Full 2021 Black Friday Weekend Shopper Traffic Recap Shows Upswing in In-Store Foot Traffic From 2020 According to Sensormatic Solutions by Johnson Controls

● Black Friday weekend shopper traffic increased by 34.2% compared to 2020, showing a progressively favorable outlook for retailers

● Shopper traffic data indicates that visits to physical stores during the 2021 Black Friday weekend decreased by -21.7% compared to 2019, the last pre-pandemic year


NEUHAUSEN, Switzerland--Sensormatic Solutions, the leading global retail solutions portfolio of Johnson Controls, today released a comprehensive recap of U.S. shopper traffic during the extended 2021 Black Friday weekend, from Black Friday, November 26, through Sunday, November 28, 2021. These results are informed by retail traffic data analytics within the company's intelligent operating platform, Sensormatic IQ.

Sensormatic Solutions found that store traffic for the 2021 Black Friday weekend was down -21.7% compared to 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. Store traffic on Saturday, November 27, decreased by -17.6% and traffic on Sunday, November 28, resulted in a -8.1% decrease from two years ago. Compared to 2020, Black Friday weekend shopper traffic increased by 34.2%.

Traffic on Cyber Monday

Sensormatic Solutions also looked at the effect of Cyber Monday on brick-and-mortar retail traffic on Monday, November 29, and found that this year's foot traffic decreased -9.9% compared to 2019. Cyber Monday traffic levels were similar to typical fall 2021 numbers. In the week leading up to Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend, in-store traffic was down -11.4% compared to 2019.

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US: 49.4M Cases - 803K Dead - 39.2M Recovered
Worldwide: 263.2M Cases - 5.2M Dead - 237.7M Recovered

Former Senior Loss Prevention Executive
Know of any fallen LP exec? Let's remember & recognize.

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 328   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 542
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Signs for Optimism as New Variant Puts World on Edge
The U.S. is better prepared to fight omicron variant, CDC director says
In the face of mounting concerns and lingering questions over the effects of the new omicron variant, health officials reassured the public Tuesday, arguing that the United States is overall better prepared to fight and contain the mutation than it was with previous variants.

"To be crystal clear - we have far more tools to fight the variant than we had at this time last year," Rochelle P. Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a White House coronavirus briefing.

Walensky added that as part of the ramped-up efforts to ward off new variants, the U.S. has significantly increased genomic sequencing from 8,000 samples a week earlier this year to 80,000 samples a week. It has also expanded its surveillance to the John F. Kennedy, San Francisco, Newark and Atlanta airports, four of the busiest in the country, for increased testing for specific international arrivals. washingtonpost.com

Amazon's 'Hidden Pandemic'
Labor group says Amazon massively underreported Covid cases contracted at work
Amazon had at least 20,000 employees test positive for Covid-19 last year. But it reported that only 27 of those cases were contracted while the employees were at work. The company's reporting amounts to a "hidden pandemic," according to a coalition of four unions interested in establishing representation for Amazon workers.

"The company systematically failed to record Covid-19 cases in its warehouses, recording only 27 work-related illnesses for all of 2020 in the category that includes Covid-19 infections," said the report from the Strategic Organizing Center, which is made up of the Teamsters union, the Service Employees Union, the Communication Workers of America and the United Farm Workers of America.

The group notes that Amazon put out a statement to employees on October 1, 2020, in which it said that 19,816 US employees had tested positive for Covid through September 19 of that year, prior to the late-year surge that increased the number of cases nationwide.

The labor group has sent a complaint to Assistant Secretary of Labor Douglas Parker, urging the Occupational Health and Safety Administration to investigate Amazon's "disturbing pattern of misleading or grossly incomplete information provided to authorities around Covid-19 cases in its warehouses."

"Amazon, the nation's second largest private employer, put workers' lives at risk by depriving OSHA of information about Covid-19 cases in its facilities, undermining the agency's ability to identify workplace hazards and to hold the company accountable for unsafe conditions," the group said. cnn.com

New York AG Seeks Emergency Court Over Amazon COVID Protocols
Amazon rolled back Covid safety protocols in warehouses, says New York attorney general

New York Attorney General Letitia James claimed Tuesday that Amazon has rolled back its coronavirus safety protocols in at least one of its warehouses.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking an emergency court order to force Amazon to implement stricter Covid-19 protocols, arguing the company's decision to roll back safety measures in at least one of its warehouses leaves employees at a higher risk of exposure to the coronavirus.

James sought the motion for relief on Tuesday as part of a lawsuit she filed earlier this year, which claims the online retail giant prioritized profit over worker safety at its New York facilities and retaliated against employees who voiced concerns for their safety during the pandemic.

