National News

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Congressional Report Says Govt. ‘Passivity’ Did Most Damage in Katrina (USA Today) “Government at all levels took an indifferent stance toward disaster preparations after the 2001 terror attacks, leaving the Gulf Coast vulnerable to Hurricane Katrina and contributing to the death and suffering the storm inflicted, a House [of Representatives] inquiry concludes,” according to the Associated Press. “Finding fault with [government from] the White House down to local officials, the 520-page report, titled ‘A Failure of Initiative,’ determined that authorities failed to move quickly to protect people—even when faced with warnings days before the catastrophic storm struck last Aug. 29.” [View article] [View report]

Chertoff Overhauls FEMA, Rejects Criticism (MSNBC) “Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Monday announced wide-ranging changes to the nation’s embattled Federal Emergency Management Agency and rejected criticism that his agency is preoccupied with terror threats, at the expense of preparing for natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina,” reports the Associated Press. “… Among the planned changes at FEMA:

• Tracking trucks carrying food, water, ice, blankets and other emergency supplies by satellite to ensure they arrive at disaster sites quickly and with enough equipment.
• Sending FEMA employees to emergency shelters and other temporary housing venues to register victims for aid, instead of relying on victims to register by phone or the Internet.
• Creating a database of already-approved private contracting firms from disaster regions to remove debris and provide services faster.
• Creating ‘reconnaissance teams’ to report disaster conditions to Homeland Security and FEMA operation centers within hours, and improving communication channels to ensure the information quickly gets to the president and Cabinet-level officials.
• Hiring up to 1,500 new full-time employees as year-round coordinators.”

325,000 Names on Terrorism List (Washington Post) “The National Counterterrorism Center maintains a central repository of 325,000 names of international terrorism suspects or people who allegedly aid them, a number that has more than quadrupled since the fall of 2003, according to counterterrorism officials,” reports the Washington Post. “… The government has been trying to streamline what counterterrorism officials say are more than 26 terrorism-related databases compiled by agencies throughout the intelligence and law enforcement communities.… Civil liberties advocates and privacy experts said they were troubled by the size of the NCTC database, and they said it further heightens their concerns that such government terrorism lists include the names of large numbers of innocent people.” [View article]

FBI Says It Stopped an Attack in Puerto Rico (Yahoo! News) “FBI agents in Puerto Rico on [10 February] searched five homes and a business to thwart what the agency said was a ‘domestic terrorist attack’ planned by militants favoring independence for the U.S. island territory,” reports the Associated Press. “The alleged attack would have involved explosives directed at ‘privately owned interests’ and the public in Puerto Rico, according to Luis Fraticelli, special agent in charge of the FBI on the island.” The investigation focused on the pro-independence “People’s Boricua Army, also known as the Macheteros or ‘cane cutters,’ [who were] accused of bombings and attacks in the 1970s and 1980s.” [View article]

Secret Data Breached in Antiterror Case (Los Angeles Times) “Federal officials in Dallas mistakenly disclosed classified counter-terrorism information in a breach of national security that could also threaten one of the country’s biggest terrorism prosecution cases, newly unsealed court records show,” according to the Los Angeles Times. “… The criminal case involves officials of the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a now-defunct Islamic charity with alleged ties to terrorists. Its assets were frozen by the Treasury Department three months after the Sept. 11 attacks.” [View article]

Northcom and NORAD Look to Homeland Security Roles (Denver Post) “U.S. Northern Command, or Northcom, … and the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD),” both located at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, are “broadening military activity … to confront a wider array of security threats that are as varied as computer hackers and suicide bombers,” reports the Denver Post in a three-part series addressing Northcom and NORAD’s “efforts to prepare for 21st-century threats to the nation’s security.” Part one focuses on Northcom’s expanded “mission to monitor the high seas for terrorist threats aboard ships worldwide.” Part two looks at the questionable future of NORAD’s “mission to watch the skies,” and part three deals with Northcom’s preparation for a possible pandemic and its “plans to protect the health of the nation’s military.” [View part 1] [View part 2] [View part 3]

