The Weekly Homeland Security Newsletter, 17 March 2006

White House Issues Strategies for Natl. Security and Defeating Terrorists Yesterday, the White House issued President Bush’s second-term National Security Strategy. “To help create a world of democratic, well-governed states that can meet the needs of their citizens and conduct themselves responsibly in the international system … is the best way to provide enduring security for the American people,” it states, while claiming a right to wage preemptive war. On Monday, in a speech at George Washington University in Washington, DC, the President described progress in training Iraqi Security Forces and explained coalition efforts to combat improvised explosive devices. On Tuesday, the Brookings Institution will host an online discussion of the National Security Strategy, featuring experts who have served under Presidents Clinton and Bush; see Upcoming Events. [View Natl. Security press release] [View Natl. Security Strategy] [View press release on defeating terrorists] [View Focus on IEDs]

ICE photo

DHS Arrests 375 Gang Members During a two-week enforcement action that culminated on 9 March, federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 375 gang members and associates in 23 states in a joint effort with law enforcement agencies nationwide. Operation Community Shield, launched a year ago to disrupt and dismantle transnational, violent street gangs, represents the first time the federal government has used immigration and customs authorities in a combined, national campaign against criminal street gangs in the United States. [View press release]

8 Federal Departments Get F’s in Computer Security (ABC News) “The House Government Reform Committee released its annual report card on federal computer security and DHS—which got an F in 2004—received another F for 2005,” reports ABC News. “The Department of Health and Human Resources, which would manage the bird flu if it reaches our shores, also got an F, as did the Departments of Energy, Agriculture, Interior and Veterans Affairs. Joining them at the bottom was the State Department, which earned a D+ in 2004 but dropped to an F last year, and the Defense Department which slid from a D to an F for 2005. The overall grade for federal agency computer security was a dismal D+. The report card measures such practices as ensuring proper password management and restricting access to sensitive information.” [View article]

Brown Ignored Disaster Plan, Says House Report (Washington Post) “Michael D. Brown, former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, deliberately ignored a new national disaster plan and circumvented his boss, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, in trying to manage the federal response to Hurricane Katrina directly with the White House, according to a new” report by the House of Representatives, according to the Washington Post. “By disregarding the National Response Plan, finished in 2004, Brown deprived ‘the nation of an opportunity to determine whether the NRP worked,’ the House investigation concludes in an addendum to its Feb. 15 report, ‘A Failure of Initiative.’” [View article] [View A Failure of Initiative]

DHS Places Intelligence Analysts at Fusion Centers (Federal Computer Week) “Homeland Security Department officials have begun to place intelligence analysts at fusion centers established by state and local governments to facilitate coordination among the federal, state and local governments,” reports Federal Computer Week. “The move is part of a larger program in which a team of DHS analysts will be placed at every intelligence fusion center, while state and local governments send their analysts to work at DHS headquarters in Washington, D.C. The program is designed to improve trust, collaboration and information sharing among agencies at all governmental levels.” [View article]

Justice Dept. Will Create National Security Division The Justice Department’s National Security Division, authorized by the renewed Patriot Act, will merge the department’s primary national security elements, fulfilling a key recommendation of the 2005 report of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. [View press release]

GAO Adds Natl. Flood Insurance Program to ‘High Risk’ List The National Flood Insurance Program, due to the unprecedented magnitude and severity of floods resulting from hurricanes in 2005, has incurred losses estimated at $23 billion, more than the total claims paid in the history of the program, according to the Government Accountability Office’s David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, testifying Wednesday before the Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia (Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee). [View abstract]

HHS Issues Pandemic Flu Checklist for Medical Offices and Ambulatory Clinics The Department of Health and Human Services checklist helps the offices and clinics—a first resource for many seasonal flu sufferers—in their role of caring for the sick. [View press release] [View checklist]

Note: More and more news sites require free one-time registration. We wish we could avoid this inconvenience to readers who want to see the full articles. We do not intentionally link to any that require a paid subscription.

