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The D&D Daily Mobile Edition
LP, AP & IT Security's #1 News Source

6/1/22 D-Ddaily.net
 

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Then and Now: GPS, Wi-Fi, and Social Media


By Tony D'Onofrio, Global Retail Influencer & Prosegur's CEO & Managing Director, Global Retail Business Unit

Our physical retail and digital innovation exploration journey so far:

Part 1 - We explored the humble beginnings of department stores, supermarkets, and the first use of a bar code in a physical store.

Part 2 - We expanded our innovation journey to ecommerce, smartphones, and robots.

Part 3 -We shifted to loss prevention technologies: cash registers, CCTV cameras, and Electronic Article Surveillance.

Part 4 - Fast rising RFID, Self-checkouts, and the Internet of Things (IoT) made an appearance.
In this Part 5, we geo-locate ourselves with GPS, go wireless with Wi-Fi, and become influencers on Social Media.

In this Part 5, we geo-locate ourselves with GPS, go wireless with Wi-Fi, and become influencers on Social Media.

The First Use of GPS

The Global Positioning System (GPS), as you might have guessed, has their origin in space, the final frontier. In 1957, Russia launched Sputnik, the first successful space satellite. Scientists at the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) at John Hopkins University observing the strange radio signals discovered what became known as the Doppler Effect.

In 1958, the US Defense Department Advanced Research Projects (ARPA) used the principle of the Doppler Effect to develop Transit, the world’s first global satellite navigation system.

By 1968, 36 satellites were operational with Transit technology which dramatically improved location accuracy and were credited with improving the accuracy of the maps of the earth. In 1996, US Defense Department replaced Transit with the current Global Positioning System (GPS).

Fast forward to 2021 when just in USA there are now more than 900 million GPS receivers in use. “You’ll find them in cellphones, commercial trucks and buses, and railroads. More than 100 million cars have navigation systems. Ships, planes and drones use GPS for navigation. Trucks use GPS not only for location services but also for electronic logging devices, which show whether drivers have been driving for too long and getting sleepy. Emergency responders use GPS rather than maps to locate accident sites and get people to the hospital. You don’t want to be waiting for the firetruck or ambulance when GPS is hacked or disrupted.”

First Use of Wi-Fi - First Use of Social Media | Read Tony's full article here

 


 

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In Case You Missed It

Mike Lamb Returns to Kroger as Vice President, Asset Protection

Mike initially joined Kroger in 2017, bringing a level of organization, standardization and streamlined way of working across the business that consistently resulted in improvement in shrink results. He developed a strong team of leaders who achieved great results thanks to his strategy and leadership.

Prior to joining Kroger in 2017, Mike spent more than four years with Walmart as VP of AP & Safety, and Senior Director Operations Support, Asset Protection. Earlier in his career, he spent more than 13 years with the Home Depot, serving as the company's VP of AP, Regulatory Compliance and Safety for nearly five years. He also served as LP Director for Federated Department Stores. Congratulations and welcome back, Mike!

Click here to read the D&D Daily's initial 'Breaking News Alert' published yesterday
 



Juan Ospina named Senior Director, Loss Prevention (Jimmy Choo, Versace, Michael Kors)
for Capri Holdings
Before being named Senior Director, LP for Capri Holdings, Juan spent over a decade with Michael Kors, most recently serving as Director, Loss Prevention - North America for five years. With Michael Kors, he also served as Senior Regional LP Manager and Regional LP Manager. Earlier in his career, he held AP/LP roles with Polo Ralph Lauren, New York & Company, Circuit City, Ann Taylor, and Nordstrom. Congratulations, Juan!

Brian Peacock, CCIP promoted to Senior Vice President for Sennco Solutions, Inc.

Brian has been with Sennco Solutions for nearly five years, starting with the company in 2017 as Director, Business Software Innovation. Before his promotion to Senior Vice President, he served as Vice President of Global Innovation for more than two years. Earlier in his career, he served in AP/LP roles with Rent-A-Center, Office Depot, and Footstar. Congratulations, Brian!


See All the Executives 'Moving Up' Here   

Submit Your New Corporate Hires/Promotions or New Position

 

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Register Now!
IAFCI Annual Spotlight on Fraud Conference

The International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators (IAFCI) Connecticut Chapter annual Spotlight on Fraud Conference is set for June 9-10, 2022 at Mohegan Sun Casino Uncasville, CT. This is a great opportunity to hear about some recent financial crime trends and how to address and prevent them.

Not only retail crime but also cryptocurrency, social media investigations and many more presentations. This is also a great opportunity to network with various branches of federal, state and local law enforcement and the financial investigators industry. Come and hear some awesome presentations.

Conference Agenda | Registration Information
 



The U.S. Crime Surge
The Retail Impact


The Retail Crime Epidemic Continues to Surge Globally

Shoplifting Apprehensions Down, Dollars Recovered Up
Survey: Less retail thieves caught but more dollars recovered in 2021
Shoplifting apprehensions decreased 16.2% in 2021, but the total amount of dollars recovered from shoplifters and dishonest employees — including apprehended and non-apprehended individuals — jumped 30.7%.

