US: Over 8.6M Cases - 228K Dead - 5.6M Recovered
Worldwide: Over 42.2M Cases - 1.1M Dead - 31.3M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 203   Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 127
*Red indicates change in total deaths

New cases hit three-month high as Covid-19 hospitalizations soar

Thirty-two states reported rising Covid-19 infections, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Thursday was the highest day for new infections since July 24 and the day with the fourth highest total ever, at 71,671, Johns Hopkins says.

More than 41,000 people were hospitalized across the country, according to the Covid Tracking Project. This is the highest level of nationwide hospitalizations since Aug 20. The number of people hospitalized has increased by 33% since the beginning of October, the CTP says.

Deaths are also creeping upward, with 856 on Thursday, Johns Hopkins says. The 7-day average of deaths continues to climb and is up to 763. That is the highest level of average weekly deaths in a month.

An updated model from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projects more than 140,000 Americans will likely die from the virus in the next three months.

States will likely 'reimpose some social distancing mandates'

The institute says the "fall/winter surge has begun" -- just a couple weeks behind Europe -- and will intensify in November and December before reaching a peak in January.

"Many states will face enormous pressure on hospital capacity and will likely have to re-impose some social distancing mandates," IHME said. "The best strategy to delay re-imposition of mandates and the associated economic hardship is to expand mask use."

Oregon is the only state trending in the right direction, according to Johns Hopkins data, which also show:

● At least eight states reported record-high hospitalizations Thursday: Kentucky, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

● At least 12 states saw their highest seven-day averages of new daily cases: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming.

● And at least six states -- Colorado, Indiana, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah -- reported their highest daily case counts.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced regional restrictions. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said anyone not wearing a mask could get a $500 ticket. Utah announced additional efforts for more than 20 counties at high transmission risks. Those efforts include limiting casual social gatherings to 10 people. cnn.com

Virus spikes have officials looking to shore up hospitals
Hospitals across the United States are starting to buckle from a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, with several states setting records for the number of people hospitalized and leaders scrambling to find extra beds and staff. New highs in cases have been reported in states big and small - from Idaho to Ohio - in recent days. The rise in cases and hospitalizations was alarming to medical experts.

In some cases, spikes are happening as schools reopen and as Americans grow weary of wearing masks and practicing social distancing.  edmdigest.com

COVID-19 Forces Global Fingerprint Revenues to Drop 22% in 2020
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, global biometric device revenues are expected to drop 22 percent to $6.6 billion, according to a recent report from global tech market advisory ABI Research. The entire biometrics market, however, will regain momentum in 2021 and is expected to reach approximately $40 billion in total revenues by 2025.

Not all is bleak, though. New use case scenarios have emerged, and certain technological trends have risen to the top of the implementation lists. For example, enterprise mobility and logical access control uses biometrics as part of multi-factor authentication (MFA) for remote workers. sdmmag.com

OSHA Criticized for Lax Regulation of Meatpacking in Pandemic
While the agency has announced initial penalties totaling over $1 million to dozens of health care facilities and nursing homes, it has announced fines for only two meatpacking plants for a total of less than $30,000. The meat industry has gotten the relatively light touch even as the virus has infected thousands of its workers — including more than 1,500 at the two facilities in question — and dozens have died. nytimes.com

FDA Approves Anti-Viral Drug Remdesivir as First Treatment for COVID-19

Texas woman died of COVID-19 on a Spirit Airlines flight while returning home from Las Vegas

U.S. airlines report a 70% hit to revenue last quarter
 

'Inside Edition' Must-See
Man steals from San Francisco Walgreens during TV report on shoplifting

Walgreens closing half a dozen locations this year due to excessive theft

This video courtesy of Inside Edition shows a man just days ago, jumping over a counter at the store at a downtown San Francisco Walgreens store, and taking off from the store with stolen merchandise.

A crew from Inside Edition was at the store on Van Ness and Eddy for a story on rampant shoplifting at the location when it happened.

This Walgreens has been hit so many times, that Walgreens now plans to close the door for good on November 11. The store will be the third in San Francisco this year to close because of excessive shoplifting. kron4.com

Walmart Files Pre-Emptive Lawsuit Against Federal Government in Opioid Case
Walmart Inc. sued the federal government in an attempt to strike a pre-emptive blow against what it said is an impending opioid-related civil lawsuit from the Justice Department.

The retail giant said in a lawsuit filed Thursday that the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration are seeking to scapegoat the company for the federal government’s own regulatory and enforcement shortcomings in combating the opioid crisis. Walmart said the government is seeking steep financial penalties against the retailer for allegedly contributing to the opioid crisis by filling questionable prescriptions.

The suit names the department and Attorney General William Barr as defendants, as well as the DEA and its acting administrator, Timothy Shea. It is seeking a declaration from a federal judge that the government has no lawful basis for seeking civil damages from the company based on claims pharmacists filled valid prescriptions that they should have known raised red flags. wsj.com

AI Now Top of Mind for Most New Security Solutions
Security Industry Association Announces the 2021 Security Megatrends
Each year, the Security Industry Association (SIA) produces the Security Megatrends report, which is made available to SIA member companies and registered attendees of SNG, the security industry’s executive conference. The Security Megatrends are the top forces at play in security, expected to have far-reaching impacts on businesses across the industry.

