April 2020 SM Online

TRAVEL RISK
Only 22 percent of organizations include bleisure travel in their travel policies, according to International SOS’s 2020 Travel Risk Outlook.

RETALIATION
In January, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin that expressed concern about possible retaliatory actions by Iran.

GEOPOLITICAL THREATS
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a CISA Insights bulletin, “Increased Geopolitical Tensions and Threats,” which explains possible threats from Iran and offers advice to prepare for them.

BLEISURE TRENDS
A Global Business Travel Association survey found that 37 percent of North American business travelers extended at least one work trip for leisure in 2018.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Human trafficking affects approximately 24.9 million people globally, according to a 2019 U.S. Department of Transportation report.

VULNERABILITIES
The National Security Agency (NSA) alerted Microsoft to a vulnerability that may “shake our belief in the strength of cryptographic authentication mechanisms,” according to a statement by NSA executive Neal Ziring.

PATCHING
On the first Patch Tuesday of 2020, Microsoft released a major patch to address a widespread vulnerability impacting Windows 10 systems.

DISCRIMINATION
The BBC was unable to prove that a pay gap between peers was not based on sex discrimination.

TERRORISM
Terror offenders in the United Kingdom will face more time in jail and be monitored more closely as part of new laws being introduced in parliament.

EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
Virginia ratified the Equal Rights Amendment, which means 38 states in the union have supported it. The U.S. Department of Justice weighed in on what that means.

RANSOMWARE
New York state senators drafted two bills that propose a ban on paying ransomware attackers with taxpayers’ money.

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
The U.S. Department of Transportation fined Delta Airlines $50,000 for 2016 incidents of discrimination against Muslims.

TRANSPORTATION SAFETY
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced a delay of the Entry-level Driver Training regulation until February 2022.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT
California state agencies must report every sexual harassment and discrimination claim into a centralized system.

ESPIONAGE
A Harvard University professor and two Chinese nationals were charged by the U.S. Department of Justice in three separate China-related cases, accused of aiding China to varying degrees.

DISCRIMINATION
A restaurant chain will pay more than $2 million to settle a class age discrimination law suit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

FRAUD
After 10 years as a fugitive, former air cargo company executive was extradited from Italy and pled guilty to participating in a price-fixing conspiracy.