That’s one of the findings of Jack L. Hayes International's 34th Annual Retail Theft Survey, which reviewed 200,000 shoplifters and dishonest employee apprehensions in 2021 by 25 large retail companies. The participating retailers apprehended 204,404 shoplifters and dishonest employees in 2021, down 12.8% from 2020.

The participating retailers in the survey recovered more than $240 million from apprehended shoplifters and dishonest employees in 2021, up 9.9% from 2020. The dollars recovered from shoplifters where no apprehension was made was $339 million, up an “astounding” 51.1% in 2021, according to the survey.

“Shoplifting recoveries without an apprehension were driven in 2021 by multiple retailers focusing more on recoveries — get the thief to drop the merchandise and leave the store — and less on actual apprehension of the thieves,” explained Mark R. Doyle, president of Jack L. Hayes, a loss prevention and inventory shrinkage control firm.

Several issues led to this re-focus in 2021, Doyle added, including the pandemic environment (staying six feet away from customers and thieves), staff safety (shoplifters are getting more violent so some retailers moved away from apprehensions) and lower/less police response, with police not responding to some shoplifter calls.

“As a result, stores focused on getting product back instead of making apprehension,” Doyle said.

Average case values increased substantially in 2021, according to the report. The value for total thefts rose 26.0%, while the value increased 26.6% for shoplifting and rose 22.6% for dishonest employees.

Click here to read the D&D Daily initial reporting of the survey

Retail Violence Explodes Across the Pond
Violence and Abuse Against UK Shop Workers Tripled Over Pandemic

One in 10 cases involved violence against staff & costs of retail crime in 12-month period totaled $1.9 billion

Cases of violence and abuse against UK retail workers almost tripled during the pandemic to about 1,300 incidents a day.

That’s according to a survey by the British Retail Consortium, which showed almost one in 10 daily incidents involved violence against store staff, with only 4% of occurrences resulting in prosecution. Three in five respondents said the police response to these incidents was “poor” or “very poor,” according to the study, which covered the 12 months through March 2021.

The abuse was largely confined to essential shops such as supermarkets and pharmacies, which stayed open during the pandemic while non-essential retail stores were forced to close. This prompted the UK government to amend the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to include incidents committed against workers providing a public service.

“These figures make particularly grim reading as they came at the height of the pandemic when the ‘hidden heroes’ of retail were working tirelessly,” said Helen Dickinson, chief executive officer of the BRC. “It is shocking that this huge rise in incidents took place in a smaller pool of stores as much of the industry was in lockdown.”

A survey released last week showed one in five retail workers is planning to quit due to concerns around their finances, abuse from customers and poor mental health throughout the pandemic. A quarter of managers also want to leave the industry, the survey showed.

Alongside the emotional and physical impact on retail workers is the financial hit to the industry. The total cost of retail crime stood at £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) in the 12-month period, with £663 million lost to customer theft and £715 million spent on crime prevention, according to the BRC. bloomberg.com

Virginia AG Makes ORC Fight Top Priority
AG Miyares sets up new work group to investigate organized retail crime
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is convening a work group to take a look at organized retail crime in Virginia, a problem he says is harming businesses across the Commonwealth.

"We saw in Fairfax last month, over 20,000 eyeglasses frames were stolen just in Fairfax," he says. "Arlington detectives recovered over 89,000 stolen goods from just T.J. Maxx alone."

Organized retail crime is a growing problem for businesses across the state. Major retailers in the Commonwealth and across the country report an increase in organized criminal activity.

Goods stolen from stores are resold quickly online. And Attorney General Jason Miyares says retail crime can be a gateway to other illegal activities.

“A lot of times people will groom young victims to do some of these smash and grab situations, and often if you find an organized retail crime ring, you also see that they are involved in a lot of other nefarious activities, trafficking in narcotics, trafficking in people,” Miyares told WDBJ7 in an interview Tuesday afternoon.

Miyares said everyone is paying more at big box retailers and drug stores to make up for their losses. He said he hopes the working group can identify best practices for businesses, and potential legislation to address the problem. whsv.com

   VA Legislature returns and seeks to combat ‘organized retail crime’

   Behind the Story: Busting ‘organized retail crime’


The Mass Shooting Data Continues to Trickle In

Over a Dozen Mass Shootings Over Holiday Weekend
9 killed, more than 60 injured in Memorial Day weekend mass shootings

The Gun Violence Archive said it recorded at least 14 mass shootings, in which four or more victims were shot or killed, across the nation over the long weekend.

Amid calls for gun control after last week's massacre at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school, shots rang out across the country over the Memorial Day weekend, with more than a dozen mass shootings in the span of 72 hours.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, which tracks shootings in the United States, there were at least 14 "mass shootings" in the country over the weekend, from early Saturday to late Monday.