U.S. Tries to Salvage 9/11 Case Against Moussaoui (Washington Post) “U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema on Tuesday barred seven witnesses and all aviation security evidence from the trial, saying the actions of Transportation Security Administration lawyer Carla J. Martin had tainted the process beyond repair,” reports the Washington Post. “… After her ruling Tuesday, prosecutors told Brinkema in a teleconference that she had threatened the sentencing phase of the only person convicted in the United States on charges stemming from the Sept. 11 attacks.” Moussaoui “pleaded guilty last April to six counts of conspiring with al Qaeda in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.” [View article]

Dubai Ports World Will Sell U.S. Port Operations (Washington Post) The United Arab Emirates–based company Dubai Ports World on 9 March “announced that it will sell off its U.S. operations to an American owner,” reports the Washington Post. “The announcement … came hours after House and Senate GOP leaders” said that “Congress would kill the U.S. portions of the company’s $6.8 billion acquisition of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co.… It is not clear which American company is willing to buy DP World’s U.S. operations.” [View article]

Terror Risks of Nuclear Fuel (Christian Science Monitor) “The Bush administration’s plan to deploy a high-tech fuel to power a new generation of nuclear reactors worldwide has a potentially explosive problem: It is too easy for terrorists to grab and turn it into a nuclear bomb,” reports the Christian Science Monitor. “That’s the criticism expressed by nuclear scientists and in several little-known federal studies about the technology underlying the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, unveiled last month. Administration officials tout GNEP for technological breakthroughs that dramatically reduce the nuclear waste from civilian reactors and, at the same time, greatly reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation.… Knowledgeable critics have said from the outset that the new reactor fuel envisioned in GNEP is not so very hard to turn into bombs.… their views are echoed by the US Department of Energy’s own studies.” [View article]

Power Plants Are Unprepared for an Attack (Denver Business Journal) “The U.S. power generation sector—based on observations at numerous plants and transmission facilities—is woefully behind in deploying both hard and soft methods to keep hackers and terrorists from disrupting operations,” reports the Denver Business Journal. By contrast, “most of the nation’s refineries are well prepared to identify, repel or neutralize man-made attempts to disrupt their operations. However, this doesn’t mean that refineries are operating at a ‘best practice’ level with respect to physical and cyber security.” And “it would require a comparatively small investment of time, manpower and money for the power generation sector’s security initiatives to reach the sophisticated level of the refineries.” [View article]

Border Fence: Symptom of a Failed Policy (Christian Science Monitor) “As Congress considers how to better control illegal immigration, the House and Senate are lining up behind a controversial idea: erecting fencing to reinforce the US-Mexico border,” according to the Christian Science Monitor. But “a fence is a tactic, not a policy. In fact, it’s symptomatic of the failure of federal policy to get a grip on illegal immigration.… Objectors to fencing have a point: It will only force people smugglers to become cleverer and more dangerous, using tunnels and boats. And the US will pay a diplomatic price for a move perceived by Mexico as an affront. Yet sections of fencing would also stretch across desert areas where hundreds of migrants lose their lives each year. And the funneling effect would make patrolling the lengthy border more efficient.” [View editorial]

DHS Warns of Lapses by Port Operators (Yahoo! News) “Lapses by private port operators, shipping lines or truck drivers could allow terrorists to smuggle weapons of mass destruction into the United States, according to a government review of security at American seaports,” reports the Associated Press. “The $75 million, three-year study”—called Operation Safe Commerce—by “the Homeland Security Department” said “that cargo containers can be opened secretly during shipment to add or remove items without alerting U.S. authorities,” who “largely decide which cargo containers to inspect based on shipping records of what is thought to be inside.… some nuclear materials inside cargo containers can be detected with special monitors. But such devices have frustrated port officials in New Jersey because bananas, kitty litter and fire detectors—which all emit natural radiation—set off the same alarms more than 100 times every day.… Finding biological and chemical weapons inside cargo containers is less likely.” [View article]

Internet ‘Cloaking’ Emerges as New Web Security Threat (Government Computer News; ABC News) “Terrorist organizations and other national enemies have launched bogus Web sites that mask their covert information or provide misleading information to users they identify as federal employees or agents, according to Lance Cottrell, founder and chief scientist at Anonymizer of San Diego,” reports Government Computer News. Terrorists use this cloaking practice to “provide bogus passwords to covert meetings” to “pinpoint federal intelligence agents who attend the meetings, making them vulnerable to being kidnapped or becoming the unwitting carriers of false information, Cottrell said,” speaking at the Federal Office Systems Exposition 2006 trade show in Washington, DC. “… hostile intelligence organizations can exploit the ability of IP addresses to reveal the physical location—and frequently the organizational identity—of a user visiting a Web site.” Intelligence experts say that a “new usage of the Internet is causing a lot of worries among intelligence and law enforcement officials worldwide,” reports ABC News. French authorities have found that al-Qaeda is using Web-capable cellphones that “could be ‘activated’ (thus detonated) remotely over the Internet from anywhere in the world by punching a password on a Web site.” [View GCN article] [View ABC article]

