Covid-19, Social Unrest and Shoplifting:
 
A Unique Opportunity for Retailers to Choose Education & Opportunity over Police, Punishment & Stigma

By Caroline Kochman, Executive Director, NASP

Mask wearing is a surprisingly polarizing idea for Americans; conflicts, which often occur in the retail setting, have escalated to physical confrontation and even murder. Masks are key to stopping the spread of coronavirus but a lack consistent guidance, much less laws requiring or governing their use, creates dangerous conflicts in retail stores.

Conversely, shoplifting – which creates daily conflict in stores – is a crime in all 50 states. Theoretically, the response to shoplifting is not about guidance, politics or policy; it is about the law. Yet, the same inconsistency abounds; inconsistency in the widely varying policies and responses that exist from retailer to retailer, police department to police department and prosecutor to prosecutor – irrespective of state law. These inconsistencies lead to increased incidents of theft and dangerous encounters in and around retail stores.

Achieving the needed consistency in the criminal justice response and policy on shoplifters will, like the mask issue, be an arduous, politically charged public process. However, retailers have sole discretion in modifying their internal policies on apprehension and prosecution for first-time offenders as changing conditions require, just as many have recently done with mask-wearing policies.

Further highlighting the importance of consistence in both policy and execution of policy was the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer responding to an alleged retail theft. This tragedy not only touched a nerve in our nation, it prompted virtually every retail CEO to renew their commitment to diversity, inclusion and opportunity in their stores and the wider community. It shined an even brighter light on an overburdened system that is far more gravely broken than we knew or acknowledged.

The unfortunate reality is that social inequities still exist in both our policing and criminal justice systems and fixing them will be a long time in the making – just as correcting inconsistency of public policy will be. However, as so many retail CEO’s recently suggested, retailers have a unique opportunity, even a social responsibility, to bring about change. In terms of low-level shoplifters and the engagement of police, the retail AP/LP industry has the power to employ a modern and innovative response based in education and opportunity over police and punishment - something that is now more relevant and reasonable than ever.

Read the full article here.
 

COVID Update

US: Over 4.8M Cases - 159K Dead - 2.4M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 18.5M Cases - 700K Dead - 11.7M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 183   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 76
*Red indicates change in total deaths

'Payment sent' - Travel giant CWT pays $4.5 million ransom to cyber criminals
U.S. travel management firm CWT paid $4.5 million this week to hackers who stole reams of sensitive corporate files and said they had knocked 30,000 computers offline, according to a record of the ransom negotiations seen by Reuters.

The attackers used a strain of ransomware called Ragnar Locker, which encrypts computer files and renders them unusable until the victim pays for access to be restored.

The ensuing negotiations between the hackers and a CWT representative remained publicly accessible in an online chat group, providing a rare insight into the fraught relationship between cyber criminals and their corporate victims. (see screenshot to the left)

CWT, which posted revenues of $1.5 billion last year and says it represents more than a third of companies on the S&P 500 U.S. stock index, confirmed the attack but declined to comment on the details of what it said was an ongoing investigation.

DIGITAL RANSOM NOTE

The hackers initially demanded a payment of $10 million to restore CWT’s files and delete all the stolen data, according to the messages reviewed by Reuters. “It’s probably much cheaper than lawsuits expenses (sic), reputation loss caused by leakage,” the attackers wrote on July 27.

The CWT representative in the negotiations, who said they were acting on behalf of the firm’s chief financial officer, said the company had been badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and agreed to pay $4.5 million in the digital currency bitcoin.

“Okay let’s get this moving forward. What are the next steps?” the representative said after agreeing to the ransom. reuters.com

DHS Urges 'Highest Priority' Attention on Old Chinese Malware Threat
The US government Monday urged enterprise organizations to pay the "highest priority" attention to malicious activity involving "Taidoor," a Chinese remote access Trojan that has been used in various cyber-espionage campaigns since at least 2008.

In a Malware Analysis Report (MAR) dated August 3, the US Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said that security researchers from multiple federal agencies had observed Chinese government actors using a variant of the malware in recent attacks. darkreading.com

Protecting data in the work-from-home age
Scores of employees who have never been trained to securely work from home, have been thrust into a new work situation. And although the economy has shown signs of improving, an uncertain business climate could tempt workers who are unsure what their future holds into stealing sensitive data such as trade secrets or source code.

In many scenarios, engineers with access to highly sensitive data and IT systems are working from home with less oversight than they’ve ever had. Many employees have less access to corporate network data shares and sanctioned collaboration tools – services usually present at offices designed to safeguard that valuable data.

It’s always important to follow cybersecurity best practices – especially when working from home – but there are specific strategies employers can take to mitigate data loss risk during the COVID-19 period.

Here are five steps security leaders should do to better protect their company’s data:
1. Remind employees of the company’s policies for handling sensitive data.
2. Ensure sensitive information gets labeled properly.
3. Limit access to sensitive data.
4. Host a remote security awareness training session.
5. Deploy VDI or desktop-as-a-service.
scmagazine.com

Cyber skills in traditional security management careers
The operational knowledge needed by someone charged with cybersecurity is as broad and complex as the various accountabilities of non-technology security risk roles.