The archive defines a mass shooting as an incident in which "four or more people are shot or killed, not including the shooter."

At least nine people were killed in the shootings, with more than 60 injured, according to the organization's data.

A preliminary count found that gun violence — not just mass shootings — left at least 156 people dead and 412 injured from 5 p.m. ET Friday to 5 a.m. Tuesday, the archive said.

The spate of shootings over the Memorial Day weekend came amid growing calls for gun reforms in the wake of the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24 that left 19 children and two teachers dead. nbcnews.com

Kickoff to a Violent Summer?
Chicago experienced its most violent Memorial Day weekend in five years

Ten people were killed and 42 were wounded — despite stepped up police patrols and a focus on neighborhood programs.

Chicago experienced its most violent Memorial Day weekend in five years — 10 killed, 42 wounded — despite stepped up police patrols and a focus on neighborhood programs that city officials hoped would provide peaceful alternatives.

About half of those shot were on the West Side, most of them in a single police district, the 11th, where there were two mass shootings on Sunday. On the South Side, at least 14 people were shot. And downtown, where there has been a spike in shootings all year, four people were hit by gunfire.

The weekend was the most violent since 2017, when seven people were killed and 45 people were wounded, according to Chicago police data. The year before, 69 people had been shot over the long holiday weekend.

This past weekend’s toll is sharply higher than last year, when three people were killed and 34 others were wounded.

The Chicago Police Department canceled days off over the weekend, but Police Supt. David Brown was vague last Friday about the numbers of additional police officers assigned to work. wbez.org

17 Mass Shootings Reported Since Uvalde Massacre
Philadelphia & Chicago Lead the Way on Holiday Weekend Shootings

14 fatally shot in Philly, 9 killed in Chicago

Even as the first funerals of the 21 victims of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting were commencing, gunfire continued to wreak havoc across the United States over the Memorial Day weekend as police in eight major cities investigated incidents in which three or more people were shot, including 16 children.

The gun violence was especially acute in Philadelphia and Chicago, where police departments in both cities dispatched officers to more than 40 shootings between Friday afternoon and Monday night.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, a website that keeps track of shootings across the country, there have been 17 episodes across the nation in which four or more people have been shot since the Uvalde mass shooting on May 24.  abcnews.go.com

   US mass shootings will continue until the majority can overrule the minority

   Eight warnings behaviors of a potential mass shooter


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COVID Update

587.3M Vaccinations Given

US: 85.9M Cases - 1M Dead - 82.2M Recovered
Worldwide: 532.9M Cases - 6.3M Dead - 504M Recovered


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

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 358  
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 774

*Red indicates change in total deaths


COVID: Forgotten But Not Gone
U.S. COVID Cases Are 5 Times Higher Now Than Last Memorial Day Weekend

As omicron and its subvariants rapidly moves through the U.S., reported cases are surpassing 110,000 a day, though the number is far higher due to a lack of testing

Throughout the U.S., precautions for COVID-19 such as mask mandates and vaccine requirements have been largely dropped, and Americans are almost entirely back to their pre-pandemic activities. Yet cases are actually higher now than this time last year, when half of the country was newly vaccinated and before the omicron variant had struck.

This Memorial Day weekend, the reported number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. was easily above 110,000 a day, five times that of the year before, when the average number of cases hovered around 20,000 a day. The daily average is also now a significant undercount, with most people testing positive on rapid tests that go unreported or foregoing testing altogether.

Despite the rise in cases, hospitalizations and deaths have largely remained stagnant, and are still lower than last year. With around 67% of the country fully vaccinated — which is still far lower than what health experts hoped — and omicron producing a milder illness than past versions of COVID-19, the U.S. is seeing around 300 deaths a day, down from around 550 last year.  people.com

Retail Foot Traffic Rise Amid COVID Bounceback
In boon to retail, office workers and tourists are heading back downtown
In a sign of a major comeback for downtown retail, office workers and tourists have steadily returned to major U.S. cities through the first half of the year, though most are lagging their pre-pandemic normal, according to an urban retail recovery report from commercial real estate company JLL.

New York’s Times Square, where foot traffic is up 186.2% year over year, and San Francisco’s Union Square (up 101.4%) have enjoyed the biggest rebounds. In Chicago, foot traffic is up 73.5% at Fulton Market and 54.9% on Michigan Avenue. In Los Angeles, Melrose and the Third Street Promenade each have gains topping 50%.

The recovery has been fueled by dining and has been weather dependent, with gains mounting as temps climb. That’s helped Miami, which has been surpassing its pre-pandemic traffic. The Design District is “the only urban retail corridor to consistently outperform 2019 levels,” with footfall well above 2019 since last year, JLL found.

In 2021, some tourists took advantage of lifted lockdowns and still-affordable travel and some employees trickled back to the office. But whether urban retail would ever recover has remained unclear. Some analysts believe the optimal place to open a store has become the neighborhood, as so many people continue to work from home.