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Federal News

Rumsfeld Sees Little Chance of Terrorist Foothold in Tunisia, Algeria, or Morocco “Thanks to the way Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco manage their internal affairs, it’s ‘an extremely low possibility’ that al Qaeda or a similar terror organization can establish a foothold in those North African nations, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said” Monday, reports American Forces Press Service. These countries “recognize the importance not only of security activity, but also of political progress, economic progress, and bringing all of the dimensions of society together in a way that creates an environment inhospitable to terrorists, he said.” [View article]

GAO Says Secure Flight Falls Short in Privacy and System Security (Government Computer News) “The Homeland Security Department’s Secure Flight program to screen airline passengers against terrorist watch lists is ‘at serious risk’ of being ineffective because its development has been rushed without properly defining what it should do, according to … the Government Accountability Office,” reports Government Computer News. “‘Without following a more rigorous and disciplined lifecycle process, including defining system requirements, the Secure Flight program is at serious risk of not meeting program goals,’ … said” Cathleen Berrick, GAO’s Director of Homeland Security and Justice Issues, testifying on 9 February before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. “Secure Flight also may fall short in protecting privacy and system security, GAO said.” [View article] [View report]

US-VISIT Needs Improved Management, Says GAO The Homeland Security Department’s implementation of 18 recommendations to improve management of the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program “is mixed, but progress in critical areas has been slow,” according to a Government Accountability Report issued Tuesday. Only two of the recommendations have been implemented. “The longer that US-VISIT takes to implement the recommendations, the greater the risk that the program will not meet its stated goals on time and within budget.” [View abstract] [View Focus on US-VISIT]

FEMA’s Control Weaknesses Exposed the Government to Fraud and Abuse During Hurricane Response, Says GAO The Government Accountability Office “used falsified identities, bogus addresses, and fabricated disaster stories to register for” assistance under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Individuals and Households Program, according to Gregory Kutz, GAO’s Managing Director of Forensic Audits and Special Investigations, testifying on Monday before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. But the GAO wasn’t the only party submitting false claims: “Thousands of registrants” used Social Security numbers “that were never issued or belonged to deceased or other individuals.” At least 80 supposedly damaged properties in Texas and Louisiana “were bogus—including vacant lots and nonexistent apartments.… FEMA also made duplicate” Expedited Assistance “payments to about 5,000” recipients, and “a small number” of the payments “were used for adult entertainment, bail bond services and weapons purchase.” [View abstract]

NRC Cites NASA Over Missing Nuclear Material The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has cited the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for violating NRC reporting requirements. The NRC Office of Investigations concluded that a NASA contract radiation safety officer deliberately failed to report missing licensed material and provided incomplete and inaccurate information in writing and orally to an NRC inspector during a December 2002 inspection. The NRC enforcement action requires NASA to take corrective actions to prevent a recurrence. [View press release]

DHS Pushes Border Technology in Response to Attacks (Government Computer News) The Homeland Security Department is determined “to deploy advanced technology along U.S. borders to stem illegal immigration, drug smuggling and violence as part of a comprehensive program that will also use additional personnel, detention beds and fences,” reports Government Computer News. “The Bush administration’s Secure Border Initiative is gathering steam amid increasing violence at the border in the form of attacks on Border Patrol agents.… DHS secretary Michael Chertoff” said on 9 February “that the department would continue with plans to field advanced technology via the SBI.net program,” and he “cited the role of two other technology upgrades in the Secure Border Initiative: a $135 million program to upgrade Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s pilot for employers to verify employment eligibility, and the $62.9 million additional funding request for 2007 for the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology [US-VISIT] program.” [View article] [View Focus on US-VISIT]

