5 Critical Reasons Why You Need Remote Surveillance: COVID-19 Pandemic

With few to no employees on-site, remote surveillance is critical to guard against theft and vandalism. Thanks to COVID-19, it’s no longer business as usual. Workplaces have shut down and directed staff to work from home. Retailers and restaurateurs are closing entirely. Businesses of every type have been pushed into risk management mode as a result of efforts to limit the virus’s spread.

For many businesses, a chief concern relates to the risk of theft, vandalism or other unforeseen issues at locations and remote sites that may not be regularly staffed for weeks to come. Many on-premise video surveillance systems lack any kind of external network connectivity – they were deployed on the assumption that someone would always be on site in the security office to watch the feed or review the footage. During a pandemic, there can be uncertain response times from security or alarm systems.

Read the 5 critical reasons to have remote surveillance here.
 

Coronavirus Map: March 23 Update

US: Nearly 40K+ Cases, 455 Dead -- Globally: 353K+ Cases, 15,454 Dead

Click here to track U.S. & Canada coronavirus store closings 197 closures in U.S., 85 in Canada (Updated Daily)

IN Homeland Security: Coronavirus Global

Critical Shortage - China's Slamming U.S. - Grieving Alone

A surge in infections has caused a critical shortage of medical supplies in many places. The hunt for ventilators and other critical items is consuming Europe and the U.S. Deaths around the world passed the 15,000 mark Monday.

Meanwhile, China is slamming the U.S. for “scapegoating” over the virus, the Tokyo Olympics is considering postponing the event to 2021 and lawmakers in the U.S. are negotiating a nearly $2 trillion economic rescue package.

Grieving has become even more upsetting for families in the time of coronavirus. An untold number of burials around the globe now go forward with nothing more than a cleric, a funeral home employee and a single loved one. Others receive what would have once been called pauper’s funerals, buried in the clothes they died in. inhomelandsecurity.com

Over 1.5 billion globally asked to stay home to escape virus
The hunt for masks, ventilators and other medical supplies consumed the U.S. and Europe, as more than 1.5 billion people — one-fifth of the world’s population — were urged or ordered to stay home Monday to try to blunt the spread of the coronavirus. apnews.com
 

In the U.S.
‘Our Industry Will Fail’: Retail Leaders Ask for Emergency Aid

Predicting millions of job losses in retail, an industry presses for federal money to save the retail clothing industries.

Over the past five days, executives from the largest American clothing brands and department stores have been engaged in urgent late-night phone calls and marathon video conferences in which they game out scenarios for their future in a world with a coronavirus pandemic.

In the end, they have decided to request a stimulus package from the United States government that would defray the worst of the effects for both big and small businesses alike, framing it as a “bridge,” not a “bailout.” Read more here

NRF Action Alert – Economic Stimulus Bill
Contact the Senate now and share your disappointment that they could not reach an agreement on the CARES Act. The economic crisis facing malls and Main Streets around the United States is real. We need everyone to contact their Senators now. Tell them to put aside their differences and pass a bill that defends the economic health of the retail workforce and provides the maximum amount of liquidity for retailers to remain viable until the end of the crisis. All retailers are encouraged to share NRF’s action alert with their networks. votervoice.net

Security Industry Association and ASIS International Form New Partnership

Leading security associations join forces to deliver increased services to global security leaders as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic crisis

ASIS International and the Security Industry Association (SIA), the leading membership associations for the security industry, have entered into a partnership to best aid in the COVID-19 recovery and rebuilding efforts of its diverse group of 34,000 member professionals and over 1,000 member companies respectively.

The partnership will begin by addressing two primary areas of focus – business operations and advocacy – as well as content development and coordination. asisonline.org

NY & L.A. Cops Fear Coronavirus Crime Wave - Especially Retail Burglaries

'High-level concern for a crime wave'

Police in 2 of America's biggest cities on lockdown are concerned coronavirus guidelines might also bring a rise in crime ... but they're ready to crack down.

TMZ spoke with several law enforcement sources in both L.A. and NYC, and we've been told cops are on high alert for criminals looking to take advantage of the situation ... especially potential burglars.

Truth is, with so many businesses shut down ... retail shops, offices, clubs, bars, restaurants, liquor stores and more are extra vulnerable to break-ins. Not only are empty stores ripe for burglaries, but with hardly anybody on the streets ... there are no witnesses to thwart perps or help bust 'em, especially at night.

Because of this, our L.A. law enforcement sources say it's increasing patrols and police visibility all over the city and county, adding undercover units and keeping in contact with owners of establishments and community leaders as much as possible.

We're told officers in NYC have similarly been instructed to keep an eye out for wannabe burglars ... particularly during the overnight hours between midnight and 5 AM.

