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Hackers Deploy New Tactics During COVID-19 Crisis
By Neil A. Carousso
NEW JERSEY (WCBS 880) — Scammers are out in full force in the middle of the coronavirus crisis.
“The most stimulating part of the stimulus is the fact that the hackers are out there in droves,” Adam Levin, former director of consumer affairs in New Jersey, told WCBS 880’s Neil A. Carousso.
Levin, co-founder of the cybersecurity firm CyberScout, said scammers are deploying new tactics to take advantage of people relying on the stimulus checks that could be direct deposited as soon as Thursday.
“While we have day jobs, we are their day job, that’s never changed. The intensity, however, has increased dramatically as a result of this virus and the disaster is the unemployment, and frankly, the terror that people are going through on two levels: health and economics,” he said.
Another 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Nearly 17 million Americans have filed jobless claims since the coronavirus pandemic forced the shutdown of businesses nationwide.
Levin warns people to never click on links that appear to come from government agencies. Scammers are looking to take advantage by pretending to be the U.S. Government and preying on one’s financial stress by offering a way to receive the stimulus check faster and get more money.
“Ransomware, which is where they freeze your files, lock everything down and demand to be paid or else your files will be deleted or forever encrypted,” Levin said of one tactic. Another one is by turning one’s computer or smartphone into a “keystroke logger.” “Your log on credentials are being transmitted to the hacker,” Levin said.
He said scammers, looking to install malware, are promoting phony links for COVID-19 tracking. If one were to download it, a hacker would be able to access files and bank accounts.
“(Federal agencies) don’t send links, they don’t send attachments that you can open, they don’t call you on the phone and they don’t text,” Levin emphasized.
He encouraged people who are concerned or have questions to go on government agencies’ official .gov websites and initiate contact with their inquiry.
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Difference Makers: Air Force Veteran Shares Why he Employs Fellow Vets and People with Disabilities
By Neil A. Carousso
NEW JERSEY (WCBS 880) — An Air Force Veteran Employs fellow vets and those who are disabled in an effort to make a difference in his New Jersey Community.
https://omny.fm/shows/wcbs-880-difference-makers/air-force-vet-employs-vets-and-disabled-workers-in
Captain Jack Licata served as a nuclear missile officer from 1984-88. One of his less glamorous jobs was taking out the trash, and he hated that duty.
He hated it so much that years after he left the Air Force, Captain Licata finally decided to do something about it and created BagUps, which is a patented biodegradable trash bag dispensing system. It’s like a tissue box for trash bags, so you do not have to stick your hand in the trash can.
His e-commerce business is taking off as Americans create more waste at home during the coronavirus pandemic.
When his then-fiancee suffered severe head trauma in a car accident in 1990, he saw first-hand how life can be disrupted and decided to hire people who suffer with disabilities, including fellow veterans returning home.“They love it,” Captain Licata told WCBS 880’s Neil A. Carousso, proudly. “This way they’re not identified by their disability, they are now identified by what they’re doing and what they can do, and the difference they make.”
Hear more from our “Difference Maker” today on the WCBS 880 Difference Makers podcast above and on the RADIO.COM app.
Difference Makers on WCBS 880 is supported by New York Community Bank and the NYCB Family of Banks, serving the needs of our communities, in good times and bad, since 1859.
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Small Business Survival: Brooklyn Navy Yard Business Ramps Up War-Like Effort to Make Face Shields for Hospital Workers
By Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Businesses in the Brooklyn Navy Yard are invigorated with the same spirit and patriotism that defined the East River industrial complex during World War II when factories produced ships used to fight Nazi Germany.
Michael Bednark reinvented his design and fabrication company named Bednark Studio to make face shields as protective gear for medical professionals in New York who are treating COVID-19 patients. He told Joe Connolly on this week’s WCBS Small Business Spotlight Podcast focusing on small business survival, sponsored by BNB Bank, that he is surrounded by small businesses who are stepping up in the battle against the deadly virus.
“I’m looking right across the street right now to a very large manufacturer called Cyre Precision. They are manufacturing hospital gowns and other safety equipment for our frontline workers,” Bednark said, adding, “The building to my right, they’re working on a ventilator prototype.”
At the impetus of the coronavirus outbreak in New York City, which is now the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, he was forced to layoff workers. When he started hearing reports about the lack of Personal Protective Equipment or PPE for hospital workers, he worked with his design team through a weekend in mid-March to develop a face shield prototype to protect nurses and doctors against the contagious novel virus.
Bednark was in touch with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene through the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He sent pictures to the Department late Saturday evening and scheduled a meeting at its Long Island City headquarters for first thing the next morning.
“We drove over there Sunday morning, we met with them at 9:45, and at 10 AM, they said ‘let’s go with it.’”
Bednark hired 160 workers and moved into a 5,000 square foot event space in the Duggal Greenhouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yard to maximize social distancing as advised by health experts to slow the spread of coronavirus. Bednark Studio takes employees’ temperatures when they report to work and it sanitizes the workspace every night.
