Mall of America® Utilizes the Sensormatic Solutions ShopperTrak Offering to Accurately Measure Mall Traffic
Johnson Controls today announced that Sensormatic Solutions, its leading global retail solutions portfolio, will feature its ShopperTrak visitor analytics and shopper insights in Mall of America, the largest shopping and entertainment complex in North America. The ShopperTrak solution measures mall shopping center traffic patterns, delivering mall owners and retail property managers the reliable data to explore new leasing models, quantify event success and ensure the right tenant mix by zone. By having actionable insights, Mall of America can make the most effective leasing, marketing and operational decisions to help increase profitability and improve customer experience.  Read more in the Vendor Spotlight column below


At height of crisis, Walgreens handled nearly 1 in 5 of the most addictive opioids
As its own distributor & failed to report suspicious orders & prevent diversion to the black market.

At the height of the opioid epidemic, Walgreens handled nearly one out of every five oxycodone and hydrocodone pills shipped to pharmacies across America. Walgreens dominated the nation’s retail opioid market from 2006 through 2012, buying about 13 billion pills — 3 billion more than CVS, its closest competitor.

The company had “runaway growth” of oxycodone sales because it continued to send pills to stores “without limit or review,” Edward Bratton, Walgreens manager of pharmaceutical integrity, wrote to another employee in 2013. The email is among thousands of documents recently disclosed in a federal lawsuit that seeks to hold Walgreens and other businesses responsible for the nation’s opioid crisis.

By acting as its own distributor and buying directly from the manufacturer, Walgreens took on the responsibility of alerting the DEA to suspicious orders by its own pharmacies and stopping those shipments. Instead, about 2,400 cities and counties nationwide allege that Walgreens failed to report signs of diversion and incentivized pharmacists with bonuses to fill more prescriptions of highly addictive opioids.

Biggest Fine on Record - Employee Theft & ORC - Targets for Crime



Statements from the five pharmacy chains that ordered the most opioids

In October Alone 6 CEO's Got Booted For Misconduct
In 2019 Record Number of CEO's, 1,332, Have Left Their Positions
So far in 2019, 1,332 chief executive officers have left their positions across industries. It is the highest number of CEO exits on record since Challenger, Gray & Christmas began tracking the data back in 2002, according to a press release the company sent to Retail Dive.

What is it about 2019 that is pushing so many C-suite changes? One of the possibilities is that now, more than ever, CEOs are seen as the face of a company. The CEO is often like this very, very visible, sacrificial lamb."

In October alone, six CEOs in different industries left their roles after allegations of professional misconduct, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas findings. When a brand hits a point of crisis, letting go of a CEO can be seen as a salve to calm both the public and shareholders. When a chief executive is asked to step down it is a way to demonstrate that, "continuing to have a relationship with this particular corporate leader is not what we want to show the world as a brand, or we don't align with their values and beliefs or their behaviors," Gabor said. retaildive.com

Notable CEO Exits from 2019:

McDonald’s wins praise for firing its CEO
but reignites scrutiny over worker complaints
McDonald’s board fired CEO Steve Easterbrook for having a consensual relationship with an employee, a violation of the company’s non-fraternization policy. While the decision is being praised, it is also reigniting scrutiny of the company’s handling of sexual harassment allegations.

McDonald’s workers have filed more than 50 complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for incidents that involved sexual harassment, abuse and retaliation. cnbc.com

DOJ Emphasizing Intellectual Property (IP) Theft Around the Country
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski Delivers Remarks at the Thirteenth Law Enforcement and Industry Meeting on Intellectual Property Enforcement

This conference offers a great opportunity for CCIPS, the Department, and each of our law enforcement colleagues gathered at the table today to discuss our shared efforts in IP enforcement, and to hear your comments about the latest successes and challenges. It’s an event that benefits all of us.

