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Appriss Retail Named a Leader by RIS News
Annual Ranking Pegs Appriss Retail in the "Top
20" of All Retail Solution Providers
 Appriss
Retail, an industry leader in retail customer experience solutions, today
announced that the company has been named a leader by RIS News as a part of the
publication's LeaderBoard 2022 study. The RIS News LeaderBoard is one of the
retail industry's most prestigious benchmark reports - ranking retail technology
companies on customer satisfaction, performance, and value. Appriss Retail
ranked fourteenth on the main LeaderBoard and was listed as one of the top
solution providers in 29 of 50 categories.
Read more here
The U.S. Crime Surge
The Retail Impact
Home Depot Bolstering Store Security Nationwide
Home Depot says stores are getting hit by organized criminals
 Atlanta-based
Home Depot said it is
stepping up security at stores in Georgia and across the country
after a rash of retail thefts by organized criminals.
"You know, people walking out with shopping carts full of products and quickly
reselling that on online marketplaces,
that's typically what you would see," said Mike Combs, director of organized
retail crime investigations for The Home Depot.
Combs said with more people shopping online during the pandemic, retail
criminals seized a new opportunity by
stealing merchandise, sometimes in bulk, and then selling it through online
platforms
such as Amazon, Letgo and Facebook Marketplace.
"Sadly, it's not just online marketplaces that are driving this, but the drug
addiction problem we have in this country," Combs said. "Some individuals are
targeted by these criminal networks to go steal for them."
Almost $70 billion was stolen from retailers through organized crime in 2020.
This year's total likely will exceed that figure according to Chris Carr,
Georgia's attorney general. Carr said
proceeds from retail theft help fund other crimes.
"Interpol will tell you organized retail crime has a number of criminal
elements-human trafficking, drug trafficking, corruption, bribery, you name it,"
Carr said.
Many people
unwittingly buy stolen goods online,
but police said there are red flags that should make consumers suspicious, such
as a heavily discounted price for newly packaged merchandise.
Congress is considering a law to crack down on the sale of stolen goods online.
The Informed Consumers Act
would require online marketplaces such as Amazon, to get a government ID and
perhaps other information. The reseller would then be required to disclose to
the consumer the seller's name, business address and email address.
Amazon opposes the idea,
saying it would create unnecessary red tape for honest entrepreneurs. The
company also said it already has robust practices to vet prospective sellers and
stop bad actors.
wsbtv.com
Retailers Continue to Push Congress & AGs Over
Crime Surge
CVS CEO Karen Lynch says smash-and-grab robberies fueled by online marketplaces
CVS Chief Executive Karen Lynch said the
drugstore chain is pushing Congress and attorneys general to fight
smash-and-grab crimes.
 CVS
Health Chief Executive Karen Lynch said Thursday that the drugstore chain is
working with attorneys general and pushing Congress to help end a spree of
smash-and-grab robberies.
On CNBC's "Power Lunch," she said the company has noticed the uptick in
organized crime, though it has had a minimal effect on CVS' bottom line. She
said the
theft is fueled by online marketplaces,
where people can anonymously sell and profit from stolen goods.
"They're criminals, and
it is impacting our stores,"
she said. "What they're doing is they're taking our products off the shelf and
they're putting them online and we need to go after that."
Major retailers, including Target, Home Depot and Autozone, have also
called on national leaders to fight sales of stolen or counterfeit goods online.
A group of them, including CVS, signed a letter of support for legislation that
would require verification of third-party sellers on online retail marketplaces.
Other retail chiefs, including
Best Buy CEO Corie Barry, have also spoken up about the prevalence of the
organized crimes.
In a CNBC interview, she said some thieves have bought crowbars or guns to
stores as they steal consumer electronics from shelves. She said the crimes
could hurt recruitment and retention of employees in an already tight labor
market.
Best Buy said it is
locking up some merchandise, working with retail trade groups and hiring
security guards at some stores.
At some of CVS stores, goods are under lock and key and need to be unlocked by
an employee.
cnbc.com
Law Enforcement Urges Biden to Play Bigger Role
in Stopping Theft Surge
Sheriffs group rebuts White House claim it is helping combat surge in retail
thefts
Psaki said that the White House was taking
action to address the growing of problem of retail theft
 The
National Sheriffs Association fired back at White House Press Secretary Jen
Psaski's claim that the
Biden administration is working with local law enforcement to help curb retail
theft.
"Several of the national trade groups representing local law enforcement have
formed their own working group to coordinate a better localized response to the
latest crime trend," the group said in a statement Wednesday. "This group
aggressively sought federal law enforcement resources to assist in this effort.
Thus far...
we are unaware of any planned, orchestrated, or cohesive response by the federal
government."
The statement comes after Psaki said during Tuesday's press briefing that the
White House was taking action to address the growing of problem of retail theft
with federal support to local law enforcement,
saying "DOJ, FBI, and federal law enforcement have been in contact where retail
thefts have happened to offer assistance in investigations. And in Los Angeles
where we've seen a rash of break-ins, the FBI is providing assistance to a
multi-jurisdictional task force led by LAPD and LA Sheriff's Department to go
after the criminal groups who are behind many of these incidents."
But the NSA argues that
California law enforcement officials "tell us they have seen zero federal
resources, and even the FBI says they haven't done anything more.
And Chicago is working this with the state alone. Zero new fed help."
Psaki said that the White House has taken note of the trend, saying that it is a
"serious concern" of President Biden's while citing that
the administration has "provided financial assistance to get money to hire 50
more police officers through the COPS program
that the president has championed in places like San Francisco and an additional
20 officers in Los Angeles."
"Those dollars are
droplets in the boiling ocean.