For the first time, artificial intelligence (AI) has been named the top Security Megatrend, rising from a position of being the second ranked Megatrend in 2020’s report, and rising from the fifth-ranked position in 2019’s report. Input from survey participants and from focus groups and interviews indicated that AI — along with AI variants such as machine learning, deep learning and artificial neural networks — were in the product roadmaps for nearly all security technology solutions.

The cybersecurity of physical security systems and solutions, which had held the top spot for the last two Security Megatrends reports, retained its influence, and was ranked second, behind AI. Given the impact of the pandemic, respondents’ input also placed the trend of touchless/frictionless on the top 10 list of trends; the frictionless trend had previously been identified as a micro-trend. Also new to the 2021 ranking of trends was the trend of predictive data analytics, which would assist in providing meaningful insights into the volume of data that IoT devices and security and software systems can create, and the trend of responsive environments and intelligent spaces – indicating the application of technology solutions to automate and elevate environments such as homes, buildings and cities. securityindustry.org

The 2021 Security Megatrends are:

1. Artificial Intelligence
2. Cybersecurity of Physical Security
3. Predictive Data Analytics
4. Connectivity and the IoT of Everything
5. Cloud Computing
6. Touchless & Frictionless Solutions
7. Facial Recognition
8. Responsive Environments & Intelligent Spaces
9. Emphasis on Data Privacy
10. Move to Service Models

Colorado wildfire explodes in size and forces thousands to evacuate
A wildfire burning in Grand County, Colorado, has exploded from 19,000 acres to more than 125,000 on Thursday, forcing thousands of families to evacuate. The so-called East Troublesome Fire raced through the town of Grand Lake and into the western portion of Rocky Mountain National Park, which closed to visitors Thursday, CBS Denver reported.

Thick smoke and flames were closing in on homes and terrifying residents. Security video even captured the scene as flames overtook a home. It was not immediately clear how much damage the fire caused in the Grand Lake community. cbsnews.com

Not just California: Colorado and other Western states suffering worst fires in modern history

Internet Tops Customer Service in Retail
American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI)
Special COVID-19 Retail Study 2020

Amazon Falters During COVID-19, While Costco, Etsy, and Nordstrom Take the Internet Retail Crown, ACSI Data Show

Four out of five retail industries the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) measures - department and discount stores, specialty retail stores, supermarkets, and internet retailers - have seen customer satisfaction wane during the pandemic, according to the ACSI's special COVID-19 retail study based on surveys collected from April 1, 2020 to September 30, 2020.

Compared to ACSI's 2019-2020 Retail Report, internet retail takes the biggest hit during the pandemic, down 4.9% to an ACSI score of 77. Yet, it remains ahead of the other retail categories. Specialty retail stores (down 2.6%) and drug stores (unchanged) tie for second at 76, while department stores (down 1.3%) and supermarkets (down 3.8%) both score 75.

The good news is that many food retailers are winning at customer satisfaction, even during un unprecedented crisis.

"From the onset of COVID-19, consumer expectations of retailers took a massive hit," said David VanAmburg, Managing Director at the ACSI. "Customers braced for delayed packages, empty grocery store shelves, and hard-to-find name brands. Of course, just because they expected this, doesn't mean they were thrilled about it. As customer satisfaction slips, retailers must adapt to the new market. It's clear they have their work cut out for them."

L Brands narrowly edges out specialty retail competition

Costco's lead over department and discount stores shrinks

Trader Joe's and Wegmans stay atop suffering supermarket industry  theacsi.org progressivegrocer.com

Moody's sees stability in retail going into 2021
Retail analysts with the ratings agency Moody's have raised their expectations for retail's performance, changing their industry outlook from negative to stable, according to a new report.

Now projecting 15% decline in operating profits, the analysts softened their estimates for the collective hit to retailers this year, after previously forecasting a drop of up to 30%. They expect operating profit to improve around 20% next year.

For both years, the analysts estimate sales growth of 3%-5%. "Despite this strong turnaround, we have stopped short of going positive because coronavirus outbreaks continue, the economy is in recession and consumers remain stressed," the analysts added. retaildive.com

Gap Inc. exiting malls, to shutter 350 stores by 2024
The San Francisco-based retailer, which was for decades a fixture at shopping malls around the country, said Thursday that it will be closing 220 of its namesake Gap stores — or one-third of its store base — by early 2024. That will result in 80% of its remaining Gap stores being in off-mall locations.

As part of its restructuring, Gap Inc. said it also plans to close 130 of its Banana Republic stores in North America in three years.