He orders lunch to be delivered for his workers from local restaurants hit hard by the shutdown of non-essential businesses.
“Like most New Yorkers, we have a real sense of urgency,” Bednark said.
It’s a war-like effort to fight #coronavirus. Michael Bednark tells @JoeConnollybiz how he shifted gears and ramped up production of face shields at the @BklynNavyYard for frontline hospital workers. @wcbs880 #SmallBusinessSpotlight #DifferenceMakers https://t.co/F8Hd9HBsZj pic.twitter.com/8mj0QZ8SYP
— Neil A. Carousso (@NeilACarousso) April 8, 2020
He told Connolly his team is averaging 200,000 face shields a day. By comparison, hockey equipment manufacturer Bauer said its Liverpool, New York factory makes 4,000 face shields a day.
“We welcome anyone to come and start making anything they can, look at what they have around them, what they’re abilities are and figure out a product that they can make,” Bednark said.
Listen to the WCBS Small Business Podcast above to hear how small businesses are producing vital PPE equipment for hospital workers on the frontlines of the fight against coronavirus.
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Coronavirus Relief for Small Businesses on the Way
By Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Applications for small business loans for payroll and other overhead costs will be made available on Friday.
The New York City small business loan program, which offers zero-interest loans up to $75,000, was made available last week.
WCBS Business Producer Neil A. Carousso spoke with New York City Small Business Services Commissioner Gregg Bishop about forgivable loans through the Small Business Administration, how to apply to the loan programs available, and what business owners should do if the coronavirus pandemic lasts several more months.
You can listen to the interview above.
For more information on the $349 billion in loans available through the SBA, including the time frame for receiving capital from a bank, listen and read this week’s WCBS Small Business Spotlight Podcast, focusing on small business survival, with WCBS’ Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso.
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Difference Makers: Tri-State Non-Profits Mobilize To Support Those In Need Amid COVID-19 Crisis
By Neil A. Carousso
During this unprecedented time, we continue to share stories of “Difference Makers” in our community. Do you know someone who has gone above and beyond during the coronavirus crisis? Click here to let us know about your local heroes.
HARTFORD, Conn. (WCBS 880) — The coronavirus pandemic has halted life as we know it, and for the most vulnerable population, non-profit organizations in the Tri-State Area are stepping up to serve.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced the formation of a new charity on Wednesday named Connecticut COVID-19 Charity Connection or 4-CT, founded by two Fairfield County residents, Don Kendall and Ted Yang, who run Social Venture Partners – Connecticut, which is a collective of donors and other philanthropic groups.
There are 12-14 non-profits in the state that are now working together as part of 4-CT to provide resources such as housing, food delivery for the elderly, and child care for those in need.
“One of the things we’re also trying to do with 4-CT is not only provide the resources and the strategic investment, but also perhaps provide a funnel for the young people who are at home,” said Lamont, adding that it can offer a minimum wage job for students home from school because of the pandemic.
https://omny.fm/shows/wcbs-880-difference-makers/tri-state-non-profits-support-the-most-vulnerable
Lamont pointed to food banks that are overwhelmed by demand. Volunteers and minimum wage workers are needed to deliver nutritious food to people’s homes while adhering to social distancing guidelines. Most people unable to get food are most vulnerable to contracting coronavirus, especially elderly residents.
There are people who would like to volunteer, but are concerned about their own safety.
“Volunteers who used to serve food at the soup kitchen are now driving,” said David Munshine, of the Munshine Group, based in New Jersey, which specializes in marketing for non-profit organizations.
“Arm In Arm, an organization in Princeton and Trenton, they are delivering to doorsteps,” Munshine told WCBS producer Neil A. Carousso. “They’ve seen a surge in volunteers, who when they go out to get their own groceries, they can drop off a few bags of groceries for people who can’t get out.”
Building Homes for Heroes was established after 9/11 to provide mortgage-free homes to veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is now sending money to vets who are losing wages because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Those who have been traumatized in the past, those who suffer from PTSD, any sort of trauma is a trigger for many of them, unfortunately, and [the coronavirus pandemic] certainly meets that definition,” Munshine said, noting many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.
Seventy-eight percent of Americans say they’re living paycheck to paycheck, according to a 2017 report by employment website CareerBuilder.
https://omny.fm/shows/wcbs-880-difference-makers/stamford-mayor-david-martin-is-mobilizing-voluntee
Stamford Mayor David Martin launched “Stamford Together” – a citywide volunteer program to provide support for the emergency response efforts related to the COVID-19 health crisis.
“Senior outreach program: Some of them are alone and they may need help getting their prescription, or getting food from the grocery store, or getting meals delivered or whatever it is that they may have as a special need,” Mayor Martin told WCBS 880 reporter Sean Adams.
One can also distribute meals to school children and those with medical experience are needed to test patients for coronavirus.
“I really am moved by the fact that people are coming forward who want to volunteer, who want to help during this crisis,” Mayor Martin said, emphasizing every precaution will be taken to protect volunteers.
Tri-State Non-Profit Organizations in Need of Volunteers and Resources:
Monmouth Conservation Foundation
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