50 officers in LA and 20 in San Francisco: net that is less than 1/10th of 1% of
their respective manpower needs," the NSA said in response to Psaki's comments.
foxnews.com
Is the San Francisco Crime Crackdown
Working?
SFPD Reports Decrease in Crimes Since Beefing Up Patrols Around Union Square
Weeks after San Francisco leaders
promised to step up law
enforcement in the Union Square area following a brazen smash and grab at Louis
Vuitton, NBC Bay Area
has learned how effective those efforts have been.
According to SFPD, holiday related retail crime in the Central Station police
district, which includes Union Square, North Beach and Chinatown, is down from
the 16-day period in which police beefed up patrols.
The department breaks down crimes into three categories: assaults, burglaries
and larceny and theft. Activity in all three categories in the three
neighborhoods fell, according to SFPD data, with
assaults down 67%,
from 3 to 1;
burglaries down 91%
from 11 to 1; and
larceny and theft down 82%
from 67 to 12.
That brings
total crimes down by
82%, a decrease that
includes vehicle thefts and robberies, police said. Chief Bill Scott was
optimistic about the numbers.
"We're going to keep this deployment through the holiday season, through
Christmas and New Year's," he said. "Then we'll have an increase in deployment
from what it used to be; I can't guarantee it will be at this level. ... We'll
reassess because we do have an entire city to police."
Marc Capalbo with Gump's in San Francisco said he thinks
the police presence is
having a positive effect
and sees the commitment.
nbcsandiego.com
Security Officer Deaths in 2021
80 Security Officers Dead From Gunfire This Year
Year after year,
most security officers
on the job are killed by gunfire,
not in car accidents, training incidents, or other workplace hazards.
Tragically, this year, that fact is true again.
Eighty, private
security officers,
including three commissioned, special police officers
have been murdered as
of December 8th. Of
those, ninety two percent have died of gunfire.
More than one hundred
other security personnel have died this year from the Coronavirus.
These numbers, though shocking, are not the whole story. Many security officer
deaths never make national media headlines, let alone, a few lines in their
local newspaper or a twenty second soundbite on their hometown evening news.
Nationally, there is no one reporting agency keeping track of the injuries or
deaths of private security personnel.
Each state does have an agency that collects overall data of workplace deaths
and OSHA, a federal agency, does receive that information to calculate state and
national workplace death statistics. But many security officer names are not
included in these figures. Problems have arisen almost yearly with the
classification of the deceased employees.
We have found security officers classified as store clerks, maintenance workers,
pool attendants, hotel desk clerks and an array of other incorrect titles. This
misinformation causes
the true numbers to be
inaccurate and misleading.
privateofficerbreakingnews.blogspot.com
Justice Department Awards 88 Grants of More Than $17.5M Each to Support Project
Safe Neighborhoods
 The
Department of Justice announced today that it has awarded more than $17.5
million in grants to support the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program to
over 88 grants across the U.S.. Funding will support efforts across the country
to address violent crime, including the gun violence that is often at its core.
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), part of the department's Office of
Justice Programs (OJP),
will administer the 88
grant awards, which are
being made to designated fiscal agents to support local PSN projects that work
in partnership with U.S. Attorneys' Offices.
"This latest Project Safe Neighborhoods grant is critical to addressing the
violent crime threatening cities and towns all across our country," said Deputy
Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. "Ensuring the safety of all Americans is the
highest priority for the Department of Justice, but when it comes to violent
crime, there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. We have to work closely with
local public safety agencies as well as community organizations to craft
individual strategies unique to each community's needs. Programs like Project
Safe Neighborhoods and the funding it provides allow us to do just that."
justice.gov
Does Broken Windows Policing Return to NYC?
NYC Mayor-Elect Eric Adams talks tough on crime, warns BLM leader Hawk Newsome
not to mess with NYC
An impassioned Mayor-elect Eric Adams, retired NYPD captain,
delivered a
tough-on-crime speech
in Manhattan on Thursday, while
repeating his warning to Black Lives Matter leader Hawk Newsome not to mess
with New York.
Last month,
Newsome threatened "riots,
fire and bloodshed" if Adams makes good on a plan to reinstate the NYPD's
anti-gun unit.
He also had a message for agitators - like the ones
who destroyed property in Middle Village, Queens, after Kyle Rittenhouse's
acquittal.
"We're not going to have a city where anarchists come from outside our city and
go into a community such as Queens and destroy the community for their own
selfish needs or desires," Adams said.
Adams praised Bratton
for slashing the city's murder rate, and
for his "broken
windows" policing style
that cracked down on quality-of-life issues like graffiti to make the city safer
from violent crime.
"Bill Bratton, your legend has not been completely closed," said Adams, adding
that
he intends to build on
the two-time top cop's public safety model.
He beseeched business leaders at the luncheon to bring their workers
back to the office to help the Big Apple come back from coronavirus pandemic
shutdowns.
As of last month, just
28 percent of Manhattan's 1 million workers were
back at their desks on an average weekday.
nypost.com
VIDEO: Expert Talks About Growing Trend Of Retail
Theft And How To Prevent It
Mike Combs, director of organized retain crime investigations for Home Depot,
talks to CBS2 News This Morning about the growing trend of retail looting and
shoplifting.
Organized shoplifting on the rise in western Washington
Most of the shoplifting is taking place at larger retailers, which may be due to
policies preventing employees from directly confronting shoplifters, police say.
Private security companies say demand from California companies is skyrocketing
&uuid=(email))
COVID Update
477.4M Vaccinations Given
US: 50.5M Cases - 815.2K Dead - 39.8M Recovered
Worldwide:
268.8M Cases - 5.3M Dead - 242M 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: 546
*Red indicates change in total deaths
Vaccine Doses Tick Back Up as Winter Surge Looms
U.S. Hits Vaccine Milestone
More than 200 million people in the U.S. are now fully vaccinated, though deaths
and cases are still rising
The United States reached a significant milestone late Wednesday, with
more than 200 million people now fully vaccinated
against the coronavirus - about 60 percent of the population. In the past week,
an average of
1.92 million doses per day
were administered - a 35 percent increase over the week before -
according to data from The Washington Post's tracker..
