Reposted from ArtNet News

An man was arrested after he was caught on the roof of a gallery in the Arizona city of Scottsdale, foiling his attempt to steal around $250,000 worth of art on January 7. Harpreet Singh, 32, was charged with two counts of criminal trespass and burglary and one count of theft for his attempted heist at American Fine Art, Inc., Maricopa County Jail records show. Artnet News reached out to the gallery and the Scottsdale Police Department but did not hear back by press time. Officers responded to a 911 call of a burglary in progress from the gallery’s alarm company around 5:45 a.m. on Sunday, Arizona Family reported. An employee had also noticed several pieces of artwork missing from the walls and heard someone talking in the office above the gallery. When police arrived, they found a BMW sedan with California license plates back into an alley near an emergency access ladder leading to the roof and surrounded the building. Singh was arrested before he could make his escape. Zach Friedman, a local business owner, called the attempted heist “pretty unbelievable” with “people running across roofs like it’s Mission Impossible” in his remarks to Arizona Family. According to KTAR, police recovered a small drill, a glass breaking tool and a flashlight. Singh was reportedly arrested without incident and the artworks he allegedly attempted to steal were found scattered on the roof and that of adjacent buildings. 

The pieces stolen reportedly included works by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. The $250,000 estimate reported by local news was based on initial reports and Arizona Family later added that the value may be much higher, in the millions of dollars. Police also recovered a Nevada driver's license and passports in Singh’s car. He has previously been convicted of felony charges in California, KTAR reported, and was on pre-trial release for an alleged burglary there at the time of the heist. Investigators are reportedly looking for signs of a larger art theft operation, Arizona Family reported. “Perhaps there was a buyer already in line for the pieces of art that were stolen,” Jim Egelston, a former FBI agent, told Arizona Family. “It would be very difficult to pawn items of priceless art that are very unique. It would be hard to sell those online.”

Webinar: Disaster Mitigation, Preparedness, Response and Recovery Resources for Artists and Art and Cultural Institutions

January 23, 2024

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will co-host a webinar on Tuesday, Jan. 23, to promote collaboration between emergency management professionals, artists, art and cultural institutions in disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. 

The webinar will feature presentations from the National Coalition for Arts Preparedness and Emergency Response, the Craft Emergency Relief Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts and FEMA. Attendees will learn about government and non-government resources available to help prepare for and respond to disasters.   

For further questions, please contact Partnerships@fema.dhs.gov. 

Reposted from US Dept of State

The U.S. Department of State’s Cultural Heritage Center leads the United States cultural heritage diplomacy efforts through grants and exchanges that protect and preserve culture worldwide. Disrupting trafficking is an important part of these efforts. Last autumn we brought together in London global leaders in technology, law enforcement, and cultural heritage digital collections for the first-ever International Workshop on Technology Solutions to Disrupt Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property. The goal was to further explore key strategies and tactics using emerging technologies to combat trafficking in art, antiquities, and other cultural objects. In particular, the international cohort of experts explored the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to aid law enforcement, inform museum acquisition policies, and support academic research. Cultural property takes many forms, and a variety of laws control its movement. Customs officers and investigators rely on tools to quickly and accurately identify cultural objects – especially ones uncovered through illegal excavations or not yet inventoried. Cultural property trafficking is a serious transnational crime requiring collaboration with global partners. It is linked to terrorist financing, transnational organized groups, money laundering, smuggling, and counterfeiting.

Cultural property trafficking deprives communities of their history and identity, erodes the legal art market, and harms our public institutions. We organized the workshop on behalf of the Cultural Heritage Coordinating Committee, a federal inter-agency group that works together to protect and preserve international cultural property at risk from political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters. The workshop’s 60 participants included law enforcement and cultural representatives from INTERPOL, Europol, and the governments of Brazil, France, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom.  We also hosted technology firms Google Arts & Culture, Art Recognition, Artrendex LLC, Fraunhofer Institute SIT, and Truepic. We were also honored to include personnel from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, and scholars from the American Center of Research, the UK’s Archaeology Data Service, Open Context, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Cultural Heritage Center. The U.S. government was represented by the Department of State, Homeland Security Investigations, Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Smithsonian Institution, and the U.S. Army.

See Original Post

Reposted from BBC

Two British brothers have admitted raiding a museum in Switzerland and making off with iconic Chinese Ming dynasty era artefacts worth millions in order to "clear a debt", a court heard. Prosecutors said the Museum of Far Eastern Art in Geneva was burgled in June 2019 by a gang of three who used tools to break through the front door. They fought extradition from the UK, but it was approved by the Home Secretary in 2022. Patrick Monney, the president of the court, rejected a last-minute application for the trial to be heard in private. He added that the court was aware of the facts of the case from reports by the Swiss Prosecutors Office and Geneva Police and explained the purpose of the hearing was to "ask additional questions".

