Vinson Guard Service, Inc. Celebrates Its 45th Anniversary

This year Vinson Guard Service, Inc. celebrates its 45th Anniversary! The Company was incorporated on March 6, 1963 in Louisiana and now has branch offices throughout Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas with approximately 1600 employees.

Vinson congratulates the following loyal employees who are celebrating anniversaries with the company in 2008:

Karl Pierson, Area Manager Shreveport - 20 years
Karl came on board as a Field Supervisor/Patrol. It was not long before he was promoted to Manager of the Shreveport office and then Area Manager (Alexandria-Monroe-Shreveport).

The following are celebrating 15 years:
Mary Kay Campanella, Corporate Administration (LA Registration)
Dan Corcoran, Manager Lakeside Mall
John Schneider, Trainer
A. J. Vado, Area Manager Metro
John Centineo, Metro Security Officer
Robert M. Jones, Birmingham Security Officer
Willie McGee, Metro Security Officer
Louis Reynolds, Decatur Security Officer
Mary K. Sheffield, Lake Charles Security Officer

TSA Struggles to Reduce Persistent Turnover

Hard work and low pay make security screening a tough job, says a new USA Today report based on federal statistics. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has one of the highest turnover rates of all federal agencies - 73 percent of the TSA screeners who left their jobs in 2007 quit, compared to 33 percent at other federal agencies. Most of the attrition occurs among part-time screeners; more than half of the agency's part-time workers left their jobs in 2006-2007, for reasons such as sporadic hours, low pay, and physical hardship. A former employee says job candidates often do not understand the wear and tear of handling luggage and dealing with customer complaints for hours on end. The agency recently began offering health insurance to part-time workers, but compensation in the TSA still remains low compared to other federal agencies. While full-time TSA screeners earned an average of $34,934 as of 2007, employees in other security-related fields earned $37,040 on average. A constant influx of inexperienced new employees could lead to major security breaches, some officials say, though a TSA spokeswoman says each trainee receives 180 hours of security training.

Source: USA Today (02/25/08) ; Frank, Thomas

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Copper Theft Draws the Attention of Industry, Lawmakers

Criminals have taken notice that growing demand in global markets has led to a worldwide increase in copper prices. As the value of the metal soars, many businesses are finding themselves victims of copper theft. It can be found in many everyday products including electronics and computers, but the most commonly exploited form is found in pipes and wiring. Thieves are stealing this valuable metal from job sites, homes, storage facilities and even directly from utility and light poles. The stolen property is then sold to scrap metal yards for financial gain. It is estimated that recycled copper retrieves approximately $2.75 per pound.

According to the Security Industry Association (SIA), the growing problem of copper theft impacts a broad cross-section of industries and the general public.

Read the entire article

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FACT:  Half of all identity thieves are either relatives, friends, or neighbors of their victims.

Cybercrooks Step Up Taxing Attacks

With the U.S. tax deadline drawing closer, criminals have stepped up their use of tax-themed spam attacks. Researchers at Symantec have documented new attacks, which use the tax season as a way to lure users into downloading malware.

“We have recently observed a few new types of spam in relation to tax season. This spam [is] of a more sinister type as it directs you to download a virus,” wrote a Symantec researcher.

One of the attacks directly mimics the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The user is sent an email from what appears to be an IRS email address. The message tells the user that a new law has been passed requiring all users to download special software in order to file their taxes. The email then directs the user to what appears to be an official IRS web page. In reality, the URL redirects to another page which then installs a Trojan application. Believing the software to be genuine, the user then launches the Trojan and installs the malware.

The researcher also noted a second attack which attempts to mimic the TurboTax tax preparation software. Like the first attack, the message tells the user that a new law is requiring users to update their software. The user is directed to a fraudulent TurboTax update page which leads to the download of a Trojan. Users can spot the attack by the distinct “turbotax.cn” domain of the sender and the use of a suspicious address for the download page.

Source: http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2212208/cybercrooks-step-tax-attacks

QUOTE: "Bureaucrats write memoranda both because they appear to be busy when they are writing and because the memos, once written, immediately become proof that they were busy.” - Charles Peters