Radio-Frequency ID Tags: Vulnerable to Viruses? (New York Times; Inquirer) “A group of European computer researchers” say “that it is possible to insert a software virus into radio frequency identification tags, part of a microchip-based tracking technology in growing use in commercial and security applications,” reports the New York Times. The chips are used “in supply chains, warehouses and stores.… Now the researchers have added a series of worrisome prospects, including the ability of terrorists and smugglers to evade airport luggage scanning systems that will use RFID tags in the future.” However, the “British firm Sophos said that” the threat “was theoretical and ‘full of assumptions that have to be realised before it is possible to create a virus that will use RFID tags to spread,’” according to the Inquirer, a British information technology publication. [View Times article] [View Inquirer article]

L-1 Visa Program Is Vulnerable to Fraud and Abuse (Government Computer News) “The nation’s L-1 ‘computer visa’ program for temporary IT workers from foreign countries is vulnerable to fraud and potential abuse, according to a new report from Homeland Security Department inspector general Richard Skinner,” reports Government Computer News. “… the concept of specialized knowledge ‘is so broadly defined that adjudicators believe they have little choice but to approve almost all petitions,’ the report said. Furthermore, managerial status is difficult to verify and foreign companies may be illegitimate.” [View article] [View report]

Churches Resist Tougher Immigration Laws (Christian Science Monitor) “America’s faith communities are keeping careful watch as Congress wrangles over border security,” reports the Christian Science Monitor. Many religious leaders do not agree with “an immigration bill the US House has already approved,” part of which “would force any individual, including church workers, to see documentation before giving help to immigrants, or risk imprisonment.… Cardinal Roger Mahony in Los Angeles, who leads the largest Roman Catholic archdiocese in the US, … said he would order priests under his supervision to defy any federal legislation that requires churches or other social [organizations] to press immigrants for legal papers before giving them help.” [View article]

Homeland Security: Inside and Out Beginning on 23 March, this radio show will feature interviews with federal, state, and local government leaders and people from the private sector, the academic community, and the national press, plus commentaries and analysis by its co-hosts: Dave McIntyre, Director of the Homeland Security Integrative Center at Texas A&M University, and Randy Larsen, Director of the Institute for Homeland Security. It will be broadcast each Thursday evening at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time on KAMU-FM, College Station, TX, and simulcast via the university’s website. [View KAMU website]

U.S. and Iraqi Forces Launch Biggest Assault Since 2003 (Yahoo! News) “U.S. forces, joined by Iraqi troops, on Thursday launched the largest air assault since the U.S.-led invasion, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital,” Baghdad, reports the Associated Press. “The U.S. military said the offensive dubbed Operation Swarmer was aimed at clearing ‘a suspected insurgent operating area’ northeast of Samarra and was expected to continue over several days.” [View article]

Iran Rejects Russia’s Proposal on Uranium (Washington Post) “Iran rejected an offer from Russia to enrich uranium on its behalf Sunday, closing the door on what had been the most promising diplomatic resolution to international concerns over its nuclear program,” reports the Washington Post. “‘The Russian proposal is not on our agenda anymore,’ a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, told reporters at a conference on energy and security in the Iranian capital. ‘The situation has changed. We should wait and see how developments will go on among different states, including the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.’” [View article]

Iran’s Defiance “The UN Security Council will now consider an International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran’s nuclear efforts,” according to the Brookings Institution. “Iran remains defiant as a war of words heats up between it and the U.S., and members of the Security Council consider sanctions or continued negotiations. Iran remains defiant, threatening industrial-scale enrichment and renewing its threat to withhold oil.” The institution has assembled links to its scholars’ analysis and commentary on the conflict over Iranian nuclear activity. [View website]

U.S. Calls Southern Philippines a Terrorists’ Sanctuary (Sun.Star Network) “The United States has tagged Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago in the southern Philippines as sanctuary and training grounds for terrorists,” reports Sun.Star. “Navy Admiral William J. Fallon, chief of the US Pacific Command, said the southern Philippines is also a recruiting ground for terrorist organizations.… Fallon said [that] activities by terrorists and their supporters have been centered in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia and that these countries are cooperating with the US.… Fallon did not say what terrorist groups were operating in the southern Philippines, but Manila previously admitted that dozens of members of the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiya … were hiding in Mindanao island.… the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group, implicated in the spate of bombings and kidnappings of foreigners in Mindanao, and renegade members of the local Muslim separatist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front are also active in the southern Philippines.” [View article]

UK Ports ‘Are Open to Terrorists’ (BBC) “A key [British] government adviser on terrorism has warned there are not enough customs and immigration officers at many sea and airports,” reports the British Broadcasting Corporation. Lord Carlile “said nobody could feel totally