Target Pride backlash, AI scams, fake explosion, climate security, crime prediction
Welcome to this week's Benchmarker newsletter
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Above the fold
Target removes some LGBTQ Pride Month merchandise after threats - The company made the decision after intense backlash from some customers who confronted workers and tipped over displays. - AP
Dodgers walk back decision on Pride Month event - The Los Angeles Dodgers reversed course and re-invited a LGBTQ group to its Pride Night event after it faced blowback over its last-minute exclusion. (NBC News)
Trans Starbucks worker fired over viral argument with customer speaks out - Luna Spain lost her manager's job after an interaction with a customer was caught on video. She told VICE News she is being treated as a criminal despite being the victim of transphobia. (Vice)
The next target of the right’s campaign against woke companies: Fox News? - A conservative outlet is attacking Fox News for being too respectful of trans employees. (Vox)
Disney's reputation drops amid polarizing political drama - While Disney's reputation score grew among Democrats, it dropped significantly among Republicans in the ongoing fray with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
How con artists use AI, apps and?social engineering to target parents, grandparents for theft - AI-powered voice impersonation is becoming a popular scam tool.?To prove the point, 60 Minutes even fooled?one of its own staffers .?(CBS)
Scammers using AI to enhance family-emergency schemes - Sheriff departments?send scam and fraud alerts all the time. But this one?is a sign of our new times.?(Pierce County Sheriff)?
Pentagon non-explosion is an unsettling preview of AI's ability to disrupt reality - There are lots of reasons why a single AI-generated photo of an "explosion" near the Pentagon was obviously fake. But it was enough to fool many of Twitter's top OSINT and financial breaking news accounts.?Twitter verified accounts were sharing the non-event .?(Factal Blog, CNN)
Crime prediction software promised to be free of biases. New data shows it perpetuates them - Millions of crime predictions left on an unsecured server show PredPol mostly avoided Whiter neighborhoods, targeted Black and Latino neighborhoods. (The Markup)
Shell CEO shielded by security as?protesters try to storm shareholder meeting - Security staff formed a human chain?to shield senior leaders?after a group of climate protestors attempted to storm the stage. (Reuters)
ExxonMobile, gas station sued in wake of triple shooting - The lawsuit alleges the clerk locked customers in the station's convenience store with the gunman who shot them. (ABC News)
Spying in Mexico strikes a new victim: the President’s ally - While looking into abuses by the armed forces, the country’s top human rights official was targeted with Pegasus, the world’s most notorious spyware, The Times found. (New York Times)
Get ready for a long, hot summer in much of the U.S. - The outlook does not show where heat waves will hit, but they have already begun in earnest. (Axios)
Study: Heat wave and blackout would send half of Phoenix to ER - New research warns that nearly 800,000 residents would need emergency care in an extended power failure. Other cities are also at risk. (NY Times)
Cyclone Mocha disaster in Myanmar a wake-up call for ASEAN, world to take climate security seriously - Coming on the heels of a?brutal heatwave?in Southeast Asia is?Cyclone Mocha, among the biggest in the region’s history. (Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft)
No accounting for the cost of climate disasters like forest fires - Even as Canadians choke on orange smoke, the parliamentary budget officer says there is no way to add the benefits of fighting climate change to the national books. (CBC)
Italy's deadly floods are yet another example of climate change extremes, experts say - Dry, impermeable ground means heavy rains are unlikely to help northern Italy after two years of drought. (euronews)
How climate and security are connected - While catastrophic natural disasters have direct and overt impacts, such events often trigger a cascade of second or third order impacts which manifest in ways that are hard to predict. (Security Magazine)
How GOP attacks on 'wokeism' helped lead the Pentagon to abandon its effort to combat extremism in the military - More than two years after the Countering Extremism Working Group was formed inside the Pentagon, the effort has vanished virtually without a trace.?A recent?RAND report found ?that veterans don't support extremist groups more than the general public does. (CNN Politics, RAND)
US debt ceiling crunch threatens to roil complacent stock market - Strategists at some of Wall Street’s biggest banks are sounding increasingly worried about potential market fallout from the standoff over raising the U.S. debt ceiling, even as stocks continue grinding higher. (Reuters)
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Data point: Senior cyber execs think preparedness outside of tech teams is 'terrible'
- Osterman Research's new Cyber Workforce Resilience Trend Report surveyed senior security and risk pros at large organizations and found half lacked confidence their executives will respond well to a cyber incident.
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Quote of the week
"We must come to grips with the fact that climate change is a security issue, with profound implications for war and peace."
-?Sarang Shidore ,?Director of Studies at?the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, after?Cyclone Mocha struck?Myanmar’s coastal Rakhine state.