But others have believed — or, at least, hoped — that classic downtown activity would resume as the pandemic subsided. retaildive.com

Lockdown Lifting at Last
Shanghai to lift COVID lockdown: ‘Hard to believe it’s actually happening’
Shanghai authorities on Tuesday began dismantling fences around housing compounds and ripping police tape off public squares and buildings before the lifting of a two-month lockdown in China’s largest city at midnight.

Most will be stuck indoors again until midnight as they have been for the past two months under a strictly enforced lockdown that has caused income losses and stress and despair to people struggling to access food or get emergency healthcare.

The prolonged isolation has fueled public anger and rare protests inside the city of 25 million people and battered its manufacturing and export-heavy economy, disrupted supply chains in China and around the world, and slowed international trade. nypost.com

DOJ asks court to reverse rule lifting mask requirement for public transportation

China’s factory activity decline slows as COVID curbs ease


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NYC's Retail Ghost Town - But Signs of Hope
Empty NYC retail spaces cast pall on key shopping corridors
There’s “growing demand from a diverse range of retailers” for Manhattan storefronts, the Real Estate Board of New York crows in its spring 2022 survey of retail activity. The claim might be true, but growing demand doesn’t immediately or necessarily translate into a big reduction in the number of vacant stores.

The metrics for the past six months cited by REBNY definitely show improvement. Average asking rents per square foot in nine of 17 major shopping corridors grew from the fall of 2021 — suggesting that the market is stabilizing after two years of declining rents.

For all the new leases, store windows in many Manhattan areas — residential and commercial — remain full of “Prime Retail Space” signs.

Long slices of Broadway look abandoned at sidewalk level. While its Soho portion thrives (along with the rest of Soho), Broadway south of Canal Street has precious few actual stores beyond hair salons and a few funky art galleries.

Madison Avenue still reels from the losses of Barneys, Brooks Brothers and most recently, Harman Kardon. Empty windows haunt pedestrians, especially in the East 60s.

Vacant storefronts actually outnumber filled ones in parts of the FiDi area. The closing of Century 21 — which supposedly will reopen with much less space next year — cast a pall across from the World Trade Center. Fulton Street can boast of thriving Brookfield Place and the rejuvenated South Street Seaport at its east and west ends, but between them lies a depressing sea of vacancies. Even neighborhood fast-food places and shoe-repair shops closed and have yet to be replaced.

So while it’s legitimate to assert that a nascent recovery is taking place, let no one think that all those “for rent” signs will disappear soon. nypost.com

No Staff, No Problem
Dollar General piloting self-checkout-only stores
Dollar General recently started piloting self-checkout as the sole way to make purchases at select stores, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Owen said Thursday during the discount retailer’s first-quarter earnings call.

The test will involve about 200 of Dollar General’s more than 18,000 locations throughout the rest of the year, Owen said. The trial comes as the discounter expands self-checkout overall, with plans to have the units, which were in more than 8,000 stores at the end of Q1, in 11,000 stores by the end of the year, Owen added.

Dollar General is stepping up the deployment of automation in its stores as the company works to mitigate challenges brought on by persistent supply chain issues and inflation. Dollar General’s test of stores without staffed checkout counters comes as the retailer deals with rising costs and strives to remain attractive to its core customer base.

The company added 239 new stores during the quarter and is on track to debut 1,110 locations in 2022, according to Owen. retaildive.com

Retail 'Resilience'
Widespread Reports of ‘Resilience’ Lift Hopes in Battered Retail Industry
The parade of retail executives invoking “resilience” in their earnings reports last week was as long as it was diverse. In what was a literal stream of verbal confidence, leader after leader offered fresh business insights from a range of retail categories, telling analysts, in short, that consumers would bend but not break.

The guidance from an industry so closely tied to the heartbeat of the economy, where consumer spending accounts for three-quarters of all activity, provided a much-needed lift to an industry that has been under siege for more than a month, and drifting lower for the past six.

Over and over and over again, the “resilience refrain” was the same, whether it was coming from pet stores, apparel designers, auto parts, cosmetics or dollar stores.

While this emerging industry outlook offered a refreshing narrative change, it is by no means an “all clear” signal that the present mix of macroeconomic challenges is over. If anything, the message was grounded in the fact that unlike the complete shutdown of March 2020 where everything simply halted, the current scenario is far more nuanced. pymnts.com

Retail Father's Day Spending
NRF: Consumers to Spend $20 Billion on Father’s Day Gifts
Consumer spending this Father’s Day is expected to total $20 billion, nearly on par with last year’s record-setting figure of $20.1 billion, according to the annual consumer survey released today by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. Approximately 76 percent of U.S. adults are expected to celebrate Father’s Day.

Despite growing concerns about inflation, consumers plan to spend approximately the same amount as last year in celebration of Father’s Day,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Spending patterns also reflect the sentimental nature of the holiday as consumers are prioritizing unique and meaningful gifts.” nrf.com

Tops brings Shop + Scan to more stores
Tops Friendly Markets has expanded Tops Shop + Scan mobile checkout functionality to 24 stores.

