Pinkerton Insights Podcast

Last week in Japan, a man driving a minivan rammed into a crowd in Takeshita Street, in the famous Harajuku area in Tokyo; initial reports indicate that the driver told the police that this was a terrorist attack. Authorities arrested the 21-year-old Japanese suspect who was driving a rented vehicle with license plaques from Osaka. Upon arrest, he said that he had perpetrated an act of terrorism in retaliation for an execution and that he would not make any excuses for his actions. The police found 20 liters of kerosene inside the vehicle, which he stated he planned to use to burn the vehicle after the attack. Nine people were injured during the attack, and one of the victims remains in critical condition. It is still unclear if he has any affiliation to any group or if he acted alone.    This incident comes after several lone wolf attacks that have taken place in recent years throughout the country, with the most notorious of them being the killing of 19 people at a mental health facility in Sagaamihara, abo

As 2019 draws to a close, it’s important to not only take a look back, but also a look forward at the Corporate Risk and Security Management landscape. As we are all keenly aware, this landscape is ever-evolving, and it can be difficult to accurately predict. However, there are certain items that are readily apparent.  In a special edition of the Pinkerton Insights Podcast, Pinkerton President Jack Zahran  discusses those topics, and what the industry can do to prepare for what’s coming in 2019 and beyond.

Bangladesh political campaigns turned violent last week during the second official day when police officers attacked citizens with pellet guns and mobs went after rival candidates. Clashes were reported at least in seven major towns including Dhaka, the capital city. At least 200 people were injured, and in Thakurgaon, a northern district, a motorcade from the BNP party was attacked by a large crowd. Police officers claim they were obliged to respond with violence as the campaign was getting out of control. About 100 million citizens are registered to vote in the elections that will take place this year on December 30.  We assess this will be a relevant matter for all clients traveling or operating in Bangladesh in the near to medium term as it is still unknown how the campaigns will be controlled. These types of demonstrations in the country are usually violent, and it is recommended to avoid crowded areas as much as possible. Clients are advised to stay informed about the development of the politica

A commerce ministry spokesman announced last week that China will immediately implement the consensus both China and the U.S. sides already reached on agricultural products, energy, autos, and other specific items. These declarations came out after the discussions between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping concluded that they would give 90 days to negotiators to figure out their trade spat. Both sides stated that they would also discuss intellectual property protection, technology cooperation, market access, and fair trade. However, there have been no clarifications regarding the measures that will be taken in order to maintain the agreement conditions, causing stock markets to destabilize.  We assess that this will be a relevant matter for all clients operating in both countries or buying products from them in the near to long term as the measures are likely to be implemented immediately and would continue in order to keep the agreement. Until the conditions of the agreement are announced, it is possible

Hazard and Event Risks  Last week, Bangladesh authorities announced that the dengue fever outbreak continues to spread through the country, becoming one of the deadliest outbursts in less than 20 years.  As previously reported, violent protests continue throughout France, with the most recent reports stating clashes between 300,000 protesters and riot police in several parts of the country.  Authorities from the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported last week that the Ebola outbreak announced on August 1 in the northeast area of the country has become one of the worst health outbreaks in the history of the DRC.  Operational and Physical Risks  In Argentina, The Argentine Confederation of Transport Workers launched a short strike nationwide last week. Union leaders accused President Mauricio Macri of going back on several campaign promises made in 2015 to limit income tax on workers in the sector.  The New Zealand Transport Agency is contacting around 4,000 motorists to recheck their warrants of fitness