However, our NYPD sources say although there is a high-level of concern for a crime wave ... it's too early to tell if there's a spike. Regardless, we're told cops are doing everything in their power to keep businesses safe during this already difficult time. tmz.com

Police nationwide ask criminals to halt activity during coronavirus outbreak

We'll Let You Know When to Resume Your Normal Behavior

Several police departments across the country are asking criminals in tongue-in-cheek social media posts to stop illegal activity during the coronavirus pandemic.

Police in Ohio, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Utah and Washington have called on criminals to take a break to allow officers to respond to coronavirus-related issues.

The Salt Lake City Police Department, for example, requested in a post on Facebook last week that “all criminal activities/nefarious behavior to cease until further notice.”

“We appreciate your anticipated cooperation in halting crime & thank criminals in advance,” the department said. “We will let you know when you can return to your normal criminal behavior

The Puyallup Police Department in Washington state, which has been hit hard by COVID-19, made its request to criminals on Monday, saying: “We will let you know when you can resume your normal behavior.”

In Colorado, the Logan County Sheriff’s Office issued a similar call for criminal activities to “cease until further notice,” while thanking criminals “in advance.”

“We are unsure when this ban will be lifted,” the department said in a Facebook post. “We ask anyone who was planning to commit any crimes to please stay home for their safety.”

A police department in Oregon also asked residents to stop calling 911 because they ran out of toilet paper. thehill.com

Retailers take aggressive action on COVID-19
Retailers are increasing wages, paying bonuses, amending leave policies and announcing aggressive hiring plans as the COVID-19 situation continues to unfold and send the industry further into uncharted territory. Here’s a look at major announcements from some of the industry’s biggest players including Walmart, Amazon, Albertsons, Kroger, Target and Dollar General.

Amazon previously announced plans to hire an additional 100,000 employees.

Walmart announced plans to hire 150,000 employees across a range of position types and also said it would pay bonuses of $300 for full-time hourly associates and $150 for part-time hourly associates that would total more than $365 million.

Kroger announced a one-time bonus to every hourly frontline grocery, supply chain, manufacturing and customer service associate, amounting to $300 for every full-time associate and $150 for every part-time associate.

Albertsons announced a temporary $2 an hour pay increases as part of an Appreciation Pay program for employees such as pickers and drivers, store, distribution center and manufacturing plant associates. The increase is effective March 15-28 and affects roughly 230,000 employees. The company also waived pharmacy delivery fees.

Target increased its hourly wages by $2 through May 2. Target also said for the first time ever this April it would pay out bonuses to 20,000 hourly store team leads who oversee departments ranging from $250 to $1,500.

Dollar General said it would nearly double its normal hiring rate by adding up to 50,000 employees by the end of April.

Dollar Tree hiring 25,000

Walgreens said it is looking to fill 9,500 positions and announced plans to make bonus payments of $300 for full-time and $150 for part-time workers in stores and distribution center beginning in late April.

7-Eleven said it expects to hire as many as 20,000 new store employees in the near future to meet increased demand for 7-Eleven products and services amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Domino's Hiring 10,000 Delivery Workers.

CVS to hire 50,000 workers, gives bonuses to employees amid coronavirus pandemic.

Best Buy shifts all stores to curb side pickup only. retailleader.com  chainstoreage.com

UK Prime Minister Cracks Down
UK calls in army & warns people to stay home or face lockdown
Britain sent in the army to deliver protective equipment to hospitals on Monday and told people to stay at home and heed warnings over social distancing or the government would bring in more extreme measures to stop the coronavirus spread.

In a letter pleading with Prime Minister Boris Johnson to increase PPE supplies, more than 6,000 frontline doctors said they were being asked to put their lives at risk with out-of-date masks, and low stocks of equipment.

But advice to stay at home and avoid social gatherings went unheeded by millions at the weekend who took advantage of sunny weather to flocked to parks and beauty spots over the weekend, ignoring instructions to stay 2 meters (6 feet) apart. reuters.com

Customers Weekend Behavior & Store Scenes in the UK Has Retailers Implementing More Safety Measurers
Supermarket giant Morrisons has agreed new safety measures, including perspex screens, to help protect checkout operators during the coronavirus emergency.

The move has been welcomed by shop workers trade union Usdaw and comes as several independent convenience operators have taken similar steps.

Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis said: “We have increasing concerns about the safety and welfare of staff in stores.

“The scenes in stores over the weekend and behaviour of some customers mean supermarkets need to go further to protect the health, safety and welfare of shopworkers. “We are calling on retailers to continue to improve their stores and procedures to help protect staff. “We also call on customers to stay calm, respect shopworkers and practice the necessary hygiene measures to help limit the spread of the virus.