Two more Chicago Starbucks join union push

84% of baby-formula shoppers had trouble finding it in the past month



All the News - One Place - One Source - One Time

Thanks to our sponsors/partners - Take the time to thank them as well please. If it wasn't for them The Daily wouldn't be here every day for you.
  


 
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U.S.-Russia Communications Break Down, Cause REvil Prosecutions to Stall

REvil prosecutions reach a 'dead end,' Russian media reports
The Russian government’s prosecution of the REvil suspects arrested in January has stalled due to a lack of U.S. cooperation, a lawyer for one of the suspects told a Russian media outlet Friday.

The claim comes after senior Russian government officials said publicly over the last two months that communication between the U.S. and Russian governments on cybersecurity matters was cut off in the wake of the Russian military attack on Ukraine, and that the U.S. government had not shared sufficient information to fully prosecute the defendants.

The Russian government arrested multiple REvil ransomware crew suspects Jan. 14 as part of what was described as a “joint operation” with U.S. officials. Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, said it seized 426 million rubles, $600,000 and 500,000 euros, as well as “20 premium cars” as part of the operation.

The money seized from the hackers should be donated as “humanitarian aid” to people living in the Russian-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine and the hackers should be released to work for Russian security services, Igor Vagin, an attorney in the case, told Russian state news outlet Kommersant Friday.

Russian prosecutors only have enough information to accuse the suspects of using stolen credit information from “two Mexicans living in the United States” to purchase goods from U.S. online stores, Kommersant reported. “Neither the victims themselves nor the data on the damage caused to them by the investigation … are present, and now it is unlikely to be able to find them,” the attorney said.

U.S. officials and independent analysts have long argued that the Russian government could easily go after the myriad cybercrime perpetrators within its borders, but largely chooses not to do so. cyberscoop.com

Windows Users At Risk
New Microsoft Zero-Day Attack Underway

"Follina" vulnerability in Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT) affects all currently supported Windows versions and can be triggered via specially crafted Office documents.

AdvertisementAttackers are actively exploiting an unpatched and easy-to-exploit flaw in the Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT) in Windows that allows for remote code execution from Office documents even when macros are disabled.

The vulnerability exists in all currently supported Windows versions and can be exploited via Microsoft Office versions 2013 through Office 2019, Office 2021, Office 365, and Office ProPlus, according to security researchers that have analyzed the issue.

Attackers can exploit the zero-day flaw — dubbed "Follina" — to remotely execute arbitrary code on Windows systems. Microsoft has warned of the issue giving attackers a way to "install programs, view, change, or delete data, or create new accounts in the context allowed by the user’s rights." Researchers have reported observing attacks exploiting the flaw in India and Russia going back at least one month.

Delayed Acknowledgement?

Microsoft on Monday assigned the flaw a CVE identifier — CVE-2022-30190 — after apparently initially describing it as a non-security issue in April when crazyman, a security researcher with APT threat hunting group Shadow Chaser Group, first reported observing a public exploit of the vulnerability. Though the company's advisory described the flaw as being publicly known and actively exploited, it did not describe the issue as a zero-day threat. darkreading.com

Ransomware Group Rebrands
Costa Rica May Be Pawn in Conti Ransomware Group’s Bid to Rebrand, Evade Sanctions
On May 8, President Chaves used his first day in office to declare a national state of emergency after the Conti ransomware group threatened to publish gigabytes of sensitive data stolen from Costa Rica’s Ministry of Finance and other government agencies. Conti initially demanded $10 million, and later doubled the amount when Costa Rica refused to pay. On May 20, Conti leaked more than 670 gigabytes of data taken from Costa Rican government servers.

As CyberScoop reported on May 17, Chaves told local media he believed that collaborators within Costa Rica were helping Conti extort the government. Chaves offered no information to support this claim, but the timeline of Conti’s descent on Costa Rica is worth examining.

Experts say there are clues to suggest Conti and Hive are working together in their attacks on Costa Rica, and that the intrusions are tied to a rebranding effort by Conti. Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February, Conti declared its full support, aligning itself directly with Russia and against anyone who would stand against the motherland.

Conti quickly deleted the declaration from its website, but the damage had already been done, and any favor or esteem that Conti had earned among the Ukrainian cybercriminal underground effectively evaporated overnight. krebsonsecurity.com

Takedown of SMS-based FluBot spyware infecting Android phones
An international law enforcement operation involving 11 countries has resulted in the takedown of one of the fastest-spreading mobile malware to date. Known as FluBot, this Android malware has been spreading aggressively through SMS, stealing passwords, online banking details and other sensitive information from infected smartphones across the world. Its infrastructure was successfully disrupted earlier in May by the Dutch Police (Politie), rendering this strain of malware inactive. europol.europa.eu

Fewer DDoS Attacks in 2021, Still Above Pre-Pandemic Levels

3.6M MySQL Servers Found Exposed Online


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Amazon's 'Retail Business' Targeted by FTC Investigation
Antitrust investigation of Amazon accelerates under new FTC boss
The Federal Trade Commission has revamped its antitrust inquiry into Amazon.com, shaking up the investigative team, re-interviewing potential witnesses and asking questions about the company’s recent acquisition of MGM Studios, three people familiar with the investigation said.