Market and Economic Risks In the U.S., ethanol producer Green Plains Inc. is ceasing production at its plants in Superior and Lakota, Iowa; and will maintain the half-capacity operations at its facility in Fairmont, Minnesota.  The State of Mexico Industrial Union (or UNIDEM) announced that the constant increase in the electricity tariff that has been taking place during the last three years is severely affecting the industrial sector in the state. According to the president of the Argentinian Bread Producers Chamber, the flour price had increased over 100% during the last seven months. The European Commission, an EU antitrust regulator, announced it will investigate whether Daimler, BMW, and Volkswagen colluded in the restriction of clean emission technology rollouts. Should the allegation prove accurate, the carmakers would face large fines. Hazard and Event Risks Oryx Midstream Services recently announced that its operating subsidiaries in New Mexico and West Texas will build a gathering and transportat

OPERATIONAL & PHYSICAL RISK Last week, the president of the Mexican Gas Distributors Association (ADIGAS) stated that during the current year, the industry had reported losses of nearly MXN 7 billion (USD 364 million) due to criminal activities and the illegal gas market growth. MARKET & ECONOMIC RISK On September 10, 2018, the Argentina government approved a new 17% increase in fuel acquisition and biodiesel prices. According to authorities, the most affected brands were Shell and YPF, they had to increase their prices immediately between 2% and 2.5%. HAZARD & EVENT RISK On September 6, 2018, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the country of Ecuador about 94km (58mi) south of the city of Ambato and at a depth of 112km (69m). Even though the earthquake did not cause significant damage, it was followed by five smaller aftershocks and another tremor of 6.5 during the evening. TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION RISK Nothing to report this week.

Hazard and Event Risks Large protests by far-left and far-right activist groups clashed with each other and riot police in response to an August 25 incident on Chemnitz when a German citizen was stabbed and killed. Police arrested two male suspects in the incident, a Syrian and an Iraqi, both in their early twenties. Last week in Croatia, Uljanik shipyard company workers and those from its division 3 Maj shipyard, the most important shipyard companies in the country, demonstrated in the capital city of Zagreb. The heavy rains reported in the Indian state of Kerala during August have caused the death of 322 people and the displacement of more than 1.5 million from the state. In Nigeria on August 25, police officers arrested 57 men at Kelly Ann Hotel in Lagos due to alleged homosexual activity. The Democratic Alliance and the African National Congress condemned violence resulting from protest activity and called for calm in the Soweto suburb of Johannesburg. The protest activity resulted in 15 arrests and two

Hazard & Event Risks Human rights activists in Malaysia have called for authorities to review a court decision to punish two local women to caning and a fine of 3,300 Malaysian ringgits or 806 US dollars after they attempted to engage in homosexual activity. Technology & Information Risks Cyber-security firm, Kaspersky Lab, identified a malware known as Dark Tequila that has been affecting users in Mexico since 2013. Operational and Physical Risks As reported on August 15, police arrested a suspect on suspicion of terror offenses for ramming a car into cyclists and pedestrians outside the UK Houses of Parliament on August 14. Market & Economic Risks Cuba’s Communist Party has initiated public discussions on its proposed revision of the country’s constitution, referred to as the 1976 Magna Carta. On August 11, investors filed a lawsuit against Tesla founder Elon Musk over his online comment considering taking the company private. The comment is thought to have increased shares by 11% and the

Operational and Physical Risk Since late March 2018, fuel shortages have spread through Sudan causing scarcity of commercial diesel, cooking gas, and jet fuel. A major earthquake struck the Indonesian island Pulau Lombok, immediately east of Bali. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck the north side of the island at a depth of 31km (approximately 19mi). The government of Puerto Rico has submitted a recovery plan to the U.S. Congress. The recovery plan calls for USD 139 billion (EUR 121 billion) for economic and disaster recovery and was developed with input from the public and from U.S. federal agencies. Market and Economic Risk On August 6, 2018, the state-owned fuel company, Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales (YPF) announced an increase in the gasoline and gasoil prices throughout the country. U.S. President Donald Trump said that during the week of August 13, his administration would make an announcement on reducing prices for medications. Hazard and Event R