As part of the motion, James urged the court to appoint a monitor to oversee worker safety at Amazon's New York facilities. James is also asking for a court order that would require Amazon to rehire Chris Smalls, an employee who was fired last March after speaking out about working conditions.

"The State now seeks preliminary injunctive relief because Amazon is rolling back its already inadequate public health measures and acting as if the pandemic is over when the risk of virus transmission is increasing, and a new variant threatens to cause even higher rates of transmission, illness, and death," the motion states. cnbc.com

Could Omicron Variant Boost Retail Sales?
Concerns over omicron could shift spending away from experiences, NRF says

National Retail Federation CEO Matt Shay said Tuesday that the new coronavirus variant could direct more dollars toward electronics, toys, apparel and other items

As Americans bought gifts during the peak Thanksgiving shopping weekend, the discovery of the omicron variant made headlines and prompted action by public health officials.

National Retail Federation CEO Matt Shay said Tuesday that the coronavirus strain could shake up spending patterns this holiday season and direct more dollars toward electronics, toys, apparel and other items instead of vacations and movie tickets.

"We know, unfortunately, that when the variants have had a real impact on the economy, the goods side of the economy has actually benefited from that because people change behavior away from the experience side of the economy and spend more time and more dollars engaged in the goods side of the economy," he said on a call with reporters.

Holiday sales are expected to grow to an all-time high of between $843.4 billion and $859 billion of sales in November and December, which represents growth of 8.5% to 10.5% this year, according to the National Retail Federation. The trade group reiterated its rosy forecast for the holiday season on Tuesday. cnbc.com

57% of Employers to Mandate Vaccine
Majority of U.S. Employers Will Require Vaccination, Survey Finds
As OSHA's Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) works its way through the courts, many employers will require employees to be vaccinated.

That could be challenging, given that nearly one in five employers (19%) believe that their employee vaccination rate is under 50%, while only one-third believe that at least 75% of employees are vaccinated, according to a new survey from Willis Towers Watson.

The survey also found that 57% of respondents require or are planning to require their employees be vaccinated. A further breakdown of that majority shows that 18% already require vaccinations and 7% plan to regardless of the ETS status. However, 32% of employers only plan to require vaccinations if the ETS takes effect.

One major concern those employers cite: staff turnover. Thirty-one percent of respondents are very concerned a vaccine mandate could contribute to employees leaving their organization. Only 3% of respondents with vaccine mandates reported a spike in resignations. And many more (48%) said that vaccine mandates could help retain and recruit employees. ehstoday.com

Tougher Travel Requirements Coming
Biden administration considering requiring stricter coronavirus testing for everyone traveling to US
Top US government officials are considering requiring everyone who enters the country to be tested for Covid-19 the day before their flight and having all travelers -- including US citizens and permanent residents -- be tested again after returning home, regardless of vaccination status, sources familiar with the discussions have told CNN.

Officials were deliberating the potential changes Tuesday night and no final decisions have been made, but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed in a statement that the agency is working to revise testing requirements for travelers because of the new Omicron variant. cnn.com

'This is not going to be good'
Moderna CEO on what scientists are telling him about the omicron variant

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DOJ-FBI War on Ransomware Gangs Continues

From Russia With Love
FBI seized $2.3M in cryptocurrency tied to Russian ransomware attacks
US law enforcement officials in August seized roughly $2.3 million in cryptocurrency tied to ransomware attacks committed by a Russian resident, according to a court document unsealed Tuesday.

Aleksandr Sikerin, whose last known address was in St. Petersburg, Russia, is affiliated with a notorious ransomware gang known as REvil that has cost US businesses millions of dollars, the Justice Department alleged in a complaint filed in the Northern District of Texas Dallas Division.

The cryptocurrency account, or "wallet," that is now under the FBI's control is "traceable to ransomware attacks committed by Sikerin," the complaint states.

The seizure is part of an ongoing US law enforcement effort to stymie the sources of funding for Russian and Eastern European cybercriminals following a series of damaging ransomware attacks on US infrastructure. It comes as the White House continues to appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin to take action against hackers operating from Russian soil.

The Justice Department this month announced the seizure of more than $6 million in ransom payments allegedly made to another alleged REvil operative, Russian national Yevgeniy Polyanin. Polyanin allegedly conducted about 3,000 ransomware attacks, including some on law enforcement agencies and municipalities throughout Texas.

But the seizures are just a fraction of what REvil members have pocketed from their computer intrusions. From April 2019 to July 2021, victims in the US and elsewhere paid extortionists more than $200 million following hacks committed with the REvil ransomware, according to the new complaint.

Despite the crackdown, some alleged ransomware operators appear to be living comfortably in Russia, which does not have an extradition agreement with the US. The FBI wanted poster for Polyanin says he is "believed to be in Russia" and "possibly" in the Siberian city of Barnaul.

