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Who’s on first? Companies vie to be “first FIPS 140-2 validatedâ€
Companies providing communication gear to the government will have to have their gear FIPS 140-2 compliant; which company is ti first to have received FIPS 140-2 validation?
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Trango shows high-performance mesh solution
Trango’s new HD Mesh system is configurable to many critical infrastructure locations. Its most important feature: maintaining strength while growing and adapting to other network systems
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Analysis: Debate over chemical plant safety bill intensifies
The debate in the Senate over the chemical plants safety bill intensifies; the major contention: whether or not plants will be required to adopt IST (inherently safe technologies)
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Protecting buildings from blast effects
There are two ways to protect buildings from blast effects: Keep the source of the blast away from the building, or contain the explosion once the explosives made it into the building; here is a review of a blast-resistance trash can
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Study calls for creation of infrastructure commission to select projects for funding
Joining forces with calls for reforming lobbying practices in Congress, a group calls for creating a nonpartisan infrastructure commission to choose which earmarked projects should be funded and which ones rejected
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Some chemical plants get it, many others do not; plant safety legislation will change that
Ronald Reagan used to say: “If you cannot make them see the light, make them feel the heat”; some chemical plants have taken plant security seriously, and Geismar, Louisiana-based Honeywell is one of them; trouble is, most of the 15,000 U.S. plants have not followed Honeywell’s example; the threat of federal legislation may concentrate their minds
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Hurricanes cost the Bahamas 8 Percent of GDP
As we get ready for the 2006 hurricane season, it would help to consider what previous such seasons cost; in the Bahamas they concluded that the 2004 season cost 8 percent of GDP; the figures for the 2005 seas are not yet in
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Preparing for the hurricane season
To make sure your communication system does not collapse during the next hurricane, you may want to a consider satellite-based system
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Check Point-Sourcefire deal called off
Representatives of defense and intelligence agencies on CFIUS, the U.S. government committee examining the acquisition of U.S. companies by foreign companies, objected to Check Point’s acquisition of security software developer Sourcefire; with the firestorm over the scuttled DP World deal and legislation pending in Congress to limit foreign companies ownership of security-sensitive U.S. companies, the deal became doomed, and late last week the two companies announced its cancellation
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TCS, SAP offer combined incident response communication solution
Two companies join their respective strengths — secure, reliable communication with multi-source information for situational awareness — to ensure that incident commanders in disaster incidents are in a position to make more informed decisions
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Analysis: Even if chemical plants are more secure, transportation of chemicals will not be
Congress and the administration are inching — the more accurate word would be “millimetering” — toward formulating safety standards for U.S. chemical facilities; trouble is, even if security is enhanced at these facilities, the transportation of deadly chemicals will remain frighteningly vulnerable to attack
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Worries continue about Indian Point disaster plans
The government disbursed more than $4 billion for bioterror defense, but states and localities chose to use much of it for other purposes; Senator Burr says this will now make it harder to get money to spend on vaccines
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The long view
U.S. contemplates responses to a cyber-Pearl Harbor attack on critical infrastructure
Cybersecurity experts often contemplate how U.S. security agencies would react to a cyber-9/11 or a digital Pearl Harbor, in which a computer attack would unplug the power grid, disable communications lines, empty bank accounts, and result in loss of life. “Ultimately, it absolutely could happen,” says one expert. “Yeah, that thought keeps me up at night, in terms of what portion of our critical infrastructure could be really brought to its knees.”
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.
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.
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.