Retail crime survey, dual ransomware attacks, airport security gaps, predictive policing

Welcome to this week's Benchmarker newsletter!

Similar to politics, all security is local. Whether your organization is addressing the rise of organized retail crime down the street, the ripple effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine or new advances in technology – the impacts are felt by employees and customers in their daily life.

You'll find those stories and much more in this week's Benchmarker.?Got a story you'd like to see? Let us know at?[email protected].

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Above the fold

September shattered global heat record by a record margin - “We’ve never seen a record smashed by anything close to this margin,” said Zeke Hausfather, climate lead for the payment company Stripe. - Washington Post

Shoplifters are growing more violent, finds National Retail Federation survey - The survey found 88%?of retailers report that shoplifters are somewhat more or much more aggressive and violent compared with one year ago. (NRF)

Private security guards have become a last resort for public safety - Most major US?cities now have at least three times as many security guards on the street as sworn police officers, even though guards typically operate with minimal oversight, less training and little power to enforce the law. (NY Times)

Are body-worn cameras the answer to retail crime? - There seems to be growing evidence that body worn cameras are helping to tackle retail crime. The last Global Security Briefing addressed the rise in ORC and other methods companies are using to reduce loss. (IFSEC Insider, Factal)

The maker of ShotSpotter is buying the world’s most infamous predictive policing technology - SoundThinking is purchasing parts of Geolitica, the company that created PredPol. Experts say the acquisition marks a new era of companies dictating how police operate. (WIRED)

AI-made images mean seeing is no longer believing - Why an AI-generated image of Tiananmen Square jumping up Google search rankings is an omen for future disinformation. (The Guardian)

The rising risk of AI scams and disinformation - Concerns around deep fakes and misleading AI-generated content were “overblown” in the past, but that generative AI has made those fears a reality. (Silicon Republic)

FBI warns of "dual ransomware attacks" - Once they compromise an victim with an initial ransomware attack, threat actors are ready to deploy a secondary attack with a different strain, which could leave even more damage. (Dark Reading)

FEMA to test cell phone alert system on Wednesday - Just about everyone in the US will get a test alert at 2:20 pm ET. (ABC News)

Food delivery robots are feeding camera footage to LAPD, internal emails show - Serve Robotics, which delivers food for Uber Eats, provided footage filmed by at least one of its robots to the LAPD as evidence. (404 Media)

China blocks executive at U.S. firm Kroll from leaving the mainland - A senior executive at American risk advisory firm Kroll has been barred from leaving mainland China. (Wall Street Journal)

'We have dealt with recessions before': Jamie Dimon says geopolitics is the world's biggest risk - Dimon suggested that Eastern Europe was the epicenter of risk, with the war in Ukraine straining relationships between economic superpowers. (CNBC)

When will the saltwater wedge reach New Orleans? We mapped it. - Saltwater is swiftly pushing its way up the Mississippi River and is expected to contaminate most of the New Orleans public drinking water supply on Oct. 28. Axios answered questions on the saltwater intrusion. (New York Times, Axios)

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Join the?Factal Showcase?tomorrow (Wednesday) and see the future of collaborative risk intelligence

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Data point: Who can stop or apprehend shoplifters?

- From the National Retail Federation's 2023 security survey.

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Quote of the week:

- Wasim Khaled, co-founder and CEO of Blackbird.AI, regarding the increasing risks of AI-powered scams?and "denial of trust" attacks.

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Beneath the fold

Criminal gangs exploit security gaps to infiltrate airports - The aviation industry is wrestling with the growing threat of criminal gangs recruiting airport workers. (Wall Street Journal)

‘Unpredictability in the system,’ and other travel lessons from the summer of ’23 - Climate change upheavals brought on a season of extremes for travelers in the U.S., Europe and beyond. One thing is clear: Travel is changing. (NY Times)

New Walmart store will include a police substation inside? - When a?new Atlanta-area Walmart opens next year, it will feature a police substation for officers to fill out paperwork, hold community meetings and recharge their devices. (Rough Draft Atlanta)

The synthetic social network is coming - Between ChatGPT’s surprisingly human voice and Meta’s AI characters, our feeds may change forever. (Platformer)

Peruvian national arrested in Peru for sending over 150 hoax bomb threats to schools and other institutions in the United States and soliciting child pornography?(U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York)