State Dept. Approves Extended Stays for Students The State Department has extended the length of time that foreign students may be issued student visas. Students applying for initial-entry F-1, F-2, M-1, and M-2 visas may now be issued those visas up to 120 days before their academic program start date (as compared to 90 days under previous regulations). J-1 and J-2 visitors may be issued visas at any time before the beginning of their programs. The changes apply only to initial-entry students. Continuing students may apply for new F or M visas at any time, as long as they have maintained their student status and if their Student and Exchange Visitor Information records are current. [View press release]

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International News

UN Alleges Torture at Guantanamo (Yahoo! News; DefenseLink) “The United States on Thursday faced mounting international calls to close its Guantanamo prison camp with U.N. investigators saying detainees there faced treatment amounting to torture,” reports Reuters. “In a 40-page report, which had been largely leaked, five United Nations special envoys said the United States was violating a host of human rights, including a ban on torture, arbitrary detention and the right to a fair trial.” The authors of the report “declined an offer to observe operations at the facility … because they wouldn’t be allowed to interview detainees,” according to American Forces Press Service. [View Yahoo! article] [View DefenseLink article]

Jordanian Court Sentences al-Zarqawi to Death (Washington Post) A Jordanian “court on Wednesday sentenced the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and eight other men to death for plotting chemical attacks against sites in Jordan, including the U.S. Embassy,” reports the Associated Press. “Al-Zarqawi and three others were sentenced to death in absentia. But the plot’s alleged mastermind, Azmi al-Jayousi, and four co-defendants were in the courtroom when the judge handed down the sentence for the 2004 plot, which security officials foiled before it could be carried out.” [View article] [View Focus on al-Zarqawi]

British Nuclear Plant ‘Loses’ Bomb-Grade Uranium (Yahoo! News) “The Dounreay nuclear plant has lost more than half a pound of highly enriched uranium (HEU), the material used to make nuclear weapons,” reports the Scotsman. “Official government figures show that during an internal audit of UK nuclear sites over the last year, technicians at the Caithness [Scotland] site could not account for some 283g of HEU. Another nuclear plant, Winfrith in Dorset, has also mislaid some HEU, the audit found.… The audit has previously shown even larger gaps in the nuclear balance-sheet. Last year, the Sellafield plant in Cumbria could not account for more than 30kg of plutonium.” [View article]

Iran Begins Small-Scale Enrichment of Uranium (New York Times) “Iran announced [on Tuesday] that it had begun small-scale enrichment of uranium, and said that it still wished to pursue talks on a Russian proposal to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear ambitions,” reports the New York Times. “… But the call for new talks is another zigzag in a series of contradictory signals Iran has sent over the Russian plan, which would involve shipping uranium from Iran to Russia for enrichment there, an approach supported by the United States, Europe and China.” [View article]

London Mosque Housed Jihad Camp (Sydney [Australia] Morning Herald) “Reda Hassaine, an Algerian who had been praying at [a London] mosque since 1996, began acting as an undercover agent for MI5, British counter-intelligence,” when in 1998 he realized that the mosque “was turning from a rather boring place of worship into an academy for violent jihad,” reports the London Guardian. “… He told them about how the dress code of Hamza’s young acolytes changed … [to] combat clothing” and that “the atmosphere was increasingly fervent. ‘All the sermons by Hamza were to do with violent jihad, and he would say you can kill anyone who is an unbeliever.’” Hassaine reported “credit card fraud, false documents and drug dealing … his enduring memory is of the cleric preying on the weakness of his recruits. ‘Most were illiterate or vulnerable. They went to the mosque to find Allah; they found jihad instead.’” [View article]

More People Die in Cartoon Protests (BBC) “At least five people have died after protests against cartoons across Pakistan turned violent this week,” reports the British Broadcasting Corporation. [View article]

