right out the door in just three minutes. komonews.com

Suffolk County, NY: Brentwood Pawn shop owner charged with running Organized Retail theft ring
A pawnshop owner in Brentwood, along with several associates, has been indicted for allegedly running an organized retail theft crime ring that operated out of his shop, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney. Carlos Ulloa, 50, of Patchogue, owned and operated EZ Cash Pawn and Jewelry. He's also the renter of a warehouse in East Patchogue where numerous allegedly stolen items were recovered, Tierney says. Ulloa was indicted on numerous charges, including enterprise corruption and money laundering. "During the course of our investigation, we were able to identify additional associates involved in this massive stolen property fencing operation, and learned that their scheme originated in early May 2020, demonstrating these individuals had financially benefited from stealing other people's property for an extended period of time," said Tierney. Sandra Palomino, Henry Delgado and Sandra Cruz, along with several corporate entities, were also all indicted. Delago, 41, allegedly laundered the proceeds of the sale of the stolen merchandise. Cruz, 23, managed the warehouse and allegedly sold the stolen goods online through websites. Palomino was also a manager of the pawn shop and its employees.  fox5ny.com

Visalia, CA: Police on lookout for retail thieves this holiday shopping season
Even though Black Friday is still a week away, holiday shopping is in full swing. With an increase in foot traffic at local retailers, comes an increase in theft −petty and grand. Throughout the holiday shopping season, Visalia property crimes detectives and law enforcement officers statewide will be on the lookout for these criminals. On Wednesday, Visalia detectives worked a retail detail that focused on theft groups known to target businesses on Mooney Boulevard. During the detail, detectives responded to Dick's Sporting Goods. Police say three people were caught leaving the store with more than $3,000 dollars of stolen merchandise. Officers say that Marcus Castaneda, 39, left the business with the items, but Crystal Morfin-Magana, 28, and Jazmarie Hernandez, 28, were also involved. All three were booked into the Tulare County Pretrial Facility on various theft charges. The suspects aren't from the area and traveled to Visalia to steal from businesses, Sgt. Clay Moffett said. news.yahoo.com

DOJ: Wasco Couple Arrested for 6-Year Credit Card Fraud Scheme that Caused $825,000 in Losses
FRESNO, Calif. - Miguel Leyva, 35, and Karina Gutierrez, 32, both of Wasco, were arrested today after a federal grand jury indicted them for conspiracy, bank fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft in connection with a long-running credit card fraud scheme.

Between February 2016 and August 2022, Leyva and Gutierrez stole the personally identifiable information (PII) for individuals some obtained from health care providers where Gutierrez worked. They then used the PII to obtain fraudulent credit cards from banks in the identities of those individuals. Specifically, Leyva and Gutierrez created online accounts with credit reporting agencies for the individuals so they could check credit scores before applying for the credit cards. They then used false identification documents to open the credit cards and provided billing addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses over which they had control so any communications from the banks would go to them. They also used checks that had been stolen from trucking and other companies to access the companies' bank accounts and make fraudulent payments to the credit cards.

Leyva and Gutierrez's scheme caused an actual loss of over $825,000 to the banks. They spent the proceeds on home appliances, automobile accessories, gardening equipment, designer clothing, concert tickets, professional sporting events tickets, and travel, among other items. Often times, they sold the merchandise for cash on social media sites.

If convicted, Leyva and Gutierrez face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and $1 million fine for each of the conspiracy and bank fraud charges, 10 years in prison and $250,000 fine for the access device fraud charges, and mandatory two years in prison, consecutive to other counts, for the identity theft charges. justice.gov

Fraud Duo Paid USPS Employees to Steal From the Mail
DOJ: Two Essex County Men Sentenced to Prison for Using Credit Cards & Checks Stolen From U.S. Mail as Part of a Scheme to Defraud Banks of Over $1 Million
NEWARK, N.J. - Two Essex County, New Jersey, men were sentenced yesterday and today for their roles in a scheme to steal credit cards, debit cards, and checks from the mail and use the stolen cards and checks to attempt over a million dollars of retail and online purchases and cash withdrawals.

Jahad Salter, 26, of Newark, was sentenced to 60 months in prison, and Hakir Brown, 28, Newark, was sentenced to 31 months in prison.

Salter, Brown, and others engaged USPS employees to steal from the mail, in exchange for compensation, credit cards and debit cards, and Salter and others engaged the same employees to steal checks, including federal stimulus payments issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once they obtained the stolen cards, Salter, Brown and their conspirators unlawfully obtained the credit and debit card holders' personal identifiers and used that information to fraudulently pose as the accountholders.

They, and others, then used the stolen credit cards to make purchases at retail stores in New Jersey and elsewhere, including New York and online. They and others also negotiated stolen checks, obtaining cash. In total, The scheme resulted in attempted losses of over $1 million. justice.gov

Fairfax City, VA: 2 Sought In ULTA Theft Of $4K In Merchandise

College Station, TX: Men charged with theft of $1K of alcohol from H-E-B

Jefferson City, MO: Kohl's shoplifter charged with theft of over $500 in clothing

Calgary, Canada: $20K gem stolen from New Horizon Mall, witness photos released