Google Invests $450 Million in ADT for Smart-Home Distribution
Google said on Monday it will invest $450 million in ADT and work with the Florida-headquartered firm’s 20,000 technicians to sell and install the search giant’s Nest family of smart home products.

As part of the long-term investment — which is granting Google a 6.6% stake in ADT — the two companies will first attempt to reach more individual consumers and small businesses, and then work on building and selling next-generation smart home security offerings, they said.

Both companies have also committed $150 million each — provided they reach certain milestones — for co-marketing, product development and investment in technology and employee training. globernewswire.com

Fast Company Names Zebra Technologies to Best Workplaces for Innovators
Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), an innovator at the front line of business with solutions and partners that deliver a performance edge, today announced it has been selected as one of Fast Company’s 2020 Best Workplaces for Innovators.

Innovation is one of Zebra’s core values. Employees from all departments are continuously encouraged to champion bold ideas and challenge the status quo to advance the business and help customers. Inviting every employee to answer a call to innovate has catalyzed growth and development while Zebra maximizes the unique benefits associated with diversity of thought. In addition to company-wide support and funding for innovation, Zebra invests more than 10% of its $4.5 billion annual revenue in research and development to continue advancing technical innovation and customer value. zebra.com

Motorola Solutions Acquires Pelco for $110M in Cash
 

Violence & Protests

Homicide Spike Hits Most Large U.S. Cities,
While Robberies Drop 11% with More People Staying at Home
A Wall Street Journal analysis of crime statistics among the nation’s 50 largest cities found that reported homicides were up 24% so far this year, to 3,612. Shootings and gun violence also rose, even though many other violent crimes such as robbery fell.

Police, researchers, mayors and community leaders see a confluence of forces at work in the homicide spike. Institutions that keep city communities safe have been destabilized by lockdown and protests against police. Lockdowns and recession also mean tensions are running high and streets have been emptied of eyes and ears on their communities. Some attribute the rise to an increase in gang violence.

Some cities with long-running crime problems saw their numbers rise, including Philadelphia, Detroit and Memphis, Tenn. Chicago, the worst-hit, has tallied more than one of every eight homicides.

Less-violent places have been struck as well, such as Omaha, Neb., and Phoenix. In all, 36 of the 50 cities studied saw homicide rise at double-digit rates, representing all regions of the country.

Police and academics who study crime have long debated why homicide rates rise or fall, citing variables including demographics, incarceration rates, drug epidemics, the economy and policing. That debate has been thrown a new curve: fallout from the pandemic. Moreover it is complicated by the fact that other kinds of crime are falling. Reported robberies were down 11% among the 41 largest cities that made robbery data available.

One explanation for the divergence between homicide and other crime might reside in what is known as “routine activity theory,” which holds that crime is a function of three factors: The supply of offenders, the supply of victims and the intervention between the two by society’s guardians - including police, schools and churches.

Police in many departments said robberies, burglaries and rapes are down so far this year because more people stayed home during Covid-19 lockdowns, leaving fewer prospective victims on the streets, in bars or other public places. Burglars weren’t likely to break into homes filled with people under lockdown, they say.

Homicides, on the other hand, are up because violent criminals have been emboldened by the sidelining of police, courts, schools, churches and an array of other social institutions by the reckoning with police and the pandemic, say analysts and law-enforcement officials in several cities. wsj.com

NYC has had more shootings so far in 2020 than in all of 2019

Chicago: 440 homicides and 2,240 people shot through first 7 months of 2020

Philadelphia Rolls Out New Plan To Curb Violence As City On Track To Have Highest Homicide Rate In More Than A Decade


As Federal Agents Retreat in Portland,
Protesters Return to Original Foe: Local Police
While protests around the federal courthouse have remained calm for three consecutive nights, Portland police officers chased demonstrators through the streets near a local precinct.

Late on Saturday night, with protests in Portland continuing into their third month, one crowd of demonstrators gathered yet again in front of the city’s fortified federal courthouse while another group traveled miles east to a precinct used by local law enforcement.

At the federal courthouse, the crowd saw a third consecutive night of calm since the start of a plan to withdraw federal agents who had brought a militarized crackdown to the city. But at the police precinct, officers pointed bright lights into the crowd, warned protesters to disperse, then chased them through the streets, knocking people to the ground, using pepper spray and making arrests.

While the arrival of federal agents wearing camouflage last month outraged protesters and local government leaders alike, their presence also masked the more personal grievances that protesters have long had with their local police force.

The city’s protests in June were largely about local policing, with crowds denouncing a criminal justice system that disproportionately harms Black people and a Portland Police Bureau that has embraced aggressive tactics to contain unruly crowds. The police have said the crowd had flung objects at officers, including bottles and fireworks. nytimes.com

Portland protester outed by his grandmother after she ID's him as alleged 'bomber' seen in videos

Portland woman shot in hail of 150 bullets during Black Lives Matter protest

DHS Reassigns Official Following Intelligence Reports On Journalists, Protesters


Defunding Seattle Police by 50% proving complicated for city council
Much has been made about the “veto-proof” majority of Seattle City Council members who committed on Twitter and elsewhere to cutting 50% of the Seattle Police Department’s budget. But in the near term, the reality is proving more complicated.