Protest Is Easier Than Reform, Say Moderate Muslims (Reuters) “Muslim protests [around] the world condemning cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad are driven by fears [that] Islam is under attack, and by the fact that it is easier to protest than to battle tough social issues, moderate Muslims say,” according to Reuters. “From disputes over wearing headscarves to desecration of the Koran, many Muslims worry over what they see as onslaughts of the West, but rooting out poverty in some Muslim countries is a more vital task than condemning the cartoons, analysts say. ‘Why would you want to be violent about a cartoon?’ said [Malaysian] political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda … ‘Why don’t you be violent and protest about your own governments, Muslim governments who have not provided basic sanitary facilities and housing?’ … ‘These are far more important issues to Muslim communities around the world than some stupid cartoons.’” [View article]

World Religious Leaders Calls for End to Cartoon Furor (New Zealand Herald) “The head of the World Council of Churches [on Wednesday] called for joint efforts by Christians and Muslims to ‘put out the fire’ provoked by the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad,” reports Reuters. “The council’s General Secretary Rev. Samuel Kobia said both the violent protests in response to the cartoons and the attempts to justify them as an expression of freedom of speech were wrong.” [View article]

Britain’s Lower House Passes ID Card Bill (New York Times) “Britain’s lower chamber of Parliament voted on Monday to require all citizens who want a passport to have a national identity card as well—a compromise on a measure that originally required all Britons to carry a national ID card,” reports the Associated Press. “Hours before the vote, the government backed down on plans to require ID cards for anyone living in the United Kingdom. The compromise bill passed the House of Commons 310-279 and now goes to the upper chamber, the House of Lords. Lawmakers hope the bill will become law by 2008. In pushing for the cards, Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government said they would allow people to prove their identity, prevent identity theft and offer a secure way of identifying people for national security.” [View article]

Australian Security Industry May Be Vulnerable to Infiltration (Melbourne, Australia, Age) Australia’s “private security industry is vulnerable to infiltration by Muslim terrorists, police experts have warned. Attempts to check the background of foreign nationals applying for licences to work as security guards are ‘of extremely limited value’ because there are no probity checks made in the applicants’ countries of origin, according to Victoria Police security intelligence group report obtained by The Age.” But “a Victoria Police spokesman said an extra level of checking by” the Australian Security Intelligence Organization “applied to people seeking accreditation” for security work at next month’s Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. [View article]

Victims of Madrid Bombings Demand Answers (Houston Chronicle) “Survivors and victims’ relatives of the 2004 Madrid train bombings demanded answers Tuesday from a government they say has still not explained how the attack happened and has failed to track down all of those responsible,” reports the Associated Press. “… Organizers of the two-day conference—called the International Congress on Victims of Terrorism and sponsored by Spain’s San Pablo CEU University—say their goal is to let victims meet and to draw the attention of governments and society.” [View article]

Avian Flu Found in Wild Swans in Italy, Greece, and Bulgaria (Washington Post) “Bird flu has reached Western Europe, with Italy and Greece announcing Saturday they had detected the H5N1 strain of the virus in dead swans,” reports the Associated Press. “… The European Union said the deadly strain … also had been confirmed in swans in Bulgaria” and that Italy and Greece will “create six miles of protection and surveillance zones around each outbreak area, where birds will be isolated to avoid infecting domestic birds, tested for the virus and killed if they are infected. Hunting wild birds will be banned in the zones, and poultry will not be allowed outside them, according to the Italian Health Ministry.” [View article]

Bird Flu Spreading Into Several European Nations (Washington Post) “Migrating swans have spread a lethal strain of avian flu into several European countries in recent days, and experts predicted it was probably only a matter of time before the virus was carried across the continent by migrating birds,” reports the Washington Post. “Germany confirmed Wednesday that two dead swans found on the island of Rugen in the Baltic Sea tested positive for the H5N1 strain of bird flu.… In the past week, dead swans that tested positive for the virus have also been reported in Austria, Italy, Greece, Slovenia and Bulgaria. The virus has previously been detected in Romania, Croatia and Ukraine. And health officials in Poland, Denmark and Hungary announced Wednesday that they were checking dead swans to learn whether the infection has spread to their countries.” [View article]

