CONTROLTEK Announces New Patent for EAS System Utilizing Time of Flight Technology

May 8, 2023 -- CONTROLTEK, a global leader in tamper-evident packaging, retail asset protection, and RFID inventory and asset tracking solutions, has announced the official securing of a new patent for their Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) system that utilizes Time of Flight (TOF) technology to understand customer movement and reducing false alarms for RFID as EAS.

This new patent enables CONTROLTEK to offer greater accuracy of threat detection and a reduction in false alarms with their system. InFlight RFID, next-generation RFID as EAS utilizes this technology and is being deployed to retailers globally. Accurate threat detection is a key component to a secure EAS system and CONTROLTEK will continue to incorporate this technology into their EAS systems.

We are excited to share that we have secured a new patent," said Tom Meehan, CFI, President at CONTROLTEK. "This achievement underscores our commitment to advancing RFID technology and enhancing the accuracy and effectiveness of our systems in detecting and preventing theft." With this breakthrough, we can deliver even better solutions to our clients, providing them with the confidence and peace of mind that their assets are fully protected.

"We are grateful to all who supported and contributed to the successful launch of InFlight," said Rod Diplock, CEO at CONTROLTEK. "At CONTROLTEK, we are dedicated to delivering cutting-edge security technology solutions that address all the shortfalls of other RFID overheads systems on the market. With InFlight, we have designed an unmatched solution that offers a reliable reading range, high-speed tag reading, and exceptional read rate, ensuring that all tagged items are detected accurately. Our commitment to staying at the forefront of security technology remains unwavering, and we are determined to continue providing our clients with the best solutions possible."

Former Uber CISO Avoids Prison Time Over Data Breach Cover-Up
However, the judge put other cybersecurity leaders on notice and promised jail time for those involved in similar future cases

Judge Spares Former Uber CISO Jail Time Over 2016 Data Breach Charges

Tell other CISO's "you got a break," judge says in handing down a three-year probation sentence to Joseph Sullivan.

On May 4, a federal judge in California sentenced former Uber chief information security officer Joseph Sullivan to three years of probation for his role in covering up a 2016 data breach that exposed data on more than 50 million customers. Judge William Orrick of the US District Court for the Northern District of California also ordered Sullivan to pay a $50,000 fine and do 200 hours of community service.

A Fortunate Break

The no-prison-time sentence is likely to come as a relief of sorts for some within the industry who had perceived Sullivan as the fall guy for a broader security failure at Uber. Others, including prosecutors in the case who had argued for a 15-month prison term, will likely view the sentence as not doing enough to deter similar behavior by executives in high-stakes situations.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Orrick himself appears to have minced no words in making clear that other cybersecurity leaders would not be so fortunate if they ended up before him like Sullivan did.

"If I have a similar case tomorrow, even if the defendant had the character of Pope Francis, they would be going to prison," some media outlets quoted Judge Orrick as saying said during the sentencing. "When you go out and talk to your friends, to your CISOs, you tell them that you got a break not because of what you did, not even because of who you are, but because this was just such an unusual one-off."

Not Reporting and Concealing a Breach

A federal jury found Sullivan guilty last October on two felony counts related to a data breach at Uber in November 2016 that exposed data belonging to some 57 million customers and 600,000 drivers at the ride-sharing giant. One of the counts had to do with Sullivan actively concealing the breach from Federal Trade Commission officials who, at the time, were investigating an earlier 2014 breach at Uber. Federal prosecutors charged Sullivan with deliberately withholding and concealing the 2016 breach from FTC investigators even as he provided sworn testimony to them about the 2014 breach.

The second count on which the jury convicted Sullivan was for misprision of a felony, or for working to cover up the 2016 breach from others, including executives at Uber. Prosecutors said Sullivan did this by paying $100,000 to the two hackers responsible for the breach, to keep them from making it public. Sullivan, working with other members of his security team, arranged for the hackers to receive payment via Uber's official bug bounty program and then got the hackers to sign a supplemental nondisclosure agreement (NDA), in essence to buy their silence. To receive the money the hackers agreed that they had not accessed any sensitive data at Uber, when, in fact, they had. darkreading.com


Ransomware Remains 'Debilitating Threat' to Critical Infrastructure
2 Years After Colonial Pipeline, US Critical Infrastructure Still Not Ready for Ransomware

Sweeping changes implemented since the May 2021 cyberattack are helping — but more work remains to be done, security experts say.

As the second anniversary of the massive ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline nears, experts warn that efforts to thwart the potentially debilitating threat to US critical infrastructure have not been enough.

The cyberattack on its IT infrastructure forced Colonial Pipeline to shut down its entire operations for the first time ever, triggering a fuel shortage and price hikes that prompted four US states along the East Coast to declare a state of emergency. The incident immediately elevated ransomware to a national security level threat and galvanized concerted action from the Executive Branch down.