Since this conference first began more than a decade ago, we have seen dramatic changes in IP crime: So what is the Department doing to keep up in this ever-changing landscape? First and foremost, we employ the expertise of attorneys across the Department and our federal prosecutors across the country to bring high-impact cases to deter IP crime. I wanted to highlight some examples of recent prosecutions that show the diligence and creativity of our investigators and prosecutors in bringing these cases. justice.gov

The RealReal’s shares plunge as poor training and tough quotas
cast doubt on ‘no fakes’ pledge
The RealReal is an online luxury consignment store that differentiates itself by saying everything is 100% real. The CEO has said there are “no fakes on our site” and “every single item [is] authenticated.” CNBC spoke with nearly three dozen former employees and obtained internal company documents that show not everything is authenticated by an expert and employees work under strict quotas that lead to fakes being sold on the site. CNBC read nearly 1,400 online reviews of the company and found that fakes, damaged items and mistakes are top complaints. cnbc.com

‘We may not be perfect every single time,’ The RealReal CEO tells customers after CNBC report

Redding, PA: Delayed emergency exits called into question at city council meeting
A retired reverend's push to prevent people from being trapped in stores during emergencies received a favorable reception from the Redding City Council on Tuesday night. Robert Grosch of Palo Cedro, along with Katie Swartz of St. James Lutheran Church in Redding, wanted the council to delay adopting the current state building code that allows a 15-second delay in opening emergency exits in stores. Instead, Grosch wants the emergency doors to open immediately when the "panic bar" is pushed instead of people having to wait when they urgently want to get out. After the meeting, Grosch gave an example from June 14 when a shooter opened fire inside a Costco in Corona and shoppers raced to the store's exits only to have their escape delayed. redding.com

GNC Selects Kount’s Advanced AI-Driven Fraud Prevention Solution to Expand and Support Omnichannel Growth Strategy
GNC Holdings Inc. is applying artificial intelligence (AI) to prevent fraud across channels.

Kount, the leading digital fraud prevention company, today announced that GNC Holdings, a leading global health and wellness brand, selected Kount to support and protect the retailer’s new convenient and accessible omnichannel shopping experience. Kount’s fast, flexible AI-driven fraud prevention solution enables customers like GNC to set risk thresholds to increase approval rates, reduce fraud losses and lower operational costs.

“The customer is at the core of everything we do at GNC,” said Tricia Tolivar, CFO, GNC. “We selected Kount because their technology delivers the flexibility and speed we need to rapidly expand our commerce initiatives with confidence. They’re a committed partner, guiding us through the process from implementation through transition and full deployment – all of which allows us to continue to best serve our customers while reducing fraud losses.” businesswire.com

Warehouses Are Tracking Workers’ Every Muscle Movement
Walmart and other companies are testing a biometric monitoring device for workplace safety made by a startup called StrongArm.

Trackers could supplement existing safety programs by identifying employees who need extra coaching, while also helping single out locations in its operations that should be redesigned to reduce the chances of injury.

Unions and researchers who study workplace surveillance worry that employers who begin gathering data on workers for whatever reason will be unable to resist using it against them. Productivity tracking is already widespread throughout the industry - and workers can be fired or punished if their performance dips. The opacity of data-analysis tools can make it difficult for workers to fully understand how much employers can see.

StrongArm says it has about 30 clients, including Heineken NV and Toyota Motor Corp., and is also establishing relationships with insurance companies interested in ways to reduce workers compensation costs.

StrongArm acknowledges that concerns about workplace surveillance surround its work, but the company says its products are designed solely to improve safety and cites a recent study it commissioned that found users wearing them suffered 20% to 50% fewer injuries. bloomberg.com

The Benefits of Having a Mentor as a Young Professional
A good mentor can have an impact both professionally and personally. One young professional shares four things she’s received from her mentors over the years.

A study comparing mentored employees and non-mentored employees found that mentored employees received more promotions and higher compensation and felt a higher satisfaction in their career.