On Friday, only one council member, Kshama Sawant, proposed immediate and blunt cuts that could slash close to 50% of the department’s remaining 2020 budget. The rest offered proposals for this year that would slice 100 full-time equivalent positions — out of 1,428 fully trained, probationary and recruited officers — from the department through layoffs and attrition, while shuffling some police functions into other city departments. crosscut.com

Connecticut governor signs police reform bill into law
Gov. Ned Lamont on Friday signed into law a wide-ranging police accountability bill that proponents said answers the calls for reform. The legislation creates a new inspector general to investigate police use-of-force cases, limits circumstances in which deadly use of force can be justified, and allows more civilian oversight of police departments and allows civil lawsuits against officers by individuals who’ve had their constitutional rights violated by police if those actions were deemed “malicious, wanton or willful,” among other things. apnews.com

Chicago: Saturday Protests Call for Changes in City's Police Department


Operation Legend: Inside look at the ATF mobile ballistics van arriving in Chicago
The ABC7 I-Team has the first up-close look at the new mobile ballistics van considered the cornerstone of Operation Legend, the federal law enforcement effort to curb Chicago's surge of gun violence.

Even as hundreds of federal agents are deployed to several U.S. cities where violence is surging this summer, only Chicago is getting the coveted and brand new ballistics van from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

There is good reason for that. In Chicago, on average, someone is shot and wounded about every two hours, and more than 10,000 illegal guns were seized last year alone.

Under Operation Legend, the beefed-up ballistics lab on wheels will help sort through the shell casings that dot city streets, mostly from lawless gang skirmishes over drug territory. abc7chicago.com

Police, feds have arrested nearly 100 under ‘Operation: Legend’ so far, US attorney says

Albuquerque, NM: Hundreds of people protest ‘Operation Legend’
 

COVID Update

US: Over 4.8M Cases - 158K Dead - 2.3M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 18.3M Cases - 695K Dead - 11.5M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 154+   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 75
*Red indicates change in total deaths

eBay teams up with Emmitt Smith to combat fraud

Amazon says police demands for customer data have gone up
Amazon has said the number of demands for user data made by U.S. federal and local law enforcement have increased more during the first half of 2020 than during the same period a year earlier. The disclosure came in the company’s latest transparency report, published Thursday.

The figures show that Amazon received 23% more subpoenas and search warrants, and a 29% increase in court orders compared to the first half of 2019. That includes data collected from its Amazon.com retail storefront, Amazon Echo devices and its Kindle and Fire tablets.

Breaking those figures down, Amazon said it received:
● 2,416 subpoenas, turning over all or partial user data in 70% of cases.
● 543 search warrants, turning over all or partial user data in 79% of cases.
● 146 court orders, turning over all or partial user data in 74% of cases.

The number of requests to the company’s cloud services, Amazon Web Services, also went up compared to a year earlier. But it’s not clear what caused the rise in U.S. government demands for user data.

Amazon was one of the last major tech companies to issue a transparency report, despite mounting pressure from privacy advocates. But its report remains far lighter on details compared to its Silicon Valley rivals.

The company’s Ring smart camera division, despite facing criticism for its poor security practices and its close relationships with law enforcement, has yet to release any data related to police requests for user data. techcrunch.com

3 Arrested for Massive Twitter Breach

Individuals aged 17, 19, and 22 behind July 15 bitcoin scam
that targeted celebrity and corporate accounts

Three individuals were charged Friday for their roles in the July 15 Twitter breach that hijacked 130 accounts and spread a Bitcoin scam that led to the theft of more than $100,000.

Twitter has confirmed the attackers targeted a small number of its employees with a phone spear-phishing attack. The perpetrators were able to use their stolen credentials to tweet from celebrity accounts, access direct message inboxes, and download data from Twitter accounts. A Department of Justice release describes the attack as a combination of technical breaches and social engineering.

The release states the alleged attackers include Mason Sheppard, 19, a UK citizen charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and the intentional access of a protected computer. Nima Fazeli, 22, is from Orlando, Fla., and charged with aiding and abetting the intentional access of a protected computer.

Their alleged co-conspirator is a 17-year-old who was arrested in Tampa and is charged with 30 felony charges, including a count of organized fraud (over $50,000), 17 counts of communications fraud (over $300), 10 counts of fraudulent use of personal information, one count of fraudulent use of personal information (over $100,000 or 30 or more victims), and one count of access to a computer or electronic device without authority (scheme to defraud). darkreading.com

Alleged 17-year-old Twitter hacker has more than $3 million worth of bitcoin assets

What the CCPA means for content security
Now that the CCPA is in full effect, businesses must adjust their processes to better protect content. Organizations should prioritize security to avoid fines.

