Disasters

Lessons of Estonia: Ten steps to prepare for cyberwar
Two months ago Estonia came under a coordinated cyber attack; experts say the attack — and Estonia’s response — tell us how IT executives can prepare for the worst
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NTIA accepts applications for $1 billion interopeability fund
The FCC has approved dedicating portions of 700 MHz band for public safety, and NTIA invites applications for $1 billion in grants for public safety communication interoperability
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New managed Web security system for a London borough
Web Security-as-a-Service (SaaS) is an emerging business model, and the London borough of Barnet calls on California-based ScanSafe to deploy its system for the council
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Lawmakers unhappy with slow progress on emergency wireless project
The integrated wireless network (IWN) is one of the most expensive items among Justice’s information technology projects, but the department’s IG says it is at high risk of failure; Senators cut the program’s budget
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Study reveals growing awareness of security among mobile employees
Cisco, which sponsored the study, says: “What’s key is knowing that the issues outlined in this study can be prevented”
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FEMA urged to streamline post-disaster information sharing
In the immediate aftermath of Katrina, there were 5,000 children, more than 2,000 sex offenders, and a quite a number of fugitive felons missing; law enforcement agencies had difficult time getting information on them from FEMA because of legal and bureaucratic hurdles
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Business continuity planning software on the rise
Businesses turn to a small but maturing field of vendors which offer Web-based business continuity planning software
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RSA to acquire Tablus
RSA’s Infoscape, an intelligent information management solution, will be augmented with Tablus’s data discovery and classification, monitoring, and data loss prevention solution
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TJX Co.'s fiscal second-quarter earnings fell 57 percent
Off-price retailer had a charge of $118 million related to the theft of credit-card data from a Marshall’s store, and its second quarter earnings suffer
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Facebook posts source code on site by mistake
You would expect a site of the size and resources of Facebook not to fall victim to the most amateurish of programming errors, but it did; users who put a lot of personal data in their Facebook pages may want to reconsider
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3,000 life-saving radios go unused in Chicago
Motorola supplies city with sophisticated emergency radios, but aging radio towers can not take heavy digital equipment, so emergency communication upgrades must wait
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Business continuity not receiving necessary support
Some things you know you have to do — but you just don’t do them (excercise, eat helathy food, etc.); it is the same with business contuity management: Companies know they should do it, but many do not
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H.R. 1 contains important business-continuity stipulations
H.R. 1, the “Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007” which President Bush has signed into law has an important section on private sector preparedness
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Phoenix acquires ICM, releases upbeat management statement
Phoenix expands by acquiring ICM Computer Group — and this following the earlier acquisitions of Trend (in 2004), NDR (in 2005), and Servo (in 2006); company signs £12 million contract with an unnamed “top-ten” London bank
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FCC orders creation of public safety network in 700 MHz band
It has taken some time, but finally the FCC says a portion of the soon-to-be-auctioned-off 700 MHz spectrum will be used for public safety; law enforcement, first responders, industry (largely) welcome decision
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The long view

To bolster the world’s inadequate cyber governance framework, a “Cyber WHO” is needed
A new report on cyber governance commissioned by Zurich Insurance Group highlights challenges to digital security and identifies new opportunities for business. It calls for the establishment of guiding principles to build resilience and the establishment of supranational governance bodies such as a Cyber Stability Board and a “Cyber WHO.”
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Protecting the U.S. power grid
The U.S. power grid is made up of complex and expensive system components, which are owned by utilities ranging from small municipalities to large national corporations spanning multiple states. A National Academy of Sciences report estimates that a worst-case geomagnetic storm could have an economic impact of $1 trillion to $2 trillion in the first year, which is twenty times the damage caused by a Katrina-class hurricane.
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More than 143 million Americans at risk from earthquakes
More than 143 million Americans living in the forty-eight contiguous states are exposed to potentially damaging ground shaking from earthquakes, with as many as twenty-eight million people in the highest hazard zones likely to experience strong shaking during their lifetime, according to new research. The research puts the average long-term value of building losses from earthquakes at $4.5 billion per year, with roughly 80 percent of losses attributed to California, Oregon, and Washington. By comparison, FEMA estimated in 1994 that seventy-five million Americans in thirty-nine states were at risk from earthquakes. In the highest hazard zones, the researchers identified more than 6,000 fire stations, more than 800 hospitals, and nearly 20,000 public and private schools that may be exposed to strong ground motion from earthquakes.
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A large Ventura Fault quake could trigger a tsunami
Earthquake experts had not foreseen the 2011 magnitude-9 Japan earthquake occurring where it did, so soon after the disaster, scientists in Southern California began asking themselves, “What are the big things we’re missing?” For decades, seismic experts believed the Ventura fault posed only a minor to moderate threat, but new research suggests that a magnitude-8 earthquake could occur on the fault roughly every 400 to 2,400 years. The newly discovered risk may even be more damaging than a large earthquake occurring on the San Andreas Fault, which has long been considered the state’s most dangerous. Unlike the Ventura fault, the San Andreas Fault is so far inland in Southern California, that it does not pose a tsunami risk. A large earthquake on the Ventura fault, however, could create a tsunami that would begin “in the Santa Barbara Channel area, and would affect the coastline … of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, down through the Santa Monica area and further south.”
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Coastal communities can lower flood insurance rates by addressing sea-level rise
City leaders and property developers in Tampa Bay are urging coastal communities to prepare today for sea-level rise and future floods in order to keep flood insurance rates low in the future. FEMA, which administers the National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP), is increasing flood insurance premiums across the country, partly to offset losses from recent disasters such as hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Cities can reduce insurance premiums for nearly all residents who carry flood coverage by improving storm-water drainage, updating building codes to reflect projected rise in sea-levels, moving homes out of potentially hazardous areas, and effectively informing residents about storm danger and evacuation routes.
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California drought highlights the state’s economic divide
As much of Southern California enters into the spring and warmer temperatures, the effects of California’s historic drought begin to manifest themselves in the daily lives of residents, highlighting the economic inequality in the ways people cope. Following Governor Jerry Brown’s (D) unprecedented water rationing regulations,wealthier Californians weigh on which day of the week no longer to water their grass, while those less fortunate are now choosing which days they skip a bath.
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Lessons of Estonia: Ten steps to prepare for cyberwar

NTIA accepts applications for $1 billion interopeability fund

New managed Web security system for a London borough

Lawmakers unhappy with slow progress on emergency wireless project

Study reveals growing awareness of security among mobile employees

FEMA urged to streamline post-disaster information sharing

Business continuity planning software on the rise

RSA to acquire Tablus

TJX Co.'s fiscal second-quarter earnings fell 57 percent

Facebook posts source code on site by mistake

3,000 life-saving radios go unused in Chicago

Business continuity not receiving necessary support

H.R. 1 contains important business-continuity stipulations

Phoenix acquires ICM, releases upbeat management statement

FCC orders creation of public safety network in 700 MHz band

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Who's online

The long view

To bolster the world’s inadequate cyber governance framework, a “Cyber WHO” is needed

Protecting the U.S. power grid

More than 143 million Americans at risk from earthquakes

A large Ventura Fault quake could trigger a tsunami

Coastal communities can lower flood insurance rates by addressing sea-level rise

California drought highlights the state’s economic divide