I still don’t know how I found the courage to ask someone more experienced to take time out of their schedule to meet with me, answer questions, and knowledge share about career management and industry-related topics. However, every time I’ve asked someone to be a mentor, much to my relief, the person accepted and was flattered.

“A good mentor makes an impact on you, not only offering support but also by helping you get in the mindset of continually evolving."

Accountability - Mutual benefit - Sounding board.  asaecenter.org


LPF Announces October's LPC and LPQ Professionals
The Loss Prevention Foundation would like to recognize and congratulate the following individuals who successfully completed all of the requirements set forth by the board of directors to be LPQualified (LPQ) and/or LPCertified (LPC). View Full List Here


ASIS International: Why Lifelong Learning Is Vital in Threat Management

Higher Education Offers Multiple Options for All Learners
Today’s educational environment is more dynamic than it has been in the past, leaving people with more options to gain the knowledge they want and need. From a higher education standpoint, universities and colleges are working hard to transform themselves in different ways.

For example, there has been a transition from traditional Ph.D.-style doctorates to applied doctorates like the Doctorate in Strategic Intelligence or Doctorate in Global Security. These academic programs have their students work to address real-world problems of practice. In this manner, they take the education they receive in their classes and work to apply it within the fields in which they are currently employed or hope to work in.

In addition, some universities now offer dual degree programs, such as the dual master’s degree in emergency and disaster management and homeland security. Some institutions are also starting to provide accelerated degrees to allow their students to rapidly advance from a B.A. to an M.A., saving those students time and money on their educational pursuits.

Short Program Offerings Also Rising in Popularity
However, lifelong learning doesn’t just encompass full degree programs. With employers focusing on skillset development, there is an increasing desire for short program offerings as well.

“Short programming” includes sets of courses that lead to a specific credential or badge. For instance, ASIS International offers a series of certifications, related to security and global studies, which can be used to add value to your professional portfolio. Another relevant certification is the Certified Threat Manager (CTM) certification offered by the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. inhomelandsecurity.com
 

Senior LP & AP Jobs Market

Director of Loss Prevention Posted For Bi-Mart in Eugene, OR
The Director of Loss Prevention will lead the Loss Prevention (LP) team in providing comprehensive support to the Company's retail stores, distribution center, and business office in the areas of: internal and external theft control, OSHA compliance, and liability claim management. startwire.com

We've been a part of the Northwest for over 60 years. Bi-Mart's 79 stores are convenient, easy to shop and offer real values every day on name brand products. bimart.com

Cool Senior Job: Director, Security with the Miami Marlins in Miami, Fl.
The Director of Security will manage the security planning and personnel for Marlins Park and related Marlins facilities to be inclusive of current MLB Best Practices, the national Incident Command System (ICS), an Emergency Action Plan and an Incident Action Plan. Working with law enforcement partners and our event partners to ensure staffing and a plan of action for each game or event will be a critical task. This position will serve as the most senior contributor and authority on security matters, while ensuring the safety and protection of our staff, guests, facilities, property and products at Marlins Park. teamworkonline.com
 

CVS makes history with drone prescription delivery & is closing 22 Stores

China says it has agreed with the US to cancel existing trade tariffs in phases

Teens turn to new vape flavors as White House considers ban


Quarterly Results

Carvana Q3 sales up 105% YoY
Costco October comp's up 4.9%, sales up 6.8%
Rent-A-Center Q3 comp's up 4.5%, sales up 0.7%
Ahold Delhaize U.S. Q3 comp's up 1.8%, online sales up 26.3%, sales company wide up 5.8%
CVS Q3 Retail/LTC Segment front store comp's up 0.6%, front store sales up 1.3%, pharmacy comp's up 4.5%, pharmacy sales up 3.5%,
CVS Q3 Retail total sales up 2.9%, Company total sales up 36.5% (Driven by Aetna Acquisition)
SpartanNash Q3 Retail comp's up 0.1%, sales up 6%
Office Depot Q3 retail comp's down 4%, BSD sales down 1%, CompuCom sales down 6%, total sales down 4%
Canada's Indigo Books & Music Q2 comp's down 8%, sales down 5.9%