As of July 1, the state of California can start fining companies doing business in Europe or the U.S. that aren't CCPA compliant. U.S. companies can no longer ignore privacy and security requirements, as the goal is no longer to avoid headlines, but to avoid fines.

While the importance of protecting consumer data is clear, the trickle down to content is less obvious. Content containing personally identifiable information (PII) often resides further behind the company firewall. However, as content wraps that PII in a business context, if a hacker steals that content it can create more damage to customers and organizations -- and potentially cause larger fines.

Reasonable security

One of the key requirements of the CCPA is that businesses must have reasonable security to protect customer information that may live in a company's CRM system, ERP system, e-commerce site or website via cookies and analytics data. Reasonable security is the key requirement for organizations when thinking about how the CCPA affects content and the systems -- such as email, share drives and content management systems -- in which the business stores it. Organizations are not likely to sell content such as invoices, proposals, presentations and meeting minutes to other businesses. Content is bulkier than pure data and is not structured in a way to extract quick value from it.

Content is the placement of data into context. The contextual view is valuable. In many ways, content reflects a business's competitive advantage. However, this does make the content even more important to protect with reasonable security. techtarget.com

Microsoft products address digital workplace security

LexisNexis 2020 True Cost of Fraud Study: E-commerce/Retail Edition, Part 3
This research was conducted pre- and during the COVID-19 shutdown. Results have been analyzed by these time periods to understand any impacts on and challenges related to fraud detection and prevention during this unprecedented time.

Key Finding #4: Covid-19 increased online retail fraud.

The shuttering of numerous bricks-and-mortar retail stores combined with stay-at-home orders during the peak of the pandemic had a profound effect on retail fraud. Not surprisingly, as sales shifted to online channels, so did fraud.

Key Finding #5: Fraud is becoming more sophisticated.

Today’s retailers and e-commerce merchants are dealing with multiple challenges on various fronts. Fraudsters are inventive, continually trying new schemes and searching for new weaknesses to exploit.

Key Finding #6: Layered solutions work best to prevent fraud.

Study findings show that retailers face rising costs and revenue impacts from fraud. Effective fraud prevention requires different solutions for different channels and types of transactions. No single solution can do it all, when it comes to authenticating both digital and physical criteria, as well as identity and transaction risk. Download the report

Walmart Is Raising An Army Of Retailers To Beat Amazon
Behind the headlines, Walmart is raising an army of retailers to overpower Amazon. And last month, Walmart cut an important deal as part of this “strategic priority” (as Walmart describes it).

Walmart doesn’t have nearly enough products at its grocery stores to match Amazon’s catalog. To combat that, America’s brick and mortar retail giant has been quietly raising its own army of online third-party sellers. In the past four years, more than 35,000 retailers have started selling their stuff through Walmart.com. And every day their ranks grow bigger and bigger.

As a result, the number of products listed on Walmart.com exploded 10X to 50+ million since 2018, according to Marketplace Pulse. And just like Amazon, Walmart is now taking these retailers under its wing. forbes.com

Emails detail how Amazon took down and acquired diapers.com parent

Tallahassee, FL: Police crack gun heist after suspect shows off stolen pistols on Facebook
Police investigating back-to-back burglaries and gun thefts at a pawn shop caught a major break after one of the suspects showed off a couple of the stolen pistols in a live Facebook video. Investigators later found text messages between the suspect and others discussing plans to break into Tallahassee Gun & Pawn. Five people are believed to have burglarized the store twice in the predawn hours of May 31, stealing at least two dozen firearms. On Friday, Tallahassee police arrested one of the suspects, Amontae Mitchell, on 23 counts of grand theft of a firearm and one count each of burglary and criminal mischief. Another suspect, Anthony Butler, was arrested on similar charges several days after the burglaries. tallahassee.com

Santa Clara County, CA: Burglary suspect run up at $10,000 credit card bill at Target and Home Depot
Two Oakland residents were arrested Saturday in connection with a series of burglaries during which credit cards were stolen and used for retail and gift-card purchases, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office said Sunday night. Deputies on Saturday spotted a car reported as having been associated with a series of burglaries. Deputies said the man, later identified as 36-year-old Deandre West, was looking into parked vehicles in that area; a woman, 31-year-old Danaya Smith, was sitting in the suspect car. Police suspect the pair of charging more than $10,000 on stolen credit cards at Target, Home Depot and other businesses. West and Smith also allegedly paid for vehicle repairs using gift cards bought with stolen cards, deputies said. sfgate.com

Detroit, MI: Police investigating theft of over $2,000 of watches from the Shinola Store in Midtown

Vernon Hills, IL: Man charged with stealing $1600 worth of Merchandise

Brookville, WI: Three Suspects flee with $800 of Kitchenware from Metro Market

Jasper, IN: Man accused of stealing over $740 in merchandise at Walmart; prior convictions

Avon, OH: Female Walmart Shoplifter arrested with nearly $500 of merchandise