European Union Pledges More Funding to Battle Bird Flu The European Commission has made a further 20 million euros available for research into avian and pandemic influenza. Potential projects are invited to apply by 22 March. The EU is looking to fill gaps in research in a relatively short time as a foundation for new and longer-term research investments in the years to come. The short-term research will cover issues developing vaccines for avian species, improved diagnosis and early warning systems, the ecology and pathogenesis of avian influenza infections, migratory birds, avian influenza virus survival, reinforcement of European Community and national reference laboratories, and technology transfer to third countries, as well as clinical research on pandemic influenza vaccines, better understanding of the influenza virus, and strengthening support to surveillance. [View memo]

El Al Installs Anti-Missile Systems on Airliners (Jerusalem Haaretz) “El Al Israel Airlines has installed anti-missiles systems on its passenger aircraft, completing an overhaul launched after a 2002 attempt to shoot down a plane,” reports Haaretz. [View article]

United Arab Emirates Crack Down on Terror (Lebanon Daily Star) The UAE “is trying to shield itself against terror by cracking down on extremists and promoting a culture of moderation, Interior Minister Sheikh Seif bin Zayed al-Nahyan said Wednesday,” reports Agence France-Presse. “‘Over the past years, we have handed over a number of people wanted on security charges to their countries’ in keeping with international agreements, Sheikh Seif said. ‘The authorities also started dealing with extremist elements among expatriates more than 20 years ago by considering them persona non grata, and consequently forcing them to leave the country,’ he said.” [View article]

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State and Local News

U.S. Mounts Vast Hunt for Church Arsonists (New York Times) “In the largest manhunt in Alabama since the bombing of a Birmingham abortion clinic in 1998, 200 law enforcement officers are working to solve the arson that has damaged or destroyed 10 rural churches this month,” reports the New York Times. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, “teamed with the F.B.I., the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, the office of the state fire marshal and local sheriffs’ departments, have fanned out across western and central Alabama, where all 10 fires were set.” [View article]

A legal photo, courtesy of Steve Dunham

NJ Transit Rescinds Photo Ban (Railpace) After attempting to ban photography of its vehicles and stations, even on public property, and receiving a large number of negative public comments, New Jersey Transit has decided that its photo ban is impractical, reports Railpace. “Like the majority of transit systems around the country, we will not require permits for non-commercial photography at this time,” wrote the agency’s executive director, George Warrington, in a letter to Railpace. “Effective immediately, we will return to our historic practice, which enables hobbyists and other non-commercial photographers to take pictures in public areas through the NJ TRANSIT system without obtaining permission or providing prior notice. There will also continue to be no restrictions on journalists in public areas of the system.” [View letter]

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Private-Sector News

Arab Company to Operate Six U.S. Shipping Terminals (Baltimore Sun) “Dubai Ports World, a state-owned international port operator,” is acquiring Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., “a British company that helps run several U.S. terminals,” reports the Sun. “… Dubai Ports World’s purchase of P&O has not drawn opposition from world regulators or U.S. Homeland Security officials, who have labeled ports as potential terrorist targets.” [View article]

AT&T Sued Over Alleged Role in NSA Surveillance (San Antonio Business Journal) “A San Francisco-based digital civil-liberties group”—the Electronic Frontier Foundation—“has filed a class-action lawsuit against” AT&T, “seeking to end the telecom giant’s alleged participation in a domestic surveillance program being carried out by the National Security Agency,” reports the San Antonio Business Journal. “… The lawsuit alleges AT&T has and is continuing to collaborate with the NSA by providing the agency with access to the company’s databases and disclosing the contents of its customers’ communications without a court-issued warrant.” [View article]