While the FBI and Secret Service track accused cybercriminals, the Treasury Department has taken aim at the services the hackers use to launder ransom payments. The department in September sanctioned Suex, a cryptocurrency exchange that US officials accused of doing business with hackers behind eight types of ransomware. cnn.com

New #1 Ransomware as a Service Gang?
BlackMatter Ransomware Quickly Fills Void Left by Darkside, REvil
In late July, a new Ransomware as a Service (RaaS), called BlackMatter, appeared on the scene. After the apparent retirement of previously devastating ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) groups like Darkside and REvil, BlackMatter claims to fill the void left by these two services - adopting the best tools and techniques from each of them, as well as from the still-active LockBit 2.0.

"BlackMatter took all the good features from REvil and Lockbit 2.0 and Darkside," says Mark Loman, Director, Engineering, for Next-Gen Technologies at Sophos.

"What's interesting is there is a competitiveness in the underground between ransomware gangs. They are promoting themselves now in various ways because they want all the other ransomware affiliates to move over to BlackMatter."

In fact, the criminals are so serious about promotion that they conducted an interview with Recorded Future, boasting about how the malware combines all of the best features of other variants - and how it was developed after careful study of the other techniques. BlackMatter recently made headlines for attacking an Iowa-based provider of agriculture services called NEW Cooperative Inc. They demanded a $5.9 million ransom from the farming cooperative.

Despite their similarities, Sophos researchers say BlackMatter is not simply a rebranding from one to another. Malware analysis shows that while there are similarities with DarkSide ransomware, the code is not identical. They caution that it causes a lot of damage without triggering many alarms and advise security leaders to keep on top of endpoint protection alerts, which can be an indicator if an imminent attack with devastating effects. csoonline.com

Attacker Sentenced to Prison for Multimillion-Dollar SIM Hijacking Scheme
International Hacking Group Members Sentenced for SIM Hijacking Conspiracy That Resulted in the Theft of Millions in Cryptocurrency

A sixth member of international hacking group The Community was sentenced to 10 months in prison and ordered to pay $121,549.37 in restitution.

Officials have sentenced a sixth member of international hacking group The Community in association with a multimillion-dollar SIM hijacking conspiracy, the Deptartment of Justice reports.

Garrett Endicott, 22, was the final defendant to be sentenced in the case. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $121,549.37.

The operation allowed members of the group to gain control of victims' mobile phone numbers, which led to their phone calls and text messages being routed to devices that The Community controlled. Attackers would bribe employees of mobile phone operators or call a provider's customer service and pose as the victim to request the victim's phone number be swapped to a SIM card the attackers controlled.

With control of a victim's number, The Community could then gain control of online accounts, such as their email, cloud storage, and ultimately, their cryptocurrency exchange accounts. The scheme resulted in the theft of tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency. Individuals lost cryptocurrency valued, at the time of theft, from under $2,000 to over $5 million. justice.gov darkreading.com

Cybersecurity Skills Crisis
Cybersecurity graduates are doubling, but that's still not going to fix the skills crisis

Even a surge in new graduates won't tackle the skills gap, especially when a lack of diversity remains a significant issue.

European Union members have a collective cybersecurity skills shortage that may be partially addressed by a surge in new graduates -- but even that potential solution is not without its problems.

Supply chain component strains are affecting all industries right now, but one supply chain problem that pre-existed the pandemic is the mismatch between supply and demand for cybersecurity staff.

ENISA, the EU's transnational cybersecurity agency, has now raised a flag about the enduring labor market supply problem and says it won't be resolved despite a doubling of the number of graduates in the next two years.

"The number of skilled and qualified workers is not enough to meet the demand, and national labour markets are disrupted worldwide, Europe included, as a consequence," ENISA says in a new report. zdnet.com

UK and Israel Pledge Greater Cooperation in Cybersecurity

Big salaries alone are not enough to hire good cybersecurity talent

Alan Paller, early leader in cybersecurity awareness, dies at 76
 

New FoodWise training materials to keep your food products, employees, and customers safe

Knowing that your employees have the critical training needed to keep the food you sell safe, as well as ensuring they follow protocols to protect themselves and customers has never been more important. RCC's newly updated FoodWise Food Safety Certification Program ensures food retail employees are well equipped to keep customers safe. FoodWise Online includes new videos, workbooks, learning activities, and module quizzes to facilitate your employees learning.

This program was developed for and continues to be used by the retail food industry for the certification of owner-operators, store managers, department managers and other key retail employees.