The agency has been looking at Amazon since 2019 over antitrust concerns with its retail business and cloud computing services. Lina Khan, who became chair of the agency last year, had made a name for herself with a groundbreaking legal paper on Amazon’s potential antitrust violations and has taken a personal interest in the investigation.

Before joining the FTC from Columbia Law School, Khan worked as a staffer for the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee that had spent 16 months investigating Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Amazon, Apple Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. Khan focused on the Google section of what eventually became the panel’s 449-page report, while an FTC staffer led the Amazon portion.

After taking over the agency, Khan helped draft some lines of questioning for investigators, one of the people said. Since then, FTC lawyers have homed in on aspects of the investigation involving Amazon Web Services, the company’s lucrative cloud computing business, and more recently the $8.45-billion MGM acquisition.

The FTC isn’t the only regulator focused on Amazon. In response to an antitrust price-fixing investigation by the Washington state attorney general, the company agreed to pay a $2.25-million fine in January and close a program in which it agreed on pricing with third-party sellers, rather than compete with them.

Karl Racine, the attorney general for the District of Columbia, sued Amazon last year alleging the online retailer encourages higher-than-necessary consumer prices through policies that guarantee the tech giant a minimum profit on each item sold, while discouraging merchants on the site from offering their products at lower prices elsewhere.

A Superior Court judge dismissed the lawsuit in March, but Racine is appealing with support from the Biden administration. European regulators are also investigating how the e-commerce giant treats sellers on its platform. latimes.com

59M Parcels Delivered Per Day
US 'big four' deliver around 700 parcels every second as e-commerce soars
The growth of e-commerce appears impervious to the ravages of inflation or supply chain disruption, and is expected to continue growing over the coming years.

While predictions for freight growth have been scaled back, parcel traffic is expected to grow between 5% and 10% a year through to 2027, according to analysis from global parcel shipping and mailing company Pitney Bowes.

The Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index shows parcel volume in the US increased 6% last year to a record 21.5bn shipments. This translates into 59m parcel orders a day, or 683 every second.

“Last year, the industry was rocked by outside influences as carriers continued to manage the impact of the pandemic. Despite these challenges, carrier revenues and parcel volumes reached a record high, showing the resilience of the US consumer and the industry’s ability to absorb their growing appetite for internet retail,” said Jason Dies, EVP and president of sending technology solutions at Pitney Bowes. theloadstar.com

How Brands Can Bridge the ‘Experience Gap’ to Engage Online Shoppers


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Gainesville, FL: Man stole items from Home Depot & pawned them 60+ times
Robert Lavell Green, 40, was arrested yesterday and charged with grand theft, fraud, dealing in stolen property, and resisting arrest after investigators found evidence that he regularly walks out of Home Depot with items he has not paid for and then takes them straight to a pawn shop. Records at the pawn shop indicate that he has done this over 60 times since August of 2021. The investigation report states that Green has been “constantly” doing “pushout” thefts at both Gainesville Home Depot locations. He then goes straight to the same pawn shop and sells the stolen merchandise. On one day he stole items valued at $897. Thirteen minutes later, pawn shop records show that Green received $400 cash for the three items. Investigators took a list of Green’s pawn shop activity to the Home Depot Loss Prevention Officer, and using the dates, times, and items on the list, the Prevention Officer was reportedly able to match up surveillance video showing Green walking out with the items, usually waving a receipt from a lesser purchase if any employees questioned him. alachuachronicle.com

Asheville, NC: Over $10,000 worth of plants stolen from B.B. Barns, 4 break-ins
Management at a south Asheville business says it needs help identifying thieves caught on video stealing thousands of dollars worth of trees and plants. Cameras at B.B. Barns have caught suspects breaking into the large store four times as they cut through wire fence to haul off plants. The store manager Brian Jennings said the latest break-in happened at 2 a.m., May 31. Surveillance video shared by B.B. Barns appears to show a woman in the store's nursery. "If anybody recognizes her please let the authorities know so we can end this," Jennings pleaded with the public. He said he believes the woman may be part of a group of thieves who have been breaking into the nursery. Jennings said they are looking at upwards of tens of thousands of dollars in stolen landscape plants, from conifers and Japanese maples to David Austin roses. wlos.com