However, the achievement comes as the nation's tallies of
daily deaths and new cases rose in the past week
and hospitalization rates jumped by 10 percent. The looming threat of the newly
identified omicron variant of the coronavirus also hangs over the country as it
enters the holiday season.
Omicron cases have been detected in 21 states so far,
according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracker, most recently
in Texas on Wednesday.
washingtonpost.com
More States Call in National Guard as COVID
Surges
States enlist the National Guard to help staff hospitals and nursing homes
The National Guard has been asked to help staff hospitals
in at least four states as
another virus surge is overstretching healthcare systems
and straining overtaxed workers.
On Thursday, the largest hospital network in
Indiana
announced that it had asked the Guard for assistance for most of its hospitals.
Hospitalizations in the state have increased 49 percent over the past two weeks,
according to data from The New York Times.
Six-person teams with
both medical support and non-clinical members
will deploy to Indiana University Health across the state in two-week
increments. All Guard members are fully vaccinated, the statement said.
New Hampshire and Maine
took similar measures on Wednesday. Last week,
New York State
also turned to National Guard troops to reinforce overburdened nursing homes.
Gov. Kathy Hochul issued "a pre-emptive strike," ordering that roughly 30
hospitals nearing their capacity stop performing elective surgeries.
nytimes.com
COVID Outbreak Shuts Down Apple Store
Apple store in Texas closes in Covid outbreak
The store in Southlake has had 22 positive
cases since Nov. 26, Black Friday.
An Apple store in Southlake, Texas, is closed Wednesday through Sunday this week
following an outbreak of positive Covid-19 cases among staff members. The store,
which has 151 employees, reported four positive cases
immediately after Black Friday on Nov. 26,
according to an internal email obtained by NBC.
The outbreak hints at
a breakdown in policy between Apple's corporate offices and its retail locations.
While the tech giant was among the first national retailers to close all its
U.S. stores in 2020, employees at the Southlake location say they have not
always been able to operate with the same level of caution.
All Apple retail employees at stores nationwide are
required to take a Covid-19 survey
before coming into work. The survey asks if they're experiencing coronavirus
symptoms and if they've been in close contact with someone who tested positive
for the disease.
All U.S. employees are also required to wear masks.
nbcnews.com
COVID is Driving Employee Surveillance
Remote-working job surveillance is on the rise. For some, the impact could be
devastating
Excessive surveillance is having profoundly negative effects on the workforce.
A spike in the use of "quick and dirty"
monitoring apps
prompted by pandemic-era remote working is especially concerning,
Ball tells ZDNet, particularly those who use more invasive techniques to snoop
on people working in their own homes.
These tools
threaten the mental wellbeing of workers upon whom the COVID-19 pandemic has
already taken a significant psychological toll.
"One of the difficulties with remote working is that a lot of people were
dropped into remote working very quickly," the University of St Andrews
professor says.
"In the pandemic, your house was everything. It was where you worshipped, it was
where you worked and your school. If you drop invasive monitoring on top of all
that, it's just going to be devastating to people when they don't have support
and are isolated in their homes."
The JRC report, based on findings from some 400 articles, found that
workplace surveillance has grown more pervasive through the 'datafication' of
work, particularly with
the expansion of algorithmic platforms used widely in the gig economy by
companies like Uber, Deliveroo and Amazon.
zdnet.com
LA County COVID Cases Up 33% Since Thanksgiving
California coronavirus cases rising, showing early signs of winter surge
Health officials from a number of California counties say they're seeing early
signs of a rebound in coronavirus cases related to Thanksgiving, an upturn some
worry could be the beginning of the state's fifth COVID-19 surge.
Statewide, the daily average of newly reported infections has risen more than
30% since before Thanksgiving. The number of Californians hospitalized with
COVID-19 also has climbed during that time, interrupting weeks of mostly steady
declines.
And though the emergence of the heavily mutated
Omicron variant of the coronavirus has dominated recent pandemic discourse,
officials say they're still contending with the highly infectious Delta variant,
which continues to account for virtually all new cases statewide.ostly steady
declines.
latimes.com
Long covid is destroying careers, leaving economic distress in its wake
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Former LP Executive & Current Lowe's CEO
Q&A: Lowe's CEO addresses race, inflation and vaccine mandates
Today at 55, Ellison stands out as
one of only three Black Fortune 500 CEOs,
bringing with him 35 years of retail experience including as the former CEO of
J.C. Penney and various senior operations roles at rival Home Depot.
 The
Associated Press interviewed Ellison on a wide variety of topics, including
his thoughts on racial diversity
in Corporate America,
the federal mandate to vaccinate-or-test workers,
its online business and inflation. Lowe's hasn't required vaccines or testing
ahead of the mandate, but Ellison says he'll comply with any federal
regulations. His responses have been edited for clarity and length.
Q. You had publicly said that you felt exhausted in the aftermath of the George
Floyd killing. Can you talk about that?
A. I think I can speak for any Black person, CEO or otherwise, that when you see
an episode like the murder of George Floyd and the social unrest that occurs
around the country, it is exhausting. We all, as citizens of this country, want
to see our environment, the places we live and the people we love protected. And
we want to see a better life for our children and grandchildren from what we
have had. But within that exhaustion,
I want to make sure that I take the lead within my own company to make sure that
I educate and I put leaders in position that can allow us to be a better
company.