The court heard that the two brothers travelled to Hong Kong shortly after the raid to sell one of the stolen items to an auction house for £80,000. The 34-year-old to confirmed he went to "film the museum" and "took part in the burglary". He also admitted giving his passport to the auction house in Hong Kong. "I was in debt," he told the court. "I was paid to be a front man to clear a debt. In the [CCTV] video I am the third person [going into the museum] with no crowbar and no sledgehammer." Throughout the hearing, the brothers insisted they didn't want to name the third person involved. Stewart Ahearne, 45, told the court he has five children and worked as a tradesman in England. He also admitted to using his name to hire the Renault Captur car, used in the heist, from Avis at Geneva Airport. He told the court he "took full responsibility" for his actions but denied being involved in any pre-planning of the heist in Geneva. "I went into the museum. I stole some stuff. Any organization, anything to do with the artwork I didn't know nothing," he said. He added that he was "used as a pawn like in a game of chess" during the heist: "I was asked to come to Switzerland to do some driving. The story, the scenario changed with the third person. He is not someone you can say no to. He is not a very nice person. My role was I was used. "I got a phone call telling me my brother was in debt and that I was needed to bring back some stuff. Alarm bells started ringing. My instinct as an older brother was to protect my brother."

The court heard the three came to Geneva in February 2019. Louis Ahearne said this was for "tourist" purposes, but Stewart Ahearne said he "put two and two together" after the burglary. "It was so the third person could do some scouting," he added. He broke down when answering questions about his life in Champ-Dollon prison, saying he spends his time in a cell by himself for 23 hours a day.  Two 14th Century vases and a bowl were taken in the heist. Stewart and Louis Ahearne admitted their involvement at a court in Geneva. The pair, from south-east London, appeared before a panel of three judges at the Palais de Justice in Geneva on Monday facing charges of theft, trespass and damage to property.

See Original Post

Reposted from CISA

Outdoor Events Threat and Initiatives Briefing – Virtual – January 30, 2024, 1PM EST 

The Commercial Facilities Sector Management team will be hosting a threat and initiatives briefing, focused on threats facing the Outdoor Events subsector. The meeting will feature invigorating and informative private and public sector presentations from the Office for Bombing Prevention (OBP), the DC Fusion Center, and the Walt Disney Company.

See Original Post

Reposted from CISA

CISA Cyber Essentials guides leaders of small businesses, as well as leaders of small and local government agencies, as they work to develop an actionable understanding of where to start implementing organizational cybersecurity practices.

Consistent with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and other standards, the Cyber Essentials are the starting point to cyber readiness.

See Original Post

Reposted from CISA

The National Cyber Awareness System provides situational awareness to technical and non-technical audiences by providing timely information about cybersecurity threats and issues and general security topics. Products include technical alerts, control systems advisories and reports, weekly vulnerability bulletins, and tips on cyber hygiene best practices. Subscribers can select to be notified when products of their choosing are published. Five products in the National Cyber Awareness System offer a variety of information for users with varied technical expertise. Those with more technical interest can read the Alerts, Analysis Reports, Current Activity, or Bulletins. Users looking for more general-interest pieces can read the Tips. A subscription to any or all of the National Cyber Awareness System products ensures that you have access to timely information about security topics and threats.

See Original Post

Reposted from CISA/DHS

On January 5, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced the release of a new resource titled, Personal Security Considerations Action Guide: Critical Infrastructure Workers. Designed for critical infrastructure workers, this new resource provides actionable recommendations and resources intended to prevent and mitigate threats to critical infrastructure workers’ personal safety, both on and off the job.

See Original Post

Reposted from EMR-ISAC

Human trafficking affects millions across the globe. Each January, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) Center for Countering Human Trafficking’s (CCHT) Blue Campaign recognizes National Human Trafficking Prevention Month (HTPM) to raise awareness of and combat this heinous crime.

January 11 marks National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, also known as #WearBlueDay. On this day, Blue Campaign invites individuals and offices to:

• Wear blue, the international color of human trafficking awareness, to state your commitment to help save lives. Need inspiration? See how other organizations have participated.
• Post a photo or video of yourself, or with your colleagues, on your personal or organization’s social media channels using the hashtag #WearBlueDay. You can also download ready-to-use #WearBlueDay graphics and captions to post on your social channels to spread the word. Don’t forget to tag @DHSBlueCampaign.
• Encourage your colleagues, friends, and family to do the same.

First responders are in a unique position to recognize the indicators of human trafficking, due to the many ways they interface with the public. In addition to promoting public awareness and engagement, the Blue Campaign also provides resources and training to help first responders, disaster responders, law enforcement and other industry partners to recognize the indicators of human trafficking and appropriately respond to possible cases. 

See Original Post

See Original Post