Since the attack — and another one shortly thereafter on JBS that threatened domestic meat shortages — the US government has said it would treat the use of ransomware on critical infrastructure as terrorism. An Executive Order signed by President Biden just days after the Colonial Pipeline attack mandated new security requirements for critical infrastructure organizations. And there have been numerous other initiatives at the federal level and by regulatory bodies to bolster resilience to attacks on US critical infrastructure.

However, two years on, the ransomware threat to critical infrastructure remains high, as a recent attack on America's largest cold-storage provider, Americold, showed. The attack — like the one on Colonial Pipeline — forced Americold, to shut down cold-storage operations while it worked to remediate the threat. Last year 870 of the 2,385 ransomware complaints that the FBI received involved critical infrastructure organizations. The FBI's data showed 14 of the 16 designated critical infrastructure sectors had at least one ransomware victim.

The trend continues unabated in 2023: BlackFog's State of Ransomware Report for April 2023 showed ransomware attacks on healthcare, government, and the health sector are continuing to grow, despite other vendor reports of a slowdown in attack volumes. darkreading.com


Cyberattack Preparedness Has Improved - But More Needs to Be Done
Organizations brace for cyber attacks despite improved preparedness
Cyber-risk levels have improved from “elevated” to “moderate” for the first time, but insiders represent a persistent threat for global organizations, according to Trend Micro.

Jon Clay, VP of threat intelligence at Trend Micro: “For the first time since we’ve been running these surveys, we saw the global cyber risk index not only improve but move into positive territory at +0.01. It means that organizations may be taking steps to improve their cyber-preparedness. There is still much to be done, as employees remain a source of risk. The first step to managing this is to gain complete and continuous attack surface visibility and control.”

The Cyber Risk Index (CRI) found that cyber-preparedness improved in Europe and APAC but declined slightly in North and Latin America over the past six months. At the same time, threats declined in every region bar Europe.

Most organizations are still pessimistic about their prospects over the coming year. The CRI found that most respondents said it was “somewhat to very likely” they’d suffer a breach of customer data (70%) or IP (69%) or a successful cyber-attack (78%).

The top four threats in the latest Cyber Risk Index

• Clickjacking
• Business Email Compromise (BEC)
• Ransomware
• Fileless attacks

“Botnets” replaced “login attacks” in fifth place. helpnetsecurity.com


Scammers Want Your Data
Think your data has no value? Scammers disagree
The Avast report also found a 40% rise in the share of phishing and smishing attacks over the previous year. Overall, two out of three threats people encounter online today use social engineering techniques, taking advantage of human weaknesses.

Malware, scams, and phishing attacks

Malware, scams, and phishing attacks attempt to steal consumers’ sensitive data, like passwords, Social Security numbers, and other personal identifiable information. When this data gets into the wrong hands, cybercriminals have the arsenal to easily steal someone’s identity.

Identity theft can lead to a nightmare of events, from scammers ruining people’s credit score, to selling their information on the dark web, and even impersonating people to pass background checks.

“If you think your data has no value then why would scammers spend so much time trying to steal your data if it’s worthless? The truth is that anyone can be affected and it is important to stay vigilant and use proper protection,” said Jakub Kroustek, Avast Malware Research Director. “Unfortunately, scammers have made it nearly impossible to take any message as face value – all communications, whether seemingly from a friend, boss, or household brand, have potential to be fraudulent.” helpnetsecurity.com


New White House AI Initiatives Include AI Software-Vetting Event at DEF CON
The White House this week announced new actions to promote responsible AI innovation that will have significant implications for cybersecurity.

Apple Patches Bluetooth Flaw in AirPods, Beats

$150 Million ORC Ring
California Governor Gavin Newsom Announces Statewide CHP Enforcement Operation Targeting $150 Million Stolen Merchandise Crime Ring
On Friday Governor Newsom announced the California Highway Patrol’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force (ORCTF) — expanded by the Governor in 2022 — along with CHP investigators assigned to the Cargo Theft Interdiction Program conducted a statewide enforcement operation targeting a criminal operation believed to be responsible for over $150 million in stolen merchandise. CHP’s operation led to the arrest of 40 suspects, the recovery of over $50 million in stolen merchandise, the recovery of 20 stolen cargo trailers, and the seizure of several vehicles, multiple firearms, including ghost guns, over $550,000, and 13 gold bars.

WHAT GOVERNOR NEWSOM SAID: “This large-scale enforcement operation is part of CHP’s everyday work to keep our residents, communities, and businesses safe. I’m grateful for all the men and women who helped shut down this criminal operation and get dangerous firearms and stolen merchandise off our streets.”
WHAT CHP COMMISSIONER SEAN DURYEE SAID: “This team has worked tirelessly to unravel this complex case. I continue to be impressed by the dedication and commitment put forth daily by our officers and investigators. Their efforts help make California a safer place to live and work.”