Q. How has inflation affected shopping habits?
A. Earlier in the year, we saw record inflation where lumber prices were spiking
so high that the typical do-it-yourself customer just basically said, 'I will
delay this project because it's just too expensive to build that deck.' Then
later in the year we saw record deflation. Prices dropped almost as fast as they
rose. And so the moment that happened, you saw the do-it-yourself customers come
back into the marketplace and start to buy again.
Q. Do you think the government should require vaccine mandates and testing at
companies?
A. What we're going to do at Lowe's is we're going to be compliant to any
government requirement. If the mandate comes from OSHA for us as a retailer,
we're going to spend zero time debating whether or not the government has the
right to do it.
We're just going to execute it because that's the role we have to play.
Thus far, we don't have any concerns relative to this impeding our staff or
limiting our ability to run our business or serve our customers.
Read the full Q&A:
abcnews.go.com
Stealing Americans' Identities
2021's States Most Vulnerable to Identity Theft & Fraud
In recent years,
many Americans' personal information has become compromised by big data breaches.
The number of breaches in
2021 has already topped the number in 2020, and several
big companies have been impacted, including Facebook, T-Mobile and
Volkswagen.
Each new year brings new strategies taken by identity thieves and fraudsters.
For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a lot of identity
theft and scamming related to
federal stimulus payments as well as
unemployment benefits. Plenty of other schemes, such as
tech support scams and fake IRS calls,
also abound.
Some Americans are more susceptible than others to such crimes, though. In order
to determine who is most likely to be exposed to and affected by identity theft
and fraud, WalletHub
compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 14 key metrics.
Our data set ranges from identity-theft complaints per capita to the average
loss amount due to fraud.
wallethub.com
Piracy Website Reports Up 48%
Porch piracy: why a wave of doorstep parcel thefts is sweeping the UK
Deliveries are being snatched minutes after they arrive. Citizens Advice reports
22,787 visits to its lost and stolen parcels webpage last month, 48% up on
the previous year. And Google Trends data saw a surge in searches for
"parcel theft".
theguardian.com
Labor Mgt. - Micro-fulfillment - Edge -
Cryptocurrencies
NCR's 2022 Predictions
Impacts of the Labor Crisis Will Continue
In August 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that over
850,000
retail workers left their posts - and many have yet to return.
NCR predicts retailers will prioritize and invest in technologies that power
end-to-end store management, labor automation and alternative checkout
options in 2022.
Micro-fulfillment Will Continue to Transform Stores
Having the right technology has been and will continue to be crucial to
efficiently manage micro-fulfillment. One key example is retailers looking for
their own eCommerce fulfillment system that can seamlessly blend in-store and
online experiences, as well as integrate with existing software, all while being
consumer-friendly.
Edge Development and as-a-Service Will Prosper
Once a luxury in-store, eCommerce-savvy consumers now expect the digital touch
at every point in their brand experience - regardless of time, channel or
location.
Edge for retail will provide virtualization, containerization and automation by
integrating in-store touch points, including front-of-store as well as
back-of-store devices and associated peripherals, under an intelligent retail
store architecture managed from the cloud. As a result, the devices and
applications running the store become significantly smaller and faster,
optimizing performance and giving retailers true agility, more capabilities,
technology that is resilient to internet outages, and accessible data collected
on-site.
It's no real surprise leading analysts are predicting retail edge compute
adoption as one of the fastest growth trends - after all, running workloads
at the edge, closer to where the data is generated makes complete sense. Better
still, retailers will benefit from an 'as a service' consumption model that can
be more attractive to key budget stakeholders.
Cryptocurrencies will Become Mainstream
According to one report, 14% of American adults currently own cryptocurrency and
another 22% of Americans - over 50 million consumers - that have never owned
cryptocurrency
will likely buy in the next year. This is a huge portion of the population
that will now have yet another method with which to pay for consumer goods and
services.
To cater to these consumers, both retailers and payments vendors have added
in-store and online capabilities allowing consumers to use cryptocurrencies like
Bitcoin to make purchases.
David Wilkinson, president and general manager at
NCR Retail. "The most
important thing retailers can do in 2022 to get on the offensive is to make
strategic investments in technology, from micro-fulfillment to the Edge, that is
cloud-enabled and ready to connect to retail and commerce platforms. It
enables the adaptability that stores needs to be agile and respond to changing
conditions fast. Because the only thing now certain in retail is that both
consumers and the market are changing quickly, and we've got to be ready."
paymentsjournal.com
Landmark Union Victory for Starbucks Workers
Starbucks workers in Buffalo win watershed union vote
Starbucks
workers in Buffalo won a
pathbreaking bid to form a union
after votes were counted on Thursday, part of a wave of labor activism sweeping
the country in the wake of the pandemic.
 The café in Elmwood Village will become the only unionized location at the
coffee giant's 9,000 corporate-owned stores in the United States. The vote marks
a
victory for the labor movement at a time of increasing leverage for workers.
Baristas at three stores in Buffalo have cast votes in a mail-in election
conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. Ballots from two other stores
will also be counted today.
Workers in favor of unionizing were optimistic that they would prevail
despite months of intense opposition from the Seattle-based company. Senior
executives and teams of managers spent weeks in Buffalo and held repeated
meetings urging workers to reject the step.
The employees will join Workers United, an arm of the Service Employees
International Union. The vote represents
a key moment for organized labor at a time of growing support for unions.
Nearly 70 percent of Americans now approve of unions,
according to a Gallup survey conducted in August, the highest such figure in
more than fifty years.
Recent months have witnessed
an upsurge in unionization activities, whether by
warehouse workers,
museum staff or
university instructors.