The announcement made at a Gap Inc. investor meeting detailed a three-year plan that calls for closing what amounts to 30% of the company’s Gap and Banana Republic stores in North America and focusing on outlets and e-commerce business. apnews.com

Dollar General at bottom of the employee pay list
Dollar General employees are paid an average of $9.68 an hour. Walmart, by comparison, pays an average of $13.08 for an hour’s worth of work, according to a study of 25 big retail industry employers by Payscale. Rival Dollar Tree, which also owns Family Dollar, pays its workers an average of $10 an hour. businessinsider.com

Layoffs Hitting the North Pole Too
Santa is skipping Macy's for the first time in 159 years
There will be no miracle on 34th Street this year. Santa Claus won't be visiting any Macy's stores in 2020, ending a 159-year holiday season tradition. The department store's tradition started in 1861, but Santa meet-and-greets won't be happening this year because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, Macy's is creating an interactive virtual experience. cnn.com

Coresight Research
Retail Store Tracker Week 43
8,022 2020 YTD Store Closures
3,382 202 YTD Store Openings

Haunted Houses, Bingo Games, Covid-19 Testing.
Parking Lots See More Action Than Adjoining Shops.

People are shopping differently in this recession

American Express Sees Higher Consumer Retail Spending

Swing 2020 Has Gone Virtual!
The LPF Announces Bob MacLea Scholarship Opportunities

Although 2020 has been a challenging year and many of our industry's conferences have been cancelled, the Loss Prevention Foundation and our valued solution provider partners feel like there hasn't been a time where we needed to offer educational scholarships more. As such, and in the spirit of supporting our industry and its professionals, the Loss Prevention Foundation is proud to announce we will still be giving away Bob MacLea LPQ and LPC Course Scholarships in 2020. Thanks to the Swing for Certification sponsors, we will be accepting Bob MacLea Scholarship Applications now through the end of October. We will make the announcement for the winners the first week of November. Apply Now
 

"The cybersecurity market is failing because the technology isn’t as effective
as it needs to be."
Cybersecurity Market - The New 'Market for Lemons'

Security Experts Alarmed by ‘Broken’ Cyber Market
Vendor bombast, overwhelmed buyers, murky lines of responsibility and the speed of change raise doubts on the strength of cyber defenses.

Product hype and a lack of oversight from senior executives have created a “broken” market in cybersecurity technology, experts say, with urgent action needed from both vendors and customers.

Bombarded with pitches from a raft of new as well as established cybersecurity vendors, chief information security officers often have a difficult time assessing whether technology will actually do what it promises until it is put into operation, said Laura Deaner, CISO at financial-data company S&P Global Inc.

“I shouldn’t have to say my fingers are crossed when I’m implementing a technology—that is proof that the market is broken,” Ms. Deaner said, speaking on a virtual panel hosted Wednesday by Debate Security, a research group formed by a number of security vendors.

Keeping up with hackers requires cybersecurity vendors to update technology frequently, but this can stymie CISOs, who often don’t have enough information or resources to properly size up products, she said.

Debate Security groups research paper & video 'Watch the discussion'

Cybersecurity Technology Efficacy: Is cybersecurity the new 'market for lemons'?

Fixing the market involves better conversations between CISOs and boards, and could include the creation of independent assessment organizations or certification bodies to analyze vendor offerings, said S&P’s Ms. Deaner. Such assessments would include, for instance, testing platforms against common attack methods, and having vendors explain in detail how their products work.

Relying on the industry to fix itself might not work, he said. Other avenues, such as legal protections and warranties against products that don’t work might be a way to force vendors to live up to their claims. wsj.com wsj.com debatesecurity.com

The CISO's Quandary - The New Remote-First Era & Remote Access
CISOs split on how to enable remote work
CISOs are conflicted about how their companies can best reposition themselves to address the sudden and rapid shift to remote work caused by the pandemic, Hysolate research reveals.

The story emerging from the data in the study is clear:

● COVID-19 has accelerated the arrival of the remote-first era.

● Legacy remote access solutions such as virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), desktop-as-a-service (DaaS), and virtual private networks (VPN), among others, leave much to be desired in the eyes of CISOs and are not well suited to handle many of the new demands of the remote-first era.

● Half of CISOs believe that security measures are impacting productivity when scaling remote-first policies.

● Bring-your-own-PC (BYOPC) policies further complicate organizations’ approaches to secure remote access.

Remote work becoming a permanent workflow

Beyond the overwhelming consensus that work-from-home is here to stay (87 percent of respondents believe remote work has become a permanent workflow in their companies’ operations), the study reveals that there is no singular best practice or market-leading approach to enabling workers in the remote-first era.

There is no prevailing solution in place to provide secure remote access to corporate assets: helpnetsecurity.com

Govt's Disbursing Digital Currencies Quickly
PayPal to Allow Cryptocurrencies
Customers will be able to buy, sell, and hold virtual coins, including bitcoin, using the company’s online wallets.

PayPal will begin allowing cryptocurrencies for use by U.S. account holders in the coming weeks as part of a migration toward digital payments, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, the company said there has been increased interest in digital currencies from central banks and consumers during the public health crisis.

“We are working with central banks and thinking of all forms of digital currencies and how PayPal can play a role,” chief executive Dan Schulman said. He added that digital currencies could help governments disburse funds quickly to individuals.

Central banks representing 20% of the global population are expected to issue digital currencies in the next three years. cfo.com