Joplin, MO: Thieves make off with over $500,000 of startup wholesale company's inventory
The burglars who broke into a startup wholesale company's warehouse on West Seventh Street and drove off with a hefty portion of its inventory wore masks, but may have been fatally careless in what they left behind. A warehouse maintenance worker discovered the garage door open at UV Distribution & Wholesale, 1704 W. Seventh St., the morning of May 18 and reported the burglary. The warehouse had been ransacked. "They stole our box truck and a whole lot of boxes," Hisham Al Quammaz told the Globe. Al Quammaz, who owns a convenience store in Baxter Springs, Kansas, and manages another in Asbury, is one of three partners who started the business a few months ago with the intent of becoming the first wholesale distributor of general merchandise to convenience stores to locate in Joplin. They had been building up their inventory with plans to start provisioning area stores soon when burglars broke into their warehouse through a back door in the middle of the night, loaded the company's 1997 Ford Econoline box truck with everything from shirts, caps and batteries to vape and CBD products, glass pipes and stun guns, and drove off. Al Quammaz said the business initially estimated the loss at $500,000, but he now believes it may be somewhat less than that.  yahoo.com

Mount Pleasant, WI: Man faces charges after reportedly stealing multiple air nailers from a Menards, totaling nearly $1000

Boston, MA: West Roxbury Woman Sentenced for Wire Fraud; fraudulently returned inferior merchandise in the place of legitimate, loss of $40,000 to $150,000

Lake Charlies, LA: Couple accused of using stolen credit cards to buy more than $1,000 worth of diesel fuel


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Shootings & Deaths

Update: Butler County, OH: Man accused of deadly Walmart shooting appears in court for separate charge
The man accused of shooting two people at a Walmart in Butler County, killing one of them, was in court Tuesday for a separate case. Anthony Brown, 32, appeared in Butler County Common Pleas Court for a suppression hearing in relation to an aggravated robbery charge from October 2021. Brown filed a motion on Dec. 9 to suppress evidence he claimed was obtained illegally by the State. On Tuesday, prosecutors filed a response, asking the court to strike and/or overrule Brown’s motion, according to online court records. Brown was out on $200,000 bond for this charge when he was accused the deadly shooting. Court records show his bond was revoked Friday.

On Tuesday, a new bond of $300,000 was issued for the aggravated robbery charge. Since he had previously posted a $200,000 bond, he would only need pay $100,000 to be released and put under house arrest. However, a $5 million bond remains for a case where he has been preliminary charged with aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and having weapons while under disability. Brown is accused of attempting to steal items from the electronic section at the Walmart store in Fairfield Twp. Thursday night. Police said shopper tried to stop the suspect, later identified as Brown, but he was able to pull away and run toward the door.

A second shopper then tried to stop him. Police said that it was then that the Brown pulled out a handgun and shot the individual. That person, Adam Black, 35, of Columbus, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said an employee who was also in the area and tried to help was shot. They were transported to an area hospital and was last known to be in serious condition. We’re working to learn an update on the worker’s condition. Brown was taken into custody early Friday morning after a SWAT standoff at the Fairfield Inn in Middletown. whio.com

Virginia Beach, VA: Police investigating fatal shooting at gas station
A shooting at a gas station in Virginia Beach on Tuesday night left a person dead, police confirmed. 10 On Your Side went to the scene of the shooting and saw a body on the ground next to a gas pump, but police didn’t confirm it was a homicide until Wednesday morning. Yellow crime scene tape and police vehicles surrounded the pumps and station parking lot. Dispatchers said the shooting was reported at 9:18 p.m. at the gas station at the intersection of Lynnhaven Parkway and Pleasant Valley Road. Neither dispatchers nor police have released details about the victim or suspects. Police said the case is still active and they would provide more information as soon as possible. wavy.com

Tukwila, WA: Police search for suspect who fired shot at Cheesecake Factory in Southcenter mall
Police are still searching for a suspect in a shooting at a restaurant at Westfield Southcenter mall on Tuesday night. According to police, just before 9 p.m., a dispute at the Cheesecake Factory escalated to gunfire. Those involved in the incident took off from the scene, police said. Police have not given a description of the suspect. komonews.com

 



Robberies, Incidents & Thefts

Bethel Park, PA 2 men charged after allegedly attacking Home Depot employees
Bethel Park police have arrested and charged two men they say were involved in a violent attack on employees at the Bethel Park Home Depot. According to police, a surveillance photo shows William Loughner inside the Bethel Park Home Depot on Saturday, May 7. Police said Loughner put items inside a garbage can in the shopping cart and attempted to leave the store with the stolen items. That’s when police say he pepper-sprayed two employees while trying to get away. Police say Loughner then confronted another employee at his car, shoving the shopping cart at him, then pepper-spraying him too, according to court paperwork. That’s when police say Loughner took off in his car in the busy shopping plaza. Police say a second suspect, Witt Yost, was also putting items into his cart, but he left peacefully when confronted by employees. Loughner is in jail, unable to post $100,000 bond. He’s facing a number of charges including robbery and simple assault. Yost has since been released on a non-monetary bond. wpxi.com