A landmark effort to unionize an Amazon facility in Alabama failed in April but
federal regulators ordered a fresh election after the union challenged the
result. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
The newly formed union at Starbucks
gives organized labor a small presence inside one of the best-known companies in
the U.S. and a rare foothold in the fast-food industry.
washingtonpost.com
Giving Back to the Community
Securitas UK Staff Create A Christmas Charity Song To Raise Funds For The
Homeless
 On
6th December, Securitas UK marks the season of goodwill with the release
of 'Ascending - Song for the Homeless', a charity single song performed by
talented members of the company's staff.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made life harder for everyone and in particular,
for those in key worker roles, including those in on-site security roles.
So, in the summer of 2021, Securitas UK decided to generate some fun and
entertainment, by running an in-house 'Securitas Has Got Talent' competition.
"We were amazed by the response, there were so many wonderful entries," said
Shaun Kennedy, the Country President at Securitas UK. Having seen and heard the
musicians and vocalists in the competition, Shaun Kennedy then had the idea of
harnessing their talent for a good cause.
securityinformed.com
GameStop makes 200 senior hires
GameStop adds inventory, execs, tech offices and millions in losses
Fuel/convenience retailer to roll out automated checkout
Circle K continues cashierless checkout retrofits
Prices rose 6.8% in the 12 months ending in November, the largest rise in nearly
40 years, as inflation spreads throughout economy
Tyson Foods Ramps Up Meat-Plant Automation Plans
Quarterly Results
Rent the Runway Q1 revenue up 66%
Lululemon Q3 comp's up 32% - NA up 28%, Inter. up 40%, sales up 30%
Game Stop Q3 comp's n/a, sales up 29%
Academy Sports + Outdoors Q3 comp's up 17.9%, net sales up 18.1%
Torrid Q3 comp's up 14%, net sales up 13%
Canada's 2nd largest grocer:
Empire Co (Sobeys, Safeway and FreshCo) Q2 comp's down 1.3%, sales up 4.9% ($28B
annual. sales)
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Holiday Ransomware Warning
Beware of ransomware attacks between Christmas and New Year's
 Darktrace
reported that its security researchers discovered
a 30% increase in the average number of attempted ransomware attacks globally
over the holiday season
in every consecutive year from 2018 to 2020 compared to the monthly average.
The researchers also observed a
70% average increase in attempted ransomware attacks in November and December
compared to January and February.
Following a record number of ransomware attacks this year, the company expects
the spike to be higher over the 2021 holiday period.
During the nascent 2021 holiday season, Darktrace's AI detected and autonomously
stopped an in-progress, early-stage ransomware attack on a U.S. city before any
data exfiltration or encryption could occur. The city's security team had the
foresight to deploy an AI solution to combat multi-stage ransomware attacks,
enabling them to stop the attackers at the earliest stage.
Ransomware is often falsely considered an
encryption problem. This misconception masks and undermines attackers'
determination and creativity to initially break into and then move around within
an organization's digital environment first to discover, then steal and encrypt
data. The break-in is often through email, but that quickly evolves to targeting
servers where the data lives. Therefore, a combination of email and network
security is crucial to stop these attacks.
"Based on what we've seen in previous years,
holidays are consistent target periods for cyber-attackers.
Interestingly, the
largest rise in attempted ransomware attacks is between Christmas and New Year's
when attackers know there will be fewer eyeballs on screens defending against
threats," commented
Justin Fier, Director of Cyber Intelligence and Analytics,
Darktrace.
"Business leaders should know that there is available technology that can
identify and respond to the initial warning signs of ransomware before attackers
can hold critical systems hostage, even when human security teams are out of
office."
helpnetsecurity.com
2022: The Year of the COVID Cybersecurity
Clean-Up
What cybersecurity trends do company executives expect to see next year?
Query.AI announced the publication of the company's six predictions for the
cybersecurity industry in 2022. "The most obvious factor influencing what we'll
see in the world of cybersecurity next year is the COVID-19 pandemic," said
Andrew Maloney, Query.AI COO.
2022 will be the year of "COVID security cleanup"
- When COVID-19 forced organizations to transform their business models
practically overnight, companies deployed a variety of new technologies in a
sprint to sustain operations, often leaving security as an afterthought. This
has left CISOs with a big mess to clean up:
plugging all the security holes introduced by organizations' rush to digitally
transform.
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XDR will die on the vine as a single provider solution
- Despite promises from extended detection and response (XDR) vendors, given
today's dispersed data and siloed security tools, no one technology provider can
possibly have all the capabilities needed for security analysts to efficiently
perform investigations. The only way XDR will work as intended is if XDR vendors
decide to partner in areas where they don't have convergence or capabilities.
"The Great Migration" of people
- The frustration over the
cybersecurity skills gap,
in combination with the newfound remote workforce, will spawn a talent migration
in 2022, where more
organizations will build out their teams and close the cybersecurity skills gap
by tapping talent in more cost-effective locations across the U.S.
"The Great Migration" of data
- More organizations
will move on-premises data to the cloud.
While many organizations made their entrance into or expanded their presence in
the cloud world over the past few years, in 2022, we'll see organizations
continue to shed their on-premises footprint, further expand their cloud
presence, and migrate more on-premises data to the cloud.
"The Great Migration" of technology
- Customer demand for API integrations will increase. Market demand for security
providers that offer API integrations and technologies will increase, and more
companies will begin to evolve their security infrastructure to take advantage
of numerous best-of-breed security solutions via APIs.
A day of reckoning will come for organizations using data centralization -Today,
organizations must modernize their security operations
to deal with decentralized, distributed data from a variety of tools and
platforms, and this means thinking outside the box.
helpnetsecurity.com
BEC Attacks via Outlook
Researchers Explore Microsoft Outlook Phishing Techniques
Outlook features intended to improve collaboration and productivity may make
social engineering attacks more effective, researchers find.
Some of the tools built into Outlook to boost productivity and collaboration
could also make it easier to launch effective social engineering campaigns,
researchers say.