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In other news
30 tons of explosive chemicals lost during rail shipment - The chemical, ammonium nitrate, is relatively harmless by itself but has caused deadly explosions in industrial accidents and targeted attacks. (New York Times)
Large southern cities lead nation in population growth - Nine of the nation’s 15 fastest-growing cities were in the South, according to?Vintage 2022 Population Estimates ?released last week. Of the nine fastest-growing cities in the South, six were in Texas. (U.S. Census)
Increase in hospital police forces brings criticisms, warnings - Nearly 30 states have active or proposed laws authorizing independent hospital police forces. (Modern Healthcare)
Geopolitics & actionable intelligence - What should concern the industry is that the security professionals complaining about the intelligence have legitimate grievances. Most intelligence, especially about geopolitical risks, is often lacking the critical elements that make it?intelligence.?(Treston Wheat on LinkedIn)
Serbians hand in guns and question culture of violence after two shootings - Back-to-back attacks prompt a gun amnesty and fears among some that the country is becoming more like the US. (BBC)
Montana governor bans TikTok. But can the state enforce the law? - Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed into law a first-of-its kind bill that makes it illegal for TikTok to operate in the state.?TikTok says the ban violates Montanan's rights . (Billings Gazette)
What happened to Ecuador? How crime and power struggles brought a democracy to the brink - The president disbanded the National Assembly to avoid impeachment. The move bodes ill for the country's democracy and could return Rafael Correa to power. (LA Times)
As oil giants retreat globally, smaller players rush in - Energy companies such as BP, TotalEnergies and Chevron are shifting to cleaner projects, creating an opening for independent and private companies to buy up their operations or push ahead with exploration. (Wall Street Journal)
Mexico’s gangs are becoming criminal conglomerates - They are expanding into every corner of society.?(The Economist)
Risk controls for business continuity - It makes sense to consider the value of risk controls for business continuity. As we see Organizational and Operational Resilience gain traction in the industry, it is vital to understand risk controls for Business Continuity Management. (Disaster Empire)
Hyundai, Kia agree to $200 million settlement over US car thefts - Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp agreed to a consumer class-action lawsuit settlement worth $200 million over rampant car thefts of the Korean automakers' vehicles, lawyers for the owners and the automakers said on Thursday. (Reuters)
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领英推荐
Industry jobs
Program Manager, Safety Operations ?–?Snap, Los Angeles
Security & Market Safety Cluster Manager ?–?Philip Morris, Stamford, Connecticut
Manager, Enterprise Risk Management & Business Continuity ?–?McDonald’s, Chicago
Global Security Director, Asia Pacific ?–?BCG, Singapore
Global Security Advisor? –?People in Need, Praha, Czechia
Director of Security & Safety ?–?The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Michigan
Enterprise Business Continuity and Crisis Management Strategic Lead ?–?Allstate, remote in U.S.
Corporate Security Consultant ?–?Dell Technologies, Austin, Texas
Global Crisis Management Exercise Lead ?–?Citi, New York City
Senior Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Analyst ?–?JPMorgan Chase, Plano, Texas
Emergency Management Specialist for Preparedness ?–?U.S. House Sergeant at Arms, Washington, D.C.
Other jobs listed on?Factal's Industry Jobs page ?include opportunities with Princeton, Lenovo, Citi?and more. Factal members can list their job openings in the Factal Chat?Industry Jobs channel.
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Industry events
May 25, 3pm ET - Factal ?editors and?Emergent Risk International ?analysts cover the latest threats to businesses around the globe. The GSB is also available as a?podcast .
May 25, 1pm ET - This panel session will explore this growing threat and discuss the role of security and intelligence professionals when it comes to risk mitigation.
May 31, 11am ET - You know Russian disinformation is abundant, but do you understand the risks it poses to your business? Join ERI’s Training Director Thea Gioe to learn more about the key themes and targets of Russian disinfo.
May 31-June 1 (Bozeman, Montana) - This event will bring together the best speakers and teachers that the threat assessment discipline has to offer and promises amazing networking opportunities.
June 5, 2pm ET - Join the Oregon Department of Emergency Management and FEMA’s Field Assessment and Collection Tools (FACT) Team to learn how they are leveraging preconfigured GIS tools and systems to streamline the damage assessment process.
June 6-7 (Newport, Rhode Island) - This year’s conference will take us on a journey as we look at why organizations fail at Crisis Management and the path they should take to improve and go beyond being better.
June 7-9 (Kansas City, Missouri) - ESOC is a conference designed to address a wide range of critical topics impacting individuals who provide high-level personal protection services.
June 12-13, (Nashville, Tennessee) - Security LeadHER will connect you with impactful keynotes, lively networking, small group breakouts and many opportunities to help you develop your security leadership skills and grow your tribe! Simply put, this is the event for Security LeadHERs – present and future!
AIRIP’s 6th Annual Global Intelligence Forum , Analyst Roundtable All Hands Meeting,?OSAC Women in Security Summer Seminar ?(OSAC sign-in required)
June 12-16 (Bloomfield, Colorado) - Tuesday the 13th will be a full day of the AIRIP Forum, a can’t-miss event for intelligence pros. Wednesday will transition from the Forum to the All Hands Meeting, which continues Thursday with skills workshops and impactful topics. The WiS Summer Seminar takes place on Friday the 16th, a full day of panels and presentations.
Factal?will attend all three events – say hi to Carolyn, Ryan and Tyler.
June 28, 3pm ET - This interactive webinar presents a comprehensive geopolitical tabletop exercise that simulates a regional conflict between two countries, with one exhibiting a dominant position.
July 8–11, 2023 (San Diego, California) - This year’s summit will focus on how a geographic approach can be used to identify emerging threats and determine the actions and partnerships needed to increase safety and security for all.
July 20, 12p ET - One of the hardest challenges to overcome in the aftermath of a mass casualty event is reestablishing a sense of safety and normalcy. As difficult as it may be, returning and reopening is necessary for most businesses. This session will guide participants through the process of returning to business following a mass casualty event.
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1 年Oy with the AI scams.