Usdaw is calling on retailers to:

• Limit the number of customers in store at any one time
• Increase security presence
• Reiterate to staff not to put their own safety at risk in the event of abusive customers or shoplifters
• Provide perspex shields around checkouts
• Ensure staff are able to perform necessary hygiene procedures
• Clearly tell customers they should shop alone if possible and only buy what they need
• Enforce essential workers’ and vulnerable people’s shopping hours. talkingretail.com

Who's Essential? NRF Urges Trump For National Guidance for State & Local Governments
“Unfortunately, there remains a need for clear national guidance to resolve questions caused by a number of conflicting state and local orders that are triggering consumer, worker and business confusion, leading to cascading negative impacts on communities across the country,” NRF president and CEO Matt Shay wrote in a letter to Mr. Trump.

The organization listed a number of retailers it believes should be excluded from mandated closures now in place in some locales, including pet stores, distribution centers, farm stores with livestock feed, hardware stores, gas stations and highway rest areas for truck drivers. The Reuters report said authorities weren’t certain whether electronic stores, bookstores and hotels should be considered essential. retailwire.com

FMI: Food Industry Groups Launch Partnership to Ensure Sufficient Food Supply Amid COVID-19 Crisis
The International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) and FMI-Food Industry Association announced an ad-hoc partnership motivated by widespread consumer needs fueled by the coronavirus pandemic. The partnership is a matching program that connects foodservice distributors that have excess capacity (products, transportation services, warehousing services) to assist food retailers and wholesalers that require additional resources to fulfill needs at grocery stores, which are experiencing skyrocketing demand. fmi.org

‘Like the worst holiday rush’: The coronavirus outbreak has transformed frontline retail workers’ jobs
As other types of retail businesses have temporarily closed their stores in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, grocery store workers and employees at big-box chains like Target and Walmart have found that their jobs have become more critical than ever before.

Shoppers are flooding their stores looking for toilet paper, hand sanitizer and to stock up on weeks worth of groceries. That leaves workers scrambling to fulfill order pick-ups and make sure the stocks are shelved before the stores are opened, coming in earlier than usual to unload extra trucks, and struggling to keep up with more frequent cleanings that have been ordered by corporate offices.

“If I had to compare it to anything, it would be like the worst holiday rush,” said Brittney Legowski, an associate at Walmart and a leader with retail workers advocacy group United for Respect.

“My manager was he going nuts [over the weekend] calling people trying to get them to come in,” said one Target worker in California. “They weren’t answering the phone, and he was like, ‘hey can you just send them a text?'” modernretail.com

Safeway & Albertson's Install Sneeze Guards at Checkouts The 30x30 inch plexiglass "sneeze guards" will be put in over the next week. Extends Senior Hours to 6-9 a.m.

FMI: The Food Industry Deemed Essential and Critical to Infrastructure In COVID19 Response

Bed Bath & Beyond Closing 800 Stores Without Health & Beauty - But Keeping 700 "Essential" Stores Open

Costco is refusing returns on hoarded items

Hobby Lobby founder reportedly told employees a message from God informed his decision to leave stores open

H&M considering tens of thousands of layoffs with stores closed due to coronavirus pandemic

Michigan AG’s Office Receives More Than 1,000 Price-gouging Complaints

California, New York, Illinois, Ohio, Louisiana & Delaware Have All Issued 'Stay-At-Home' Orders

Click here for guidance on which companies are deemed 'essential'

Last week's #1 article --

On the frontlines protecting others:
31 security officers test positive for COVID-19
Private security officers are being called to the front line to keep the peace, direct traffic and to ensure that shoppers play nice. Stop and Shop, Kroger, ShopRite and Trader Joe are among a growing list of retailers who have hired security officers to control the people and the traffic during the mass rush for Coronavirus supplies.

While there have been some arrests made for fighting and for theft, nationwide, most retailers have reported that their shoppers have been understanding and cooperative.

Some security officers are wearing masks and gloves while in most locations, they have been seen without the proper protecting gear. As of today, 31 known security officers have tested positive with the virus including 6 TSA security officers.

While many businesses, schools and social events have been shut down for several weeks or more, private security officers continue to work to protect people and property while risking their own lives. privateofficer.com

Attack Surface, Vulnerabilities Increase as Orgs Respond to COVID-19 Crisis

In typical fashion, attackers are gearing up to take advantage of the surge in teleworking prompted by the pandemic.

The speed at which organizations are being forced to respond to the unfolding COVID-19 health crisis could be leaving many of them vulnerable to attack by threat actors rushing to exploit the situation.