The case originated in March 2022 and resulted in CHP conducting over 50 targeted operations involving multiple surveillance teams, undercover officers, arrests, and the authoring and serving of several search warrants. The suspects are believed to be responsible for the theft of more than 200 cargo loads, valued at over $150 million. Major retailers are among the victims of the thefts investigated. The suspects involved are facing several felony charges involving conspiracy to commit grand theft, grand theft of cargo, vehicle theft, and identity theft.

Governor Newsom continues to prioritize combating organized retail theft. In the last year alone, he invested more than $241.4 million to bolster law enforcement efforts to address organized retail theft and other crimes, and support affected businesses.  goldrushcam.com


Bakersfield, CA: California Big Lots managers claim they were fired for chasing down stolen merchandise
A manager at a Big Lots store in California claimed she and her colleague were fired after wrangling back a shopping cart from an alleged shoplifter who made off with a haul of laundry detergent. Lily Oxford said she and another manager were trying to recover the shopping cart after a homeless man left the store in Bakersfield without paying for 17 jugs of Tide pods last month, according to local NBC affiliate KGET. The managers were trying to maintain their dwindling supply of carts without even attempting to recover the stolen merchandise, Oxford told the local outlet. The thief reportedly had to drag the cart to his alleged getaway car because the cart's wheels locked when he left the store. When the Big Lots managers caught up with him, he was loading the pilfered detergent into the car as they began recording the incident on their phones, according to KGET. The shoplifter was reportedly flustered that he was being recorded and ran away from the car, but the driver who was with him apologized to the managers when they arrived. "The other guy got out of his car and said, ‘Here, ma’am, take it all, take it all,’" Oxford said. "I’m thinking, ‘Oh great, I’m getting all my stuff back.’" Several appreciative onlookers reportedly gathered around the scene to cheer on the managers. "I had people, at least three different people out here, applauding me, because it happens so much," Oxford said. "So many customers see it happen on a daily basis. At least four to five times a day this happens, whether they go out the front door or whether they go out the back door." Oxford said she and her coworker were subsequently fired despite managing to recover both the cart and the Tide pods. She said she is a single mother of two teenagers and has filed for unemployment as she struggles to pay rent, according to her GoFundMe.  foxla.com


Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica resident indicted on $800,000 retail theft scheme
A man and a woman from Southern California have been arrested on an indictment charging them with conspiracy and 10 counts of wire fraud related to an organized retail theft scheme amounting to $800,000. Jalen Amir Thomas, 27, of Santa Monica and Armia Ta’Jae Timmons, 25, of Los Angeles, were arrested on the 11-count indictment. They appeared in the US District Court in the Central District of California on Wednesday. According to US Attorney Nick Brown, the pair traveled through 23 different states and hit nearly 200 stores. Prosecutors will ask that they be detained and transported to the Western District of Washington for arraignment. “Organized retail theft has exploded across the country, due in large part to the growth of an online resale marketplace,” said Brown in a statement. “In this case, we allege the co-conspirators hatched a scheme to rent high-value construction equipment and then fail to return it. They allegedly sold the stolen goods on websites such as OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace.”  smdp.com


Nassau County, NY: Trio of suspects arraigned in Roosevelt Field Mall thefts; Loss Prevention injured
A trio of suspects were arraigned Saturday after being accused of stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise from a store at the Roosevelt Field Mall and assaulting an officer. Police say at around 7 p.m. Friday night, store security noticed three men walk into the Macy's at the Roosevelt Field Mall and caught them stuffing merchandise into a suitcase. As the suspects attempted to flee, officers found 26-year-old Winderon Oropeza Rangel struggling to hold on to the stolen items and leave the scene. Police say Rangel became violent and injured an officer while resisting arrest. The two other suspects, 24-year-old Felipe Martinez Ortiz and 23-year-old Angel Alberto Cruz Bolivar of the Bronx, were arrested after being found exiting other doors in the store. Police say the trio are also responsible for a Macy's theft in Manhasset earlier on Friday. They say the total value of the stolen merchandise is $3,000.  longisland.news12.com


Peru, South America: : Thieves steal 200 sneakers worth $13,000 but only for the Right shoe

Chicago, IL: Thieves tunnel into sports card store, steal nearly $30K in merchandise

Chico, CA: Burglars tunnel into Nor Cal Sport Shop, $30,000 of collectables stolen

Evansville, IN: Over $12,000 worth of items stolen from Kohl’s

Smithfield, NC: 3 sought after thefts from Michael Kors store at Smithfield outlet shops

Jefferson County, MO: 9 Kayaks stolen during burglary of House Springs store, valued at $3,200

Port St. Lucie, FL: Miami man stole nearly $2K worth of diesel from Port St. Lucie 7-Eleven

York County, PA: Police looking for suspects in a string of retail thefts in York County; hitting 5 stores.in one day

Pierce County, ID: KIA smashes store front causing $20,000 in damages, Vape products stolen didn’t compare to cost of damage