Flash Mobs increasingly Being Used to Commit Acts of Violence and Crime

I have discussed with several people the potential for the use of the “Flash Mob” for nefarious purposes in the past. I believe that we will also see a continuing progression of their use for violent and other criminal activities that will have an impact on business and society itself if some of our other forecasts prove to be correct.  

As we have seen over the course of the last year Flash Mobs have turned violent or have been used to carry out violence and other crimes. They have been an issue in various cities particularly in Philadelphia, Chicago and St. Paul as well as several others.

Flash mobs have also been targeting retailers to commit brazen acts of intimidation and theft. Everything from convince stores, to Macy’s, CVS and most recently Sears have been targets of these type of Flash Mobs.

If you are a retailer especially with a presence in a mall the Flash Mob should be something that concerns you. Be sure to discuss this with your employees and consider adding this to your list of risk exposures and work with your security personnel so they are also aware of the issue.

We are also concerned about the potential for other groups to use Flash Mobs for more violent acts, including terrorist attacks.

Below are some video’s showing some of these Flash Mobs in action.



Latest Solar Flare Causes Outage Hype, But Poses Little Threat

The latest solar storm that started on Valentine’s Day this past Monday produced the largest flare since December 5, 2006. According to NASA it is not large enough to cause widespread outages, but will produce pretty light shows.

The type of flare produced was a type X2 Flare, with types M and X being the strongest class of flares, and are numbered from 1 through 9 with 9 being the strongest.

While outages from flares and solar storms are possible, this series does not seem powerful enough to cause any. Though it is possible that additional and stronger flares could occur, especially since we are nearing the beginning phase of this solar cycle and more flares will be coming.

I’ve recently noticed a large spike in the number of views I have been getting on past posts that discuss the potential for solar storms and solar flares to be devastating, so I thought it might be appropriate to create this post letting people know that in this latest series there is little to worry about.

If you are interested in the effects that these storms could have or have had in the past the following related past posts may be if interest to you:

Sun Spots, Solar Flares, and Geomagnetic Induced Currents Can Disrupt Your Business

Coronal Mass Ejection May Cause Disruptions, Being Called Solar Tsunami by Some

What Exactly Is Space Weather and Why You Should Care?

Should You Invest In Gold, Silver or Other Precious Metals? A Preppers Perspective

Unless you have been living under a rock (which may not be a bad idea) you know that we are in the middle of a financial crisis, that looks like it will continue for some time, and may even worsen. Many people have been turning to Gold, Silver and other precious metals, as well as some other commodities as an investment to hedge against inflation

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Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD’s) Found in United States, Specifically in San Diego – Must See Interview

Recently, 10News - KGTV of San Diego conducted an interview with Al Hallor the Assistant Port Director with U.S. Customs and Border Protection with the Port of San Diego. The interview, which you can see below is quite interesting, and suggests that WMD's of either chemical or Biological in nature have been discovered somewhere in San Diego in the last year. During the interview they are called Weapons of Mass Effect.

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Autofill Bug In Safari Exposes Personal Information

Apple has left an autofill bug in Safari unpatched that could potentially expose personal information you would never intend for anyone else to see.

Apples Autofill feature allows you to quickly fill out forms that you have previously entered, including credit card information and social security numbers.

A security expert has figured out a way of getting that information by tricking you to hit two keys: the "U" key and the "tab" keys. In theory you could place a hidden form behind a game on a web page that utilizes these keys and tricks you into filling out the form, and stealing your information.

Jeremiah Grossman discovered the bug and you can see a video of the flaw being demonstrated on his site under his entry: The Safari AutoFill Hack Lives!