Hazard and Event Risks A glacial wave has hit central and north Peru since June 2018 and has caused significant losses all across the country. The national weather agency Meteo France extended a heatwave alert from 19 departments to 34 as temperatures continued to rise in most of eastern and southern France. In the Philipines, militants linked to the Abu Sayyaf terror group attacked a military checkpoint in the southern region with a van loaded with explosives. Technology and Information Risk Recently, Microsoft announced that in January-March 2018, a multi-tier attack against supply chains was detected in a PDF editor. Recently, a group of security researchers discovered a new Spectre-class vulnerability that can be launched over the network. A new version of AZORult information stealer and downloader is being used by cyber-criminals in an email phishing campaign since it became available on July 17. Operational and Physical Risks On August 2 in Chile, workers at the Escondida mine; the largest copper m

Operational and Physical Risks Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport has released a report highlighting violations committed by the state-controlled Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), which holds authority over all civil airports in the country. In India, a nationwide indefinite truckers' strike called by the All India Motor Transport Congress has been ongoing since July 20. Approximately 9 million trucks have stopped operating to protest high diesel prices, toll barriers across the country, and reduced third-party insurance premiums. Per reports, the number of vanilla theft cases has increased substantially in Madagascar in recent years due to its high market value. Last week, Cuban officials confirmed an outbreak of dengue fever in the Cuban city of Florida, located in Camaguey Province. As of July 21, there were seven verified cases of the virus in Camaguey; three of those cases were fatal. Hazard and Event Risks Per reports, about 315 people were injured in four earthquakes in Iran since July 22. Last we

Technology and Information Risks An expansion of the Magniber ransomware has been recorded. The malicious program was first identified in October 2017 when the Magnitude exploit kit operator began its distribution. An increase in the number of cyber-attacks targeting Internet of Things (IoT) devices was recorded during the Helsinki Summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Recently, social media app Instagram announced that it would be updating its security measures to guard users' information against SIM hacking. Market and Economic Risks The Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry has recommended the imposition of a 25% tariff on solar cells and modules imported from China and Malaysia. The EU competition commission has fined Google EUR 4.34 billion (USD 5.1 billion) for anti-competitive practices after 39 months of investigations. Cuba will officially recognize private property under a new constitution featuring economic policy changes. Hazard and Event Risks A

Hazard and Event Risk In Japan, heavy rains and an impending Typhoon are creating a crisis resulting from flooding and landslides In Mexico, the Specialized Prosecutor's Office for the Attention of Electoral Crimes reported that 19 people have been arrested for their alleged participation in electoral crimes. Technology and Information Risk On June 27, Wired reported that a security researcher had uncovered a data breach made by marketing and data-aggregation firm Exactis that exposed the personal information of U.S. citizens contained in an estimated 340 million files, divided between approximately 230 million consumers and 110 million businesses. The California State Legislature has passed the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, and Governor Jerry Brown signed the act into law on June 28. Per reports on July 5, 2018, Germany’s telecommunication regulator is considering regulating Internet-based telecommunication services in order to meet data protection, public safety, and registration requirements.

Technology and Information Risks The U.S.-based restaurant chain PDQ's customers’ credit card details were subject to theft in a breach of the company’s computer systems lasting May 19, 2017-April 20, 2018. Cyber-security researchers found that the newly discovered RAMpage vulnerability could impact almost all Android devices manufactured after 2012. Per a blog post by the Pen Test Partners, threat actors can hack into the navigational system of ships and manipulate their course. Researchers showed in a proof-of-concept attack that it is possible to access the network of systems that control a ship. Reports released stated that there have been recent cyber-attacks on several brands of security cameras, webcams, and baby and pet monitors. Researchers from cyber-security company Appthority discovered that multiple app developers did not configure their apps’ back-end Firebase endpoints correctly, granting attackers access to sensitive data. The problem affects Firebase, which is an app development tool that al