Mall of America® Utilizes the Sensormatic Solutions ShopperTrak Offering to Accurately Measure Mall Traffic

Top tourist destination in Bloomington, MN, attracting over 40 million visitors annually to leverage power of visitor analytics to optimize business outcomes

NEUHAUSEN, Switzerland - November 7, 2019 - Johnson Controls today announced that Sensormatic Solutions, its leading global retail solutions portfolio, will feature its ShopperTrak visitor analytics and shopper insights in Mall of America, the largest shopping and entertainment complex in North America. The ShopperTrak solution measures mall shopping center traffic patterns, delivering mall owners and retail property managers the reliable data to explore new leasing models, quantify event success and ensure the right tenant mix by zone. By having actionable insights, Mall of America can make the most effective leasing, marketing and operational decisions to help increase profitability and improve customer experience.

The property management group piloted the ShopperTrak traffic counting solution which is centered on accuracy to help improve traffic estimates. Mall of America was seeking a minimum of 98 percent accuracy, yet pilot results exceeded the target by hitting 99.8 percent accuracy. Since Mall of America is the largest mall and attracts the greatest number of shoppers in the US, having accurate data is critical to continued success and growth.

“As a destination that attracts millions of visitors every year, we need to have a precise way to measure traffic to continue delivering a seamless experience to our guests,” said Patrick Wand, Mall of America IT project senior manager. “The ShopperTrak solution will help empower us with critical data allowing us to make better informed marketing and operational business decisions.”

“The most popular and profitable shopping centers are those with mixed-use elements and unique offerings beyond traditional shopping,” said Nick Pompa, general manager of ShopperTrak. “As malls are adapting their spaces to this newer vision of success, their ‘destination center’ strategy can be amplified by leveraging traffic data. ShopperTrak analytics provide insights to better understand shopper behavior, helping malls visualize where people are spending the most time and how marketing efforts are impacting traffic volumes to create meaningful customer experiences.”

To learn more about ShopperTrak traffic insights, please visit: www.shoppertrak.com.

Social Media: Corporate Cyber Espionage's Channel of Choice
The number of corporate espionage attacks is increasing. From advanced persistent threat attacks siphoning off proprietary research and intellectual property to fake social media accounts used for social engineering attacks to launch malware, enterprises' valuable information and trade secrets are being compromised.

Corporate espionage tactics have evolved with the digital revolution; criminals no longer need to break into a physical building to steal a company's crown jewels. The threat landscape for businesses has expanded alongside the adoption of new social media and digital channels. Social media platforms and channels have now become business essentials, and bad actors have taken notice.

Many of these social media platforms lie outside the traditional cybersecurity perimeter, enabling bad actors to more easily access an individual's, enterprise's, or government's information without having to worry about getting caught by traditional network security protections. For example, credible reports show that WeChat has been involved in cyber espionage campaigns, with the Chinese government using the platform to collect intelligence, monitor activity, and recruit potential spies. Beijing has even developed Trojan spyware to be distributed through WeChat, and the app has been used as a backdoor to hijack user's phones.

We've also seen damaging corporate cyber espionage campaigns conducted through LinkedIn. Last December, Operation Sharpshooter was found to be targeting nuclear, defense, energy, and financial companies, with the ultimate goal to penetrate security defenses and steal intellectual property. One of the ways the bad actors behind this campaign approached their targets was by posing as job recruiters and using messaging apps for outreach. The Iranian-linked APT34 group recently conducted a similar attack through LinkedIn. Hackers phished employees at target industries with malicious documents, delivering them through LinkedIn mail. These efforts obtained industry insider information and data.