Learn more here
 

Fraudulent Online Orders Up 350%
Ecommerce retailers facing a 350% increase in fraudulent online orders
As the holiday shopping season hits full stride, ecommerce retailers across Europe face a new era of malicious attacks spurred by a COVID-inspired transformation in ecommerce and a 350% increase in fraudulent online orders, according to data published by Signifyd.

Retailers can expect a more perilous fraud landscape through the holiday shopping season and beyond. The heightened threat is thanks in part to the growing sophistication and diversification of organized fraud rings.

The golden age of ecommerce fraud

● A 350% increase in fraud pressure by mid-2021.

● A doubling of consumer abuse in the first half of 2021 - including false claims that an online order never arrived or that an order that did arrive was in unsatisfactory condition. Fraudsters and consumers make such claims in order to keep a product while receiving a refund.

● A dramatic increase in fraud rings' use of bots. Automated fraud attacks increased 146% in 2020.

"Fraud is a moving target," said Ollie Marshall, managing director of Maplin. "As fraud protection becomes more sophisticated, fraud rings find new vulnerabilities to attack. We shut them down and they move on. I have no doubt they'll be back."

Retailers facing historic fraud pressure

European retailers are facing historic fraud pressure at a time when the payments landscape is undergoing upheaval due to the enforcement of PSD2's Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirement. The addition of SCA's robust two-factor authentication process has been rolled out across much of Europe and will be enforced in the UK beginning in March.

SCA was instituted to protect retailers and consumers from online fraud. The beginning of SCA enforcement across Europe has resulted in an average transaction failure rate of 26% post-SCA enforcement, according to payment services consultancy CMSPI. helpnetsecurity.com

Amazon Set To Be #1 Delivery Service
Amazon on track to become largest US delivery service by early next year, executive says
Amazon is on track to become the largest U.S. delivery service by early 2022, the company's worldwide consumer business CEO, Dave Clark, told CNBC on Monday.

"We expect we will be one of the largest carriers in the world by the end of this year," Clark told "Squawk Box" host Becky Quick. "I think we'll probably be the largest package delivery carrier in the U.S. by the time we get to the end of the year, if not in early '22."

Amazon's continued expansion in the delivery space gives it greater control over how customers' packages get to their doorsteps, according to CNBC.

Clark added that the company has been shipping goods to new ports to avoid blockages, CNBC reported, giving it a major advantage during this holiday season.

"These things don't happen overnight," Clark told Quick. "We've been building the logistics infrastructure, the technology platform that drives it, for two decades now, so we walked into the pandemic in a really good place."

The Silicon Valley giant now oversees thousands of last-mile delivery companies, an in-house network of planes, trucks and ships, and warehouses and air hubs across the country. thehill.com

Two ways Amazon plans to reduce the waste it creates

Chicago, IL: Burberry store on Michigan Avenue hit by four thieves
Thieves swarmed the Burberry store on Michigan Avenue Monday, making off with several designer purses. Police said four men went into the store in the 600-block of North Michigan Avenue at around 4:20 p.m., stealing multiple handbags from the displays. While the thieves were fleeing the store, police said a 23-year-old employee tried to close the doors and was pushed away. A 66-year-old tourist was also hit by a door. Both refused treatment at the scene. No suspects are in custody and Area Three detectives are investigating. abc7chicago.com

Leominster, MA: Clothing Store Owner Says $40K in Merchandise Stolen in Burglary
Police in Leominster, Massachusetts, are investigating a break-in at a clothing shop. Surveillance cameras captured the moment three hooded men begin to ransack the store. David Iacaboni, the owner of ATA Warehouse, got the alert on his phone shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday. The first man who managed to get in the shop by breaking a window is heard on the video speaking in Spanish, signaling to the other two accomplices to come in through the back door. "They made three minutes seem like forever," said Iacaboni. nbcboston.com

Chicago, IL: Smash-and-grab thieves hit Bucktown BFF Bikes, get away with at least 5 high-end bicycles
A Bucktown bike shop was broken into and burglarized Tuesday morning, according to Chicago police. Police said they were called to BFF Bikes in the 2000 block of N. Damen Ave., just before 7 a.m. abc7chicago.com

Germany: Burglars knock hole in wall to steal Lego bricks
German police are looking for witnesses after burglars broke through the wall of a toy store to steal dozens of Lego sets. Police said Tuesday that the theft took place over the weekend in the western town of Lippstadt. The burglars left about 100 empty cardboard boxes behind, German news agency dpa reported. It wasn't immediately clear whether the burglars had taken the instruction books. timesunion.com

Pierce County, WA: Thieves grabbed a hundred sets of keys, and drove off in 19 vehicles from Spanaway Auto Auction lot

Flowood, MS: 4 arrested, accused of shoplifting from Dogwood stores