Operational and Physical Risks Per reports on June 14, 2018, French authorities aim to tackle contamination caused by cigarette butts. According to a C.D. Howe Institute research study titled “Assessing Canada’s Drug Shortage Problem”, one in ten medicines in Canada have been affected by shortages since 2016. Hazard and Event Risks Per reports, in a security alert posted on June 8, 2018, the U.S. Embassy in Mozambique advised U.S. citizens not to go to or leave the city of Palma in the northern Cabo Delgado Province due to the risk of impending militant attacks. On June 8 in Mexico, political candidate Fernando Puron Johnson was shot outside the Autonomous University of Coahuila's auditorium in the city of Piedras Negras city at Sonora estate after an official debate. Per reports last week from Cambodia, supporters of the main opposition party that was dissolved, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), are calling for demonstrations in the U.S., Japan, Europe, and South Korea over Japan’s support for th

Market and Economic Risks According to a press release on May 31, 2018, New Zealand’s Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage said that a task force is being “set up to deal with the impact of the Chinese government’s ban” on waste. On May 29, 2018, Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced that Canada plans to buy the Trans Mountain expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline with its related infrastructure for CAD 4.5 billion (USD 3.4 billion). On May 30, 2018, President Donald Trump signed the “Right To Try Act” into law, which will facilitate the use of experimental treatments by severely ill patients. During the signing ceremony, Trump made a statement that apparently took Washington’s healthcare lobbyists by surprise, saying that in two weeks some of the major pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. will “announce voluntary massive drops in prices.” In recent days, the Chilean Public Health Institute (ISP) announced the recall of 28,300 bottles of amoxicillin for oral suspension 500mg/5mL, which ex

Hazard and Event Risks Per reports from India, the fatal Nipah virus (NiV) has killed at least 11 people in Kerala state, while two people suspected to be infected are undergoing treatment in Karnataka state. In recent days, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended travelers to avoid all non-essential travel to Venezuela due to the current scarcity of healthcare supplies and services. Operational & Physical Risks Per reports last week, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that the country was considering alternatives to the severe sanctions imposed on Chinese telecom manufacturer ZTE Corporation. On May 21, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled companies be allowed to require employees to sign away the ability to bring class-action lawsuits over disputes. It is estimated approximately 25 million employees have signed arbitration agreements. On May 23, 2018, the United States Department of State (DOS) issued a warning to U.S. citizens in China, that a U.S. government employee in Gu

Hazard and Event Risks: On May 14, approximately 10,000 to 12,000 people, mostly women, gathered outside the home of a steel mill owner who was distributing alms ahead of Ramadan in the district of Chittagong, southeast Bangladesh. Per media reports on Friday,, the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has reached urban areas. The virus has been detected in Mbandaka, the north-west city comprising of nearly 1.2 million people. In Colombia last week, Puerto Valdivia authorities in the northwestern department of Antioquia confirmed that at least 544 people were evacuated after the Cauca River overflowed and destroyed some houses and damaged public infrastructure. Market and Economic Risks On May 14, 2018, U.S.-based clothing and accessories retailer Gap apologized for the “unintentional error” of selling t-shirts reportedly with an incorrect map of China and assured “rigorous reviews” to prevent a repeat of the incident. Per reports from Italy, negotiations between the 5-

Market & Economic Risk Canadian newsprint mill Corner Brook is expanding its export market beyond the U.S. due to high fees. In January, a 10% export duty was placed on the mill. In Mexico, several media outlets have reported that scams and cyber-attacks increased at least 47% during 2017 affecting the country’s e-commerce industry. Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has announced that the National Tax Policy (NTP) committee had drafted five amendment bills and two Executive Orders that will be sent to the Federal Executive Council in the near term. Operational & Physical Risk On May 11 in the Philippines, judges voted 8-6 against Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and removed her from the post following differences with President Rodrigo Duterte over the ongoing “war on drugs.” In India, opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 has intensified in Assam state’s Brahmaputra Valley. The Assamese-majority region’s marked difference of opinion in the matter with Bengali-dom