 In
early December, researchers with Avanan discovered
a way in which Outlook's features could be used to make an attacker appear more
credible in a phishing or business email compromise (BEC) attack.
Their attack started with a spoofed email. If an attacker had a private server,
they could launch a domain impersonation attack with an email pretending to come
from another sender.
This technique has not been seen in the wild.
If the phony email successfully passed security defenses - as domain
impersonations sometimes do, cybersecurity analyst Jeremy Fuchs noted in a blog
post - Outlook will present it as a real email from the spoofed address. This
means the message would show legitimate Active Directory details like photos,
files shared between uses, legitimate email addresses, and phone numbers.
"It's easy for
[attackers] to pretend it's coming from the correct email address even though
it's not," Fuchs says
in an interview. When they do that, Outlook will think the email is legitimate
so it will display all the user information it would normally display for an
actual account holder, he notes.
darkreading.com
Infecting Computers & Organizations Worldwide
Emotet Is Back and More Dangerous Than Before
Volume of traffic associated with the malware is now back at 50% of the volume
before law enforcement took the botnet operation down in January 2021, security
vendor says.
Like Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator, the dreaded
Emotet malware is back infecting computers worldwide
and once again putting organizations at heightened risk of subsequent ransomware
attacks.
Researchers from Check Point this week reported recently observing Emotet
samples being dropped on systems that previously had been infected with
banking-Trojan-turned-malware-downloader Trickbot. The new Emotet malware began
surfacing on Nov. 15, or about 10 months after law enforcement authorities took
its infrastructure down in a
coordinated effort that spanned multiple countries.
Since Nov. 15, the volume of Emotet malware that Check Point has spotted has
continued to grow daily and is now at least 50% of the volume before the January
2021 takedown.
The malware is spreading both via Trickbot and via malicious spam messages that
are being sent from infected systems to other computers worldwide.
The spam emails attempt to get users to download a password-protected zip file
containing malicious documents that, when opened, results in the computer
getting infected with Emotet.
darkreading.com
Four things the C-suite wants to know about ransomware:
The highest-impact insights that security chiefs can relay to top executives are
the following:
1. Strategies to prevent ransomware from impacting data backup and restoration
plans
2. What it will take to restore minimal operations after compromise
3. How prepared the organization is to engage law enforcement in the event of an
attack
4. How prepared it is to engage cybersecurity investigators
That is according to
new research from
(ISC)2, a cybersecurity
professional development group that polled 750 chief executives, chief financial
officers and other top company leaders in the U.S. and U.K.
cybersecurity.cmail19.com
Retail Cybersecurity Job Posting
Technology Director - Cybersecurity (MIRROR) job posted for Lululemon
 As
Technology Director - Cybersecurity - MIRROR, you will drive the strategy for
the MIRROR Cybersecurity programs and contribute to driving a risk-based cyber
strategy for protection, detection, response solutions for MIRROR and
integrations with lululemon systems. This role will align with the global
cybersecurity design and strategy for the systems and processes to have full
visibility across the regions on cyber threats and risks, and you will be
building a team to support 24x7 visibility.
careers.lululemon.com
Lack of Patching Leaves 300,000 Routers at Risk for Attack
It's All Cyber: Crime in a High Tech World
"There is no
element of criminality anymore that isn't cybercrime," said
Jeremy Sheridan, assistant director of the Secret Service Office of
Investigations.
"Whether it's the opportunity to commit the crime, the methods to
execute it, the means to profit from it, it all
involves some element of cyber."
- Published in the
WSJ on 11/16/21 |
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Chicago, IL: Thieves Hit Store On Magnificent Mile, Reportedly In Former John
Hancock Center, In Broad Daylight
Thieves went into a store at reportedly the former John Hancock Center and stole
items Thursday afternoon. At 2:30 p.m., two suspects entered a store and took
"miscellaneous property," police said. Police dispatch reports indicated that
the
store targeted was the North Face store at the John Hancock Center, at 875 N.
Michigan Ave. on the Magnificent Mile, and took thousands of dollars in
merchandise. No one was
in custody late Thursday. Area Three detectives were investigating.
chicago.cbslocal.com
Tigard police unit investigating Organized Retail theft cases; The Tigard Police
Commercial Crimes Unit is the only one of its kind in the state of Oregon
 As
large-scale thefts and "flash robberies" become more common, a special unit
within the Tigard Police Department is focusing on organized retail thefts.
Since late November, Tigard PD's Commercial Crimes Unit has been busy. They have
been investigating $10,000 worth of merchandise stolen from the Ulta near
Washington Square, and $10,000 worth of handbags taken from the nearby
Nordstrom. No arrests have been made in those cases. "They went in and did not
care. There were legit Nordstrom employees there saying, 'no, you can't do
that,'" said detective TJ Hahn, a member of the Commercial Crimes Unit. "They
don't care. You see the shelf going with them."
The Tigard Home Depot has also been targeted. "They were doing a lot of ticket
switching, item switching, and doing returns in the mix," said Detective Gabe
Stone. Stone, also part of the Commercial Crimes Unit, said one of Home Depot's
loss prevention officers tipped off him and his team to last week's $40,000
heist. Stone was able to stop the suspects before they hit a Beaverton Home
Depot. "One man arrested in the parking lot was actually physically armed," Det.
Stone said. "He had the gun on him. The other two had guns, just not on them."
