Government

Unsettling lack of security at Level 4 Biosafety Labs
Biosafety labs (BSLs) handle the world’s most dangerous agents and diseases; only BSL-4 labs can work with agents for which no cure or treatment exists; there are five BSL-4 labs in the United States, and GAO conducted a study of these labs’ perimeter security; you are not going to like what the GAO found
- Read more
FBI worried about increased cyber crime
Head of the FBI cyber division says the number of victims of cyber crime, and the cost of that crime, are increasing; moreover, as many as two dozen countries have taken an “aggressive interest” in penetrating the networks of U.S. companies and government agencies
- Read more

Chertoff urges industry to invest in cybersecurity
About 85 percent of the U.S. critical infrastructure is owned and operated by private industry; DHS secretary Chertoff says this fact makes cybersecurity a shared responsibility between government and the corporations that control most computer networks
- Read more
Chertoff says there will be no Big Brother approach to Internet security
Earlier this year Director of U.S. National Intelligence Mike McConnell said the government would require broad powers to monitor all Internet traffic in order to secure the U.S. critical information infrastructure; Chertoff outlines a more modest approach
- Read more

Body-armor manufacturer settles with U.S. Justice Department
The U.S. Justice Department charged that a body armor manufacturer knowingly used Zylon fiber in body army it sold to the federal government and local law enforcement; Zylon fiber degrades quickly and is not suitable for ballistic use
- Read more
New DHS network still has problems
HSIN was launched in 2004 to provide a secure, Internet-based system to share terrorism information with federal, state, and local agencies and the private sector, but ran into problems; last year DHS decided to replace it with a new system, but that one, too, has problems
- Read more

ISF annual congress in Barcelona, 16-18 November
More than 500 IT security leaders will meet in Barcelona in November for the ISF 19th annual congress
- Read more
EU moves on data breach notification law
Security professionals debate the recommendations of independent research to introduce tough European data breach and security regulations
- Read more

U.K. security services push for expanded surveillance power
U.K. security services are pushing for a massive expansion of electronic surveillance in the United Kingdom, in the face of opposition from the Treasury and the Cabinet Office
- Read more
New surveillance program will use military satellites to cover U.S.
President Bush signed bill which allows the National Applications Office (NAO) to begin operating a stringently limited version of a program which would turn military spy satellites on the United States, sharing imagery with other federal, state, and local government agencies
- Read more

U.S. government to take counterterrorism local
The federal government says local police efforts to record and share activities that could be related to terrorism are critical to the government’s counterterrorism effort; the creation and coordination of a uniform system of reporting among thousands of jurisdictions is a problem, though
- Read more
Security experts call for improved public communications
Experts say the next president needs to ensure that public warnings are based on solid information and that the federal government sends out messages out of an urgent need, not because it wants to distract the public
- Read more

SA police to buy mini-UAVs
South Africa is host to the 2010 Soccer World Cup; in preparation, the SA police is buying mini-UAVs and integrating them into the force; the UAV — Kiwit — is carried in a suitcase, weighs 3.5 kg, and can be assembled by a single person in five minutes
- Read more
Letter carriers may deliver antibiotics during bioterror attack
The task of delivering medications to citizens during a bioterror attack may fall to volunteer mailmen (and mailwomen); trial in St. Paul
- Read more
DHS, NSF announce $3.1 million awards for radiological detection
DHS and NSF give awards to academic institutions to advance research in radiological and nuclear detection
- Read more

