Ambio Named NJOHSP Preparedness Division Director; Scammers Count on Consumers’ Interest in Pre-Black Friday Deals; Israel’s Amended Law Targets HAMAS, ISIS's Online Influence

New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness Director Laurie Doran has tapped Charles Ambio as the agency’s new Preparedness Division Director. In this role, he will oversee and manage the operational functions of the division’s Training and Exercise, Risk Management and Infrastructure Security Bureaus. Ambio previously served as NJOHSP’s Risk Management Bureau Chief, where he led the development and management of public- and private-sector programs focused on building a resilient New Jersey. He supervised staff and coordinated the Domestic Security Preparedness Task Force, Domestic Security Preparedness Planning Group and the Infrastructure Advisory Committee consistent with gubernatorial and legislative mandates. Ambio was responsible for overseeing the development of New Jersey’s Homeland Security Strategy, the State’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Defense Strategy and NJOHSP’s Continuity of Operations Plan. Prior to joining NJOHSP in 2017, he was a detective in the Counterterrorism Division with the New York City Police Department where he was assigned to the NYPD Shield program, which serves an information and resource sharing platform that addresses emerging and evolving conditions within New York City on all matters of counterterrorism. Ambio holds a Bachelor of Science from the City University of New York.

With the holiday season approaching, many popular retailers are offering early access and pre-Black Friday deals. More customers are planning to spread out their holiday shopping to manage costs associated with gift-giving and cybercriminals are taking advantage. Between Oct. 1 and Nov. 1, Trend Micro identified nearly 35,000 Black Friday-themed scam URLs. The Better Business Bureau also received complaints regarding false holiday shopping advertisements and decoration purchases. In one instance, scammers impersonated Balsam Hill, using the company’s name and branding to create copycat versions of the real Balsam Hill website. They also promoted fake websites via social media advertisements. The New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell advises shoppers to navigate to official websites and applications to make purchases, check reputation ratings prior to purchasing from an unknown retailer and verify that a payment page is secure. Additional information and recommendations regarding holiday scams are available in the NJCCIC informational report, “Stay Cyber Safe This Holiday Season.”

Israel’s parliament reportedly passed an amendment to the country’s counterterrorism law Nov. 8, making the “consumption” of HAMAS and ISIS terrorist materials a new criminal offense. The temporary two-year measure amends Israel’s counterterrorism law that bans the “systematic and continuous consumption of publications of a terrorist organization under circumstances that indicate identification with the terrorist organization.” The bill grants the country’s justice minister the authority to add more organizations to the list if the Ministry of Defense and the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee agree. Its purpose is to combat lone actor terrorism or the radicalization of individuals through media use or exposure. Human rights groups in Israel called the legislation thought policing. A statement by Adalah, the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said “This legislation encroaches upon the sacred realm of an individual’s personal thoughts and beliefs and significantly amplifies state surveillance of social media use.” Knesset’s legal advisor, however, said a provision in the bill, specifying that an individual must also identify with the group publishing the content, is sufficient to avoid “excessive criminalization.” Violators face a maximum one-year prison term.