It is an indication of just how dangerous organized retail theft can be. This
unit is the only team of its kind in Oregon, and one of only a few on the west
coast. The team is completely funded by business license fees, and investigates
thefts at both big retailers and small businesses.
kgw.com
Two suspects arrested for theft of over $15,000 in merchandise from five Bay
Area Home Depots in one week
 Two
suspects were arrested Wednesday morning in connection with the theft of over
$15,000 in power tools and other merchandise from five Bay Area Home Depot
stores in the last week, a public information officer with the San Ramon Police
Department said. Police received the call from managers of the Home Depot on
Crow Canyon Road in San Ramon just after 7 a.m. on Wednesday morning. According
to the police spokesperson, employees were already familiar with the pair of
suspects. "They had
stolen from enough Home Depots in the Bay Area that they were circulating flyers
in the stores," the officer said. "One of the employees recognized them as
repeat offenders."
sfgate.com
Port Charlotte, FL: Booze bandits on the run after pepper-spraying Sam's Club
employees
 The
search is on to find three women who pepper-sprayed Sam's Club employees while
trying to steal nearly 50 bottles of liquor. It happened Monday night at the
Murdock Circle store in Port Charlotte. The liquor store at that particular
location isn't big. It's roughly the size of an average living room.
Representatives from the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office report three black
women entered the Sam's Club liquor store and filled a cart with 48 bottles of
alcohol. When they tried to leave the store without paying, staff acted to stop
them. Witnesses said the women sprayed the employees with pepper spray.
"When we responded my crew said that the first people there did the right
things," Todd Dunn said, from Charlotte County Fire & EMS. "They took off the
outer garments and they started flushing the eyes to get rid of some of that
burning pepper spray. We ended up transporting two patients for breathing issues
and burning from the pepper spray." A third patient refused treatment.
"We're deeply
disturbed by the recent incident. Member and associate safety is our top
priority. We will continue to work closely with law enforcement during their
investigations and hope the suspects will be apprehended swiftly and brought to
justice." Just two
weeks ago, another incident left a Sam's Club in Fort Myers down a lot of
liquor. Four ladies stole $4,150 worth of alcohol there. The Fort Myers Police
Department released these surveillance pictures of the suspects from the theft
on November 23.
nbc-2.com
Davis, CA: Pair suspected of organized retail theft at Davis CVS
Police made two arrests Thursday in another case of organized retail theft, this
latest incident occurring at East Davis store that also was targeted just last
week. Four more suspects hit the same store Thursday night as a police detective
conducted follow-up on the morning incident, according to Deputy Police Chief
Paul Doroshov. The detective confronted them, but the foursome fled the store
and got away. Meanwhile, the suspects in the earlier theft the allegedly stole
multiple products from the CVS at 1550 E. Covell Blvd., shortly after apparently
targeting another CVS store in Woodland, Doroshov said.
Losses totaled about $1,000 between both retailers. No injuries were reported.
According to Doroshov, employees at the just-burglarized Woodland CVS alerted
staff at the Davis location "and, sure enough, the suspects got in here and
started stealing items," Doroshov said. That led to a 9 a.m. report of a theft
in progress to Davis police, who arrived on scene as the suspect were fleeing
the scene, Doroshov said. An officer followed and stopped their vehicle as they
began merging onto eastbound Interstate 80 . Antioch residents Dorian Adams, 19;
and Taveon Thompson, 18; both were booked into the Yolo County Jail on burglary,
conspiracy and organized retail theft charges.
Doroshov said police are investigating whether they're also connected to a pair
of Nov. 28 retail thefts at the East and West Davis CVS stores that resulted in
more than $14,000 in combined losses.
davisenterprise.com
Charleston, SC: Police seek to identify women after nearly $9k worth of rings
stolen from store
Officials with the Charleston Police Department are asking for the public's help
to identify three women they say were involved in the theft of nearly $9,000
worth of rings from a Charleston store. It happened at Hampden on 314 King St.
on Nov. 26 when several rings were stolen. According to police, the total value
of the rings stolen are valued at $8725.
wmbfnews.com
Miami, FL: Dadeland, The Falls, and International Mall Thief's spree at Macy's
targets $12,000 of coffee makers, juicers, and massagers
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Shootings & Deaths
Donora, PA: Third Suspect Charged In Deadly C-Store Shooting
A third suspect is now in custody in connection to a deadly shooting. Sidney
McLean and Devell Christian are accused of killing Nicholas Tarpley at Anna
Lee's Convenience Store in Donora. Investigators say those two shot Tarpley six
times when had his back turned to them while he was helping a customer. On
Wednesday, police also arrested Jah Zhanee Sutton for conspiracy to commit
homicide.
pittsburgh.cbslocal.com
Bellflower, CA: One Employee Dead, Two others Injured After Triple Shooting at
Smoke Shop
 The
search is on for whoever shot three people, killing one, inside a Bellflower
smoke shop late Tuesday night. Authorities responded to a gunshot victim call in
the 17100 block of Bellflower Boulevard at about 11:20 p.m., according to a Los
Angeles County Sheriff's Department news release. Video from the scene showed an
investigation taking place at the Dream Burner smoke shop. Arriving deputies
located a man in his early 30s who had been shot in the upper body. The
unidentified man was pronounced dead at the scene, the Sheriff's Department
stated.A woman in her late 20s and a woman in her 30s were both suffering from
gunshot wounds to the leg. Both victims were taken to a local hospital where
they were listed in critical but stable condition.
A witness said one of the victims was an employee of the shop
but authorities have not confirmed whether any of the victims worked at the
store. Detectives learned the gunman, described only as a male wearing a
dark-colored hooded sweatshirt, had entered the store and then shot the victims.
The motive for the shooting is unknown.
ktla.com
Columbia, SC: Shoppers concerned after shooting in Costco parking lot
A woman has been charged with attempted murder after a shooting at a Costco near
Harbison on Wednesday. According to the Richland County Sheriff's Department,
30-year-old Vashni Harris was firing shots at a man the deputies say she knew.