The long view

To prevent Iranian nukes, a negotiated deal better than a military strike: David Albright
David Albright is the founder and president of the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), and author of several books on fissile materials and nuclear weapons proliferation. In a testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, and an interview with Deutsche Welle on Thursday, Albrights says that there is every reason to be suspicious of Iran because it has cheated on its obligations in the past and has been uncooperative on an ongoing basis. Iran has also built many sites in secret, so any agreement with Iran should have extra insurance — a more powerful inspection and verification tool to try to ferret out any secret nuclear activities or facilities that Iran would build. Still, a negotiated deal, if it includes sufficiently robust inspection and verification measures, would be a more effective way than a military strike to make sure Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.
- Read more
How to verify a comprehensive Iran nuclear deal
With the negotiation between the P5+1(the United States, European Union, Britain, France, Russia, and China) and Iran resuming yesterday (Wednesday) about a set of parameters for an eventual Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the shape of a final deal about Iran’s nuclear program has emerged. Many important provisions of a final deal, however, remain to be negotiated in the coming months. David Albright, the president of the Institute for Science and International Security, says that a critical set of these provisions involves the adequacy of verification arrangements which would be in place to monitor Iran’s compliance with a deal. Tehran’s long history of violations, subterfuge, and non-cooperation requires extraordinary arrangements to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is indeed peaceful.
- Read more
Fusion centers, created to fight domestic terrorism, suffering from mission creep: Critics
Years before the 9/11 attacks, law enforcement agencies throughout the country, alarmed by the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, began to monitor and investigate signs of domestic terrorism. That increased monitoring, and the need for coordination among various law enforcement agencies, gave rise to the fusion centers. A new report, which is supported by current and former law enforcement and government officials, concludes that post-9/11, fusion centers and the FBI teams which work with them shifted their focus from domestic terrorism to global terrorism and other crimes, including drug trafficking.Experts say that at a time when the number of domestic terrorism threats, many of which are linked to right-wing extremist groups, is surging, law enforcement must refocus their attention on the threats from within.
- Read more
Lack of evidence-based terrorism research hobbles counterterrorism strategies
The Global Terrorism Database at the University of Maryland estimates that groups connected with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State committed almost 200 attacks per year between 2007 and 2010. That number has increased to about 600 attacks in 2013. As terrorism becomes more prevalent, the study of terrorism has also increased, which, in theory, should lead to more effective antiterrorism policies, and thus to less terrorism. The opposite is happening, however, and this could be partly due to the sort of studies which are being conducted. The problem: few of these studies are rooted in empirical analysis, and there is an “almost complete absence of evaluation research” concerning anti-terrorism strategies, in the words of a review of such studies.
- Read more
CBP IA Operation Hometown reduces violence and corruption: Tomsheck shuts it down -- Pt. 5
Operation Hometown appears to be yet another example in a series of programs at Customs and Border Protection (CBP) demonstrating blatant dysfunctionality and mismanagement within the Department of Homeland Security. Meticulously designed to target border violence and corruption among CBP employees, Operation Hometown was labeled a success in reaching its stated objectives. CBP Internal Affair’s (IA) James F. Tomsheck,however, shut the program down. As Congress and President Obama debate various aspects of a new federal immigration policy,few politicians are willing to acknowledge the serious problems at CBP Internal Affairs – but they should, as these problems may directly impact the success of any or all new immigration reforms.
- Read more
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.
- Read more

Unsettling lack of security at Level 4 Biosafety Labs

FBI worried about increased cyber crime

Chertoff urges industry to invest in cybersecurity

Chertoff says there will be no Big Brother approach to Internet security

Body-armor manufacturer settles with U.S. Justice Department

New DHS network still has problems

ISF annual congress in Barcelona, 16-18 November

EU moves on data breach notification law

U.K. security services push for expanded surveillance power

New surveillance program will use military satellites to cover U.S.

U.S. government to take counterterrorism local

Security experts call for improved public communications

SA police to buy mini-UAVs

Letter carriers may deliver antibiotics during bioterror attack

DHS, NSF announce $3.1 million awards for radiological detection

More headlines

Who's online

The long view

To prevent Iranian nukes, a negotiated deal better than a military strike: David Albright

How to verify a comprehensive Iran nuclear deal

Fusion centers, created to fight domestic terrorism, suffering from mission creep: Critics

Lack of evidence-based terrorism research hobbles counterterrorism strategies

CBP IA Operation Hometown reduces violence and corruption: Tomsheck shuts it down -- Pt. 5

California drought highlights the state’s economic divide