Over the past few weeks security vendors and researchers have reported an increasing number of malicious activities tied to COVID-19 that they say are elevating risks for organizations across sectors, especially healthcare and law enforcement.

Predictably, a lot of the activity has involved phishing and social-engineering campaigns where COVID-19 has been used as a thematic lure to get people to click on malicious attachments and links in emails or to download malware on mobile and other devices. There have also been reports about account takeover and business email compromise activity, a growth in domains serving up drive-by malware, and attempts to exploit virtual private networks (VPNs) and other remote access tools. darkreading.com

COVID-19 Response: How to Secure a 100% Remote Workforce

Cybereason CSO Sam Curry on Business Continuity and Reducing Risk

Cybereason CSO Sam Curry is no stranger to crisis - he was on the team that responded to the historic RSA breach in 2011. But the COVID-19 pandemic brings an unprecedented challenge: How do you manage business continuity and reduce risk with a 100 percent remote workforce? Curry shares strategies and lessons learned.

In a video interview about COVID-19 response, Curry discusses:

- His key tenets of business continuity in these times;
- Top considerations for reducing risk;
- Lessons learned from the early days of securing the total remote workforce. govinfosecurity.com

PCI Security Standards Council:
Protecting Payments While Working Remotely
PCI SSC is dedicated to providing necessary guidance to the payments industry during evolving circumstances related to COVID-19. The current climate is forcing more global organizations to a remote-work model. As organization make this shift, it is important to maintain security practices to protect payment card data. The following are excerpts related to remote work best practices taken from the PCI SSC Information Supplement “Protecting Telephone-Based Payment Card Data”.  pcisecuritystandards.org

COVID-19 offers a unique opportunity to pilot zero trust, rapidly and at scale
A zero-trust model addresses many of the security concerns around supporting large numbers of remote workers, and new vendor free trials make fast deployment possible.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a forced work-from-home situation that many organizations and businesses were likely not prepared for. From dealing with undersized VPN infrastructure, insufficient bandwidth and not enough managed devices for employees to take home, IT departments are scrambling to limit the impact on productivity and enable access to corporate resources and applications their colleagues need to perform their job duties.

Unfortunately, mounting pressure from management to set up remote working capabilities as quickly as possible could result in IT teams cutting corners and ignoring existing security policies and practices. This could have major implications for business continuity in the long run. csoonline.com

The Case of the Unidentified Database Just Sitting on the Web

Unidentified Database Exposes Records of 200 Million Americans

The CyberNews research team uncovered an unsecured database owned by an unidentified party, comprising 800 gigabytes of personal user information.The database was left on a publicly accessible server and contained more than 200 million detailed user records.

On March 3, 2020, the entirety of the data present on the database was wiped by an unidentified party.

According to the CyberNews team, the unsecured database contained a folder that included more than 200 million incredibly detailed records of what looked like profiles of US users, including:

• Full names and titles of the exposed individuals
• Email addresses
• Phone numbers
• Dates of birth
• Credit ratings
• Home and mortgaged real estate addresses, including their exact locations
• Demographics, including numbers of children and their genders
• Detailed mortgage and tax records
• Detailed data profiles, including information about the individuals’ personal interests, investments, as well as political, charitable, and religious donations

In addition, the database contained two additional folders that were seemingly unrelated to the mass of personal records the research team found in the main folder. These folders included the following data:

• Emergency call logs of a fire department based in the US.
• A list of some of the 74 bike share stations that used to belong to a bike share program. The current owner of those bike share stations is Lyft.

"Due to how the data in the main folder was structured, however, our analysts suspect that the database belonged to a data marketing firm or a credit company," claims CyberNews. securitymagazine.com

Retailers Are Turning Their Backs on Amazon’s Cashierless Tech

Amazon’s reputation as a “retail bully” isn’t easy to shake off and that may be hurting its latest venture.

Amazon recently announced it would sell Amazon Go's automated checkout technology to other retailers. Shoppers will be able to enter stores by scanning their credit cards, cameras and sensors will track the objects they add to their carts, and they can simply walk out of the store to complete their purchases. The service, dubbed "Just Walk Out," isn't tethered to an Amazon account like Amazon Go.

The Wall Street Journal recently claimed that Amazon offered the service to Walmart and Target, but neither retailer was interested. That chilly response wasn't surprising since both companies view Amazon as a major competitor -- but it also highlights a crack in Amazon's armor, which rivals like Microsoft and Alphabet's Google can exploit. fool.com

Microsoft Teams cheat sheet
Microsoft's answer to Slack, Teams provides group messaging, voice and video calls, and useful integrations with other Office 365 apps. Here's how to get set up in Teams and find your way around. computerworld.com

Coronavirus: UK mobile operators discuss sharing crowd movement data with government