Houston, TX: Owner says his businesses burglarized 10 times in 3 months
Justin and Brandon Piper own three restaurants in Houston Heights. All of them have been hit by criminals, most recently early Monday morning on Memorial Day. Thieves smashed through a window, used a grinder to break locks, and stole a safe with at least $5,000. "The crime is outrageous," Justin told ABC13. Justin is the co-owner of Preslee's. He also owns a new burger restaurant a mile away. "We currently got it open this past Friday," Piper said. "That Friday night, we got hit again." That's two burglaries in two days, and not long ago, their unopened cantina was robbed of $80,000 worth of restaurant equipment. abc13.com

Oklahoma City, OK: Clerk locks robbery suspect inside convenience store
A clerk at a store in Oklahoma City locked a suspect inside the convenience store he was attempting to rob. Oklahoma City police responded to a robbery at a convenience store over the Memorial Day weekend. The store clerk locked the suspect inside the store he was attempting to rob. The store owner told KOCO 5 he was still shaken up but with quick instincts, he thought to lock the suspect inside the store and run for help. Roshan was left speechless. "I called police four times," Roshan said. He was robbed at knifepoint in his own store over the Memorial Day weekend. "Stolen a beer and grabbed this pocket, and I told him give me your money and go outside, but he didn't go outside," Roshan said. Roshan ran out the door and locked the suspect inside. koco.com

New York, NY: NYPD: Robbers using pepper spray on C-store workers; 3 incidents since mid-May

Elizabeth Township, PA: Same man may be behind three recent Dollar General and Turkey Hill Armed Robberies

 



Cargo Theft

Cargo losses escalate as thieves target cars, electronics
Cargo theft costs are rising in the U.S. as higher-value goods such as vehicles and electronics are targeted, and as inflation pushes up the cost of goods. Companies can take steps to reduce the risk of theft, including installing tracking technology and hard-locking devices, using teams of drivers, and avoiding theft hotspots, experts say. The Memorial Day weekend typically sees an uptick in cargo theft, with an average from 2017 to 2021 of 29 events per year over the holiday weekend. Estimated cargo theft losses in the United States and Canada jumped to $19 million in the first quarter of this year, a 73% increase over the prior-year period even as the number of reported thefts remained unchanged at 319, according to the latest data from Jersey City, New Jersey-based Verisk Analytics Inc.’s CargoNet. The average loss value in the first quarter was $232,000, a 68% increase over the same period last year and more than double the average loss value reported in the first quarter of 2020, CargoNet said in an analysis released May 19. Vehicles and accessories, household goods and electronics were the most targeted items in this year’s first quarter, CargoNet reported. businessinsurance.com

 

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C-Store – South Bend, IN – Burglary
C-Store – Bensalem, PA – Robbery
C-Store- Naperville, IL – Armed Robbery
C-Store – Las Vegas, NV – Robbery
C-Store – New York, NY – Robbery
C-Store – Brooklyn, NY – Robbery
C-Store – Elizabeth Township, PA – Armed Robbery
C-Store – Elizabeth Township, PA – Armed Robbery
C-Store – Oklahoma City, OK – Armed Robbery
C-Store – Shoreline, WA – Robbery
C-Store – Round Rock, TX – Robbery
Check Cash – St Charles, LA - Armed Robbery
Distribution – Joplin, MO – Burglary
Dollar – Campti, LA – Burglary
Dollar – Trotwood, OH – Armed Robbery
Dollar – Elizabeth Township, PA – Armed Robbery
Dollar – Houston, TX – Armed Robbery
Dollar - Montgomery County, AL – Armed Robbery
Dollar – Greenville, MS - Armed Robbery
Gas Station – Freeport, IL – Armed Robbery
Gas Station – Valdosta, GA - Burglary
Hardware – Asheville, NC – Burglary
Jewelry – Coral Springs, FL – Robbery
Jewelry – Biloxi, MS – Robbery
Jewelry – Las Vegas, NV – Robbery
Jewelry – San Francisco, CA – Robbery
Jewelry – Pembroke Pines, FL -= Robbery
Jewelry – Myrtle Beach, SC – Robbery
Jewelry – Manchester, MO – Robbery
Jewelry - Jackson, TN -= Armed Robbery
Restaurant – Macon, GA – Armed Robbery
Restaurant – Asheville, NC – Burglary
Restaurant – Trinity County, CA - Burglary
7-Eleven – Hampton, VA – Armed Robbery
7-Eleven – Annadale, VA – Armed Robbery                                                                                                             
               

Daily Totals:
• 28 robberies
• 7 burglaries
• 0 shootings
• 0 killed




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Sometimes when you're moving so fast and dealing with the mistakes of the day, the frustration levels peak and one can tend to forget that sometimes you've just got to stop, listen and take a breath and maybe talk to a friend about it all. If it's a good friend, they'll bring you back into focus and make sure you don't react too aggressively and make the mistakes even worst. There aren't many friends like that nor ones that you can absolutely trust. But if you've got a couple, make sure you thank them as well for taking the time. 


Just a Thought,
Gus

 

 

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