Govt. Buys Anti-Radiation Drugs From Akorn The Department of Health and Human Services on Monday awarded a $21.9 million contract to Akorn, Inc., of Buffalo Grove, IL, for the manufacture and delivery of two medical countermeasures for radiological or nuclear incidents: 390,000 doses of Ca-DTPA (pentetate calcium trisodium injection sterile solution) and 60,000 doses of Zn-DTPA (pentetate zinc trisodium injection sterile solution). HHS has the option to purchase up to 500,000 additional doses each of Ca-DTPA and Zn-DTPA. [View press release]

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Upcoming Events

March

Radiological Device and Nuclear Event Symposium (7–9 March; Richmond, VA) The symposium will be a forum for government and industry to discuss radiological and nuclear threat materials, their specific hazards, and capabilities for detection, protection, decontamination, and medical response; present results from recent Defense Dept. and Homeland Security Dept. research and development studies; and display new equipment, software, algorithms, and procedures for dealing with radiological and nuclear incidents. Contact Joseph Roehl at (540) 729-3927 or jroehl@scentczar.com. [View conference website]

Border Trade Alliance 2006 International Conference (23 March; Arlington, VA) This conference will explore the latest in infrastructure development and strategies for utilizing it. Among the topics to be covered:

• Next-generation ports of entry: The low-risk port of entry concept
• Bringing Free and Secure Trade to your border community: A Nogales case study
• New ports, new technology (technology providers and integrators discuss their innovations for the borders)
• Navigating the presidential permit process
• U.S.-Canadian and U.S.-Mexican infrastructure challenges and solutions

April

InfoSec World Conference & Expo (3-5 April; Orlando, FL) Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge will be a keynote speaker at Information Security World 2006. Additional workshops will precede and follow the main conference, and a discount for early registration is available through 31 January. [View conference website]

Southwest Homeland Security Conference (Phoenix; 18-19 April) Homeland security professionals, response agencies, and elected officials in the Southwestern states will focus on border security (interstate and international), terrorism prevention, catastrophe preparedness, public education and outreach, and Native American homeland security. [View conference website]

Government Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams Conference (30 April–5 May; Orlando, FL) The conference theme this year is “GFIRST: A nation working together to secure cyberspace.” The conference will focus on ensuring training and disseminating and exchanging information among operational incident responders, chief information security officers, and other cybersecurity professionals. [View conference website]

May

General Police Equipment Exhibition & Conference (2-4 May; Leipzig, Germany) This is a fully closed specialized trade fair with accompanying international congress, meetings (partly open) and lecture programs catering to the police and allied security markets. With its exhibition and fringe events, it promotes the interministerial and interdisciplinary transfer of information between government offices and frontline forces; advising the security community on new products and product developments together with current trends in education and training; and enhancing public security, the fight against terrorism and increased homeland security. [View conference website]

June

2006 Techno Security Conference (4-7 June; Myrtle Beach, SC) The conference will bring together private industry, government and law enforcement decision makers, and technical enthusiasts in the fields of information and network security, digital forensics, incident response, operational and physical security, auditing, and cyber-crime. Eight simultaneous tracks will feature interactive high-intensity training sessions, hands-on labs, professional certification opportunities, and networking opportunities. Topics will include homeland security; wireless security; web hacking; contingency planning; vulnerability assessments; incident response; computer, personal digital assistant, and enterprise forensics; password recovery and disk-wiping tools; intrusion prevention; Internet investigation techniques; street smarts for investigators; biometrics; and steganography. [View conference website]

6th International Conference on Complex Systems (25-30 June; Quincy, MA) This conference will investigate the properties or characteristics that appear to be common to the very different complex systems now under study and will encourage cross-fertilization among the many disciplines involved. [View conference website]

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Calls for Papers

Government Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams Conference (30 April–5 May; Orlando, FL) The conference theme this year is “GFIRST: A nation working together to secure cyberspace.” The conference will focus on ensuring training and disseminating and exchanging information among operational incident responders, chief information security officers, and other cybersecurity professionals. See the website for a list of topics. Submissions are due by 1 March. [View conference website]

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