SM Online April 2017

​RISK MANAGEMENT 

For federal agencies, enterprise risk management (ERM) provides ways to better anticipate and manage risk. In a recent report, Enterprise Risk Management: Selected Agencies’ Experiences Illustrate Good Practices in Managing Risk​, the U.S. General Accounting Office describes its enterprise risk management framework. It enumerates six essential elements for implementing ERM. The report also identifies what works and provides real-world examples of best practices from federal agencies that are using ERM.

RETAIL SHRINK

Two retail industry groups supported recent research exploring how retailers view the problem of loss across their business. The resulting report explains how a new definition and typology for shrinkage might better capture its impact.

ELECTION INFLUENCE

In an unprecedented unclassified report, the U.S. intelligence community detailed Russia’s recent efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. 

TERRORISM PERCEPTION

How does a terrorist attack in a person’s own community change their perception of terrorism? 

HATE CRIMES

Of all religious groups, Jews continue to be the most targeted in the United States, according to the findings of a new report. The study, Terrorist Incidents and Attacks Against Jews and Israelis in the United States, 1969-2016, examined the FBI’s annual hate crimes report for the years under study. 

RANSOM 

The New America Foundation examines hostage taking and outcomes in a new report, To Pay Ransom or Not to Pay Ransom.

GOVERNMENT CLEARANCES

Charles Phalen, Jr., director of the U.S. National Background Investigations Bureau, talks about the government background checks and how he hopes to improve the process in an interview​ with Associate Editor Megan Gates.

BIOMETRICS

The global biometrics technology market is projected to be worth $41.5 billion by 2020. Find out more about expected market growth by biometric type and technology highlights from a BCC Research report.  ​

SURVEILLANCE

European Union (EU) member states may not impose general obligations on electronic communications services to retain data, the EU Court of Justice recently ruled. The decision was a blow to the recently enacted U.K. Investigatory Powers Law, which allows the U.K. Home Department to require public telecommunications operators to retain all data related to communications for no more than 12 months.

PRIVACY

U.S. agencies published a final rule that requires contract employees who handle personally identifiable information or work with a system of records to complete privacy training. 

CORRUPTION

Global construction conglomerate Odebrecht S.A. and petrochemical company Braskem pleaded guilty and agreed to pay penalties of at least $3.5 billion to resolve U.S., Brazilian, and Swiss charges of bribery.