Why There Is More Risk for Cyber Espionage Through Social Media:
● People are more trusting online
● Expanded attack surface creates gaps in cyber defense
● Attacks are difficult to detect

Steps to Combat Corporate Espionage and Mitigate Risks:
● Gain visibility into known and unknown social media assets
● Establish control over brand assets
● Respond to threats in real time  darkreading.com

Researchers develop machine learning-based detector
that stops lateral phishing attacks
Whereas in the past attackers would send phishing scams from email accounts external to an organization, recently there’s been an explosion of email-borne scams in which attackers compromise email accounts within organizations, and then uses those accounts to launch internal phishing emails to fellow employees – the kind of attacks known as lateral phishing.

And when a phishing email comes from an internal account, the vast majority of email security systems can’t stop it. Existing security systems largely detect cyber attacks that come from the outside, relying on signals like IP and domain reputation, which are ineffective when the email comes from an internal source.

To alleviate this growing problem, Data Science Institute member Asaf Cidon helped develop a prototype of a machine-learning based detector that automatically detects and stops lateral phishing attacks. The detector uses several features to stop attacks, including detecting whether the recipient deviates from someone an employee would usually communicate with; whether the email’s text is similar to other known phishing attacks; and whether the link is anomalous. helpnetsecurity.com

Detecting and tracking phishing campaigns through web analytics identifiers
Cyber crooks are quick to abuse legitimate services for their own malicious purposes. One of the latest instances demonstrating this propensity involves phishing kit developers using web analytics (such as Google Anlalytics) to collect statistics on campaign effectiveness – information that helps them to continually improve their kits and keep up with demand.

Akamai researchers scanned 62,627 active phishing URLs on 28,906 unique domains, and found that 874 domains contained a web analytics UID (a unique identifier that is assigned to each web analytics service customer). Of those, 396 of the UIDs were unique Google Analytics accounts and 75 were used in more than one website. helpnetsecurity.com

Europol: 17 tonnes of food infected with listeria seized in Spain

Government, retail and smartphones to push facial recognition market to $7B by 2024

Sally Beauty expands AI try-on tech to 500 stores

Source-Tagging Specialists
& EAS Tag Innovators

ALL-TAG is an American manufacturer of RF Labels and a leading supplier for all other RF, AM and RFID products designed to help retailers fight shrink. Founded in 1992, ALL-TAG specializes in helping retailers source tag their hard goods and apparel, as well as designing unique and customizable EAS tagging solutions that address very specific problems LP/AP executives face today.

Stuart Seidel, President, and Lance Weeden, Account Executive, tell us about ALL-TAG’s latest security innovations: the Q-Tag and the Q-Wrap.
 

Cleveland, OH: U.S. Postal worker sentenced in Federal Court for stealing $89,000 from greeting cards containing cash, gift cards
Prior to losing her job, Jennifer Riccardi sorted mail at the post office’s processing and distribution center on Orange Avenue in Cleveland. For about a year, she set aside envelopes she thought contained greeting cards and other items. She took them home, where she and her boyfriend opened them and stole gift cards and cash, according to federal prosecutors. U.S. District Judge John Adams in Akron handed down a four-year, eight-month prison sentence Tuesday. He also ordered Riccardi to pay more than $89,000 in restitution. cleveland.com

Charlotte, NC: A 19-year-old pregnant woman accused of stealing hundreds of dollars worth of Nike apparel from the Dick’s Sporting Goods
Armani Cloud was arrested Wednesday and has since bonded out. This isn’t Cloud’s first run-in with the law. Law enforcement officers have been keeping tabs on the young woman’s arrests. “She does stick out. She’s very distinctive. She’s 4’11”. She’s eight-months pregnant. She wears these colorful wigs. Everyone knows who she is and they also know that she has violent tendencies,” explained Northlake Mall liaison officer Mandy Giannini with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Cloud was previously charged for a violent robbery that happened in Salisbury in March of 2019. Cloud and two other women were accused of stealing from a Dick’s Sporting Goods in Salisbury. During the incident, a store employee was pepper sprayed by one of the suspects. wbtv.com