The concept of convergence of both roles whereby a single point of accountability leads the strategy and governance for all security risk initiatives can be an effective approach. While the idea has been out there for quite a while, it is still not widely utilized. There are, however, numerous examples of interdependencies that indicate a need to understand the points of vulnerabilities to best provide a cohesive, coordinated effort to limit and/or mitigate security related risks.

Candidates should gain an understanding of all elements that make up the role of a cybersecurity program leader. If they are considering a career development strategy, they can then decide the path they feel is the best personal fit. There are numerous programs and certifications available that range from an executive overview of cybersecurity to those in which you achieve deep technical competencies.

Read more about the different categories of cybersecurity here: securitymagazine.com

Twitter could face a $250 million FTC fine for using phone numbers to target ads

North Korean hackers target defense and aerospace industry in ‘Operation North Star’

Why the E-Commerce Boom May Already Be Over

Digital sales boomed from March through May, but in June, sales dropped $7B

In the months since the pandemic slammed the brakes on all of our normal shopping routines, e-commerce has roughly doubled from just over 15% of U.S. retail sales to about 33%, according to McKinsey.

In its June 2020 Digital Economy Index, Adobe offers further granularity to this news. The software company says that the e-commerce sales surge — an uptick thus far totaling about $77 billion — amounts to half of what is usually spent online in the entire end-of-year holiday season, the biggest selling time of the year.

Consider the context: Since Covid-19, apart from grocery stores and Home Depot, much of the physical retail world has either been entirely closed in lockdown or shunned by pandemic-panicked consumers. Yet even with all that advantage — the rough equivalent of tying a basketball player’s legs together and one arm behind their back — e-commerce has managed to capture only a third of total retail sales. There is every reason right now to buy entirely online, yet Americans have largely stuck with tried-and-true brick and mortar.

What gives? While Covid-19 has fast-forwarded trends like surveillance technology, video conferencing, and automation, online shopping seems to already be slowing down. Digital sales boomed from March through May, but in June, sales dropped $7 billion from May. July figures will be out soon, but the trend line at the start of the month was already downward. This includes groceries and apparel, which fell 18% and 15% in June, respectively.

One reason for the dip may be that online goods are no longer as cheap as they once were: “Consumers are now purchasing an online basket of goods for $1.01 that was worth $1.00 in June 2019,” Adobe said. Although online prices were down through the first few months of the pandemic, last month they began to creep back up. medium.com

Bankrupt New York & Company Parent Sells Online Business for $20 Million

Amazon invests in UK rival to Uber Eats

Gulf County, FL: Florida man prints fake check to dupe dealership out of $140,000 Porsche; caught purchasing $61,000 of Rolex watches
Deputies said Casey William Kelley, 42, printed the checks from his home computer. Kelley drove away in the $140,000 sports car in Destin, FL on July 27, deputies said. His attempted theft of the watches took place a day later at a Miramar Beach jeweler. In that case, the business waited for the $61,521 check to clear before giving Kelley the Rolexes, learned the check was fraudulent and reported him, authorities said. Kelley was booked into the Walton County Jail on July 30 on felony charges of motor vehicle grand theft and fraud, records show. orlandosentinel.com

Memphis, TN: 32 firearms stolen from Gun shop, $10,000 reward offered
On August 3, 2020, Shoot Point Blank, 1740 Century Center Cove, Memphis, was burglarized where approximately 32 firearms were reported stolen to the Memphis Police Department. ATF Industry Operations Investigators responded to the FFL and conducted an inventory to determine the exact number of firearms stolen. ATF is offering the reward for the amount of up to $5,000, which will be matched by the NSSF for a total reward of up to $10,000. localmemphis.com

New York, NY: Man Seen On Video Snatching over $2,000 worth of Handbags From Coach Store On Fifth Avenue
A brazen grab-and-go robbery was caught on camera inside a Coach store on Fifth Avenue. Surveillance video shows a man walk into the store around 6 p.m. Saturday at Fifth Ave. and West 54th St. He grabs several handbags and some clothing off the racks. Police said a 31-year-old female employee tried to stop the suspect, but he brandished a boxcutter and got away. The stolen merchandise was valued around $2,000, according to authorities. newyork.cbslocal.com

The Villages, FL: Shoplifting suspect at Wal-Mart says ‘a lot of people get away with it’, caught with $1,000 of DVD’s
A shoplifting suspect at Wal-Mart at Buffalo Ridge Plaza in The Villages said he attempted to steal nearly $1,000 worth of DVDs because “a lot of people get away with it.” Adam Eric Kamerow, 38, entered the store on Sunday and removed.35 worth of DVDs from the shelves in the electronics department. He went to the luggage department and then the men’s clothing section where he began pulling Wal-Mart bags from his pocket. He put the DVDs in the bags and left the store. Kamerow was arrested on a felony charge of grand theft. villages-news.com

Secaucus, NJ: 80-year-old man is charged with shoplifting – again
Eugenio Brito-Comendador was arrested at 11 a.m. Sunday at Sam’s Club in Secaucus after he took some items off the shelf and tried to conceal them. When police responded to the store they also found that Brito-Comendador had a $750 outstanding warrant out of Union City. He was arrested twice last year and once in 2018 with attempting to shoplift from the Home Depot in Secaucus. Brito-Comendador has at least seven convictions, dating back to 1993. In 2007 Brito-Comendador was sentenced to seven years in prison for burglary. nj.com

Bristol Township, PA: Shoplifter flees with $750 of Tide Pods