PG&E’s $6 billion plan to prevent wildfires is in peril - California regulators are likely to significantly restrict the number of power lines the company can bury in the coming years in favor of other ways to reduce fire risk. (Wall Street Journal)

X fires its election team before a huge election year - The “last man standing” in X’s threat intelligence team has been fired, as the company guts its election integrity response ahead of a year in which more than 50 countries go to the polls. Meanwhile, NewsGuard found that engagement on posts from Russian, Chinese, and Iranian state media?English-language?accounts shot up?70 percent in the 90 days after X stopped labeling state-sponsored content. (WIRED, NewsGuard)

4 elements of facility risk assessments - A risk assessment is a crucial step in developing a facility security design. It can determine if, how, and to what degree an organization’s objectives, results, and assets may be affected. (Security Management Magazine)

Crisis management excellence: key indicators of control effectiveness - Control effectiveness?reduces the likelihood of crises and minimizes their impact when they occur. (Disaster Empire)

The U.S. climate vulnerability index - Pulling in 184 sets of data to rank more than 70,000 U.S. Census tracts, the?Index helps you see which communities face the greatest challenges from the impacts of a changing climate.

Gig safety fears after trainee stewards helped to cheat - Fraudulent training for security staff employed to keep people safe has been uncovered. (BBC)

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Industry jobs

Head of Global Security?–?General Mills, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Head Protective Security Asia Pacific?–?Novartis, Hyderabad, India or Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Director of Security for FOX Television Stations?–?FOX, New York

Security Strategy Program Manager?–?Microsoft, Redmond, Washington

Senior Manager, Corporate Security?–?Hologic, Newark, Delaware

Lead Analyst, Threat & Protective Intelligence?–?Chime, USA

Physical Security Intelligence Analyst?–?ally, Charlotte, North Carolina

Global Risk & Resilience Director?–?placement agency for Fortune 100 Organization, Atlanta

Security Advisor – Americas & Africa?–?Woodside Energy, USA

Global Security: VP Security Manager?–?JPMorgan Chase, Chicago

Other jobs listed on Factal's Industry Jobs page?include opportunities with NEOM, Honeywell, Carnival and more. Factal members can list their job openings in the Factal Chat?Industry Jobs channel.

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Industry events

Climate-Informed Security, Emergency Management & Business Continuity?–?Starts October 4 –?It is vital for an organization’s leaders and planners to understand how both the direct and indirect impacts of climate change will affect the workforce and community. Security, emergency management, and business continuity plans will require recalibration to meet the operational and behavioral challenges of a warming planet.

Travel Risk Management – San Diego and Santa Barbara October 4 (San Diego)?– Sony hosts local ASIS chapters in this TRM-focused ASIS credited coursework.

Global Security Briefing – October 12, 3pm ET ?–?Factal journalists and Emergent Risk International analysts will discuss what keeps them up at night. The GSB is also available as a?podcast.

“Hybrid” Resilience Summit 2023 – October 16 (London & virtual) – The Resilience Association hosts this day-long seminar about “Meeting the challenges of a changing world: how to change to survive and thrive.”

Travel Risk Management Working Group- Fall Forum – October 18 (New York) – A one-day series of seminars hosted by corporate and education leaders responsible for travel safety.

Swatting and Hoax Considerations and Response – October 24, 3pm ET – In this roundtable discussion, you will hear from a school-based team that has recently dealt with a swatting incident. You will learn how they addressed the threat at the moment, ensured the community was informed, and improved their existing operations plans.

BCI World Hybrid 2023 – November 1-2 (London) – Building and maintaining resilience are top priorities for organizations worldwide, but resilience is an ongoing process that involves everyone within a business. Resilience capability is a collective approach to working and the more it is developed and maintained, the more it helps organizations to thrive in the face of adversity. Factal?will attend.

Spies, Lies and Nukes – November 10-12 (Santa Fe, New Mexico) – For this third, enhanced running of Spies, Lies & Nukes join Valerie Plame and some of her legendary, highly decorated, and experienced CIA colleagues as they pull back the curtain on the real life “wilderness of mirrors” that is international espionage.

Innovation Summit for Preparedness and Resilience – November 16-17 – (Charlotte, North Carolina) A one-of-a-kind opportunity for you to share your experiences from recent incidents and to brainstorm innovative solutions to real challenges facing public safety agencies nationwide.

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