Eyewitness Britany Mincey says it happened in the Costco parking lot on Piney
Grove Road in Columbia's Harbison area. "Some female came over from the gas
station and started shooting at some dude that ran across the street at
Costco's," Mincey said. "I didn't know what she was doing, I just thought they
had an altercation." Deputies say the woman fired multiple shots at a man after
a dispute. According to authorities, the duo knew each other.
wltx.com
Decatur, GA: Gang member Leroy S. Copney, Jr., gets life sentence in DeKalb
County after gunning down victim at gas station
Philadelphia, PA: Teen son of pizza shop employee shoots robber during struggle
Robberies, Incidents & Thefts
Ashland, KY: Woman Pours Gas on Store Clerk and Tries to Light Him on Fire
 A
woman has been arrested and charged with attempted murder after she tried to set
a convenience store clerk on fire. At approximately 9:00 a.m., Ashland Police
responded to a convenience store located at the corner of 22nd St and Winchester
Avenue in Ashland Kentucky. According to the report a female had come inside the
store and poured gasoline on a clerk and around the cashier area. Then that same
female produced a lighter in an attempt to set the clerk and the store on fire.
Luckily Customers that were on scene were able to subdue the female and keep her
under control until police arrived. Ashland Police immediately took the female
into custody, who was identified as Felicia Helton, 36 of Ashland. She was
charged with Criminal Attempt to Commit Murder.
sciotopost.com
Bakersfield, CA: Robbery investigation at Valley Plaza Mall, police say no signs
of shots fired
There is heavy police presence due to a robbery investigation at Kevin Jewelers
inside of the Valley Plaza Mall. Police are currently investigating the
burglary. Multiple calls to the police said there were gunshots heard during the
burglary, but BPD says "Any reports of an active shooter are unfounded." Police
believe the sound of the tool impacts on the display glass was misheard as
gunshots.
kget.com
San Antonio, TX: Police, pawnshops work together to catch criminals selling
stolen items
 Thieves
looking for a quick buck will attempt to flip stolen items for cash, which
sometimes leads them to pawnshops. These stores are now working with police to
catch criminals trying to sell stolen items. San Antonio police arrested
45-year-old Virginia Vela Torres on Wednesday after tracking stolen jewelry to a
pawn shop. Officers say she stole jewelry from children at a day care center
where she worked. Teamwork between the pawnshop and police made the arrest and
return of the stolen belongings possible. "It is a loss on our end, so it
certainly does not benefit the pawnbroker or the industry to deal in stolen
merchandise," said Shirley Gonzales, a former councilwoman and owner of Bill's
Pawn & Jewelry. The stolen jewelry was not recovered at Gonzales's business, but
she explained how pawnshops in San Antonio and law enforcement work together.
Gonzales said business owners have regular meetings with SAPD to discuss things
to look out for and new theft trends. She said how these businesses document
items sold to their stores is most important because the seller must file a copy
of their ID. "Every pawnshop in San Antonio voluntarily downloads all the
transactions for the day. They go straight to a third-party system that then
connects to the police department," Gonzales said.
ksat.com
Felon Pleads Guilty to Illegally Possessing Gun at Fashion Fair Mall
Norristown Man Indicted On Charges Of Trafficking In Counterfeit Merchandise
Detroit Man Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Jewelry Store Robbery
New York, NY: Man Punches Elderly NYC Store Owner After Being Asked To Wear Mask |
|
Featured Job Spotlights
|
Help Your Colleagues By Referring the Best
Refer the Best & Build the Best
|
Legends
.png) |
Regional Loss Prevention and Safety Specialist
New York, NY
- posted November 29
You will act as a coach, trainer, mentor, and enforcer to support the
risk management program at Legends. Responsibilities can include, but are not
limited to: Identify, develop, and implement improved loss prevention and safety
measurements with risk management team; Conduct internal audits that have a
focus on loss prevention, personal safety, and food safety, and help the team to
effectively execute against company standards and requirements...
|
 |
Asset Protection Manager
Philadelphia, PA
- posted November 5
As an Asset Protection Manager II you will be responsible for one of our
highest shortage locations with an elevated scope of responsibility that may
include executive direct reports and increased staff levels, higher Sales Volume
or significant Shortage risk. You will be the subject matter expert on Asset
Protection and Shortage Reduction Strategies within your location...
|
 |
Safety Director (Retail Background Preferred)
Jacksonville, FL
- posted November 3
This role is responsible for developing, implementing, and managing
purpose-directed occupational safety and health programs designed to minimize
the frequency and severity of customer and associate accidents, while complying
with applicable regulatory requirements. This leader is the subject matter
expert on all safety matters...
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Director, Loss Prevention & Safety
Goleta, CA
- posted September 24
The Director of Loss Prevention & Environmental, Health
and Safety plans, organizes, implements, and directs HERBL's programs,
procedures, and practices to ensure the safety and security of company employees
and property...
|
 |
Corporate Risk Manager
Hayward/LA, CA
- posted October 5
Summary of Role and Responsibilities: A proactive approach to preventing
losses/injuries, whether to our employees, third parties, or customer's
valuables. They include but are not limited to cash in transit, auto losses, or
injuries...
|
 |
AP Lead
Manhattan, NY
- posted October 19
This role will conduct investigations focusing on Habitual Offenders,
high impact external theft/fraud incidents through the use of company technology
(CCTV, Incident Reporting, Data Analysis). This role directly teaches and trains
Store Leaders and Brand Associates in the safe practices of effectively handling
external theft events... |
 |
Regional Loss Prevention Manager
Houston, TX (Remote Opportunity)
- posted October 14
The position will be responsible for: Internal theft investigations;
External theft investigations; Major cash shortage investigations; Fraudulent
transaction investigations; Missing inventory investigations; Reviewing stores
for physical security improvements...
|
Featured Jobs
To apply to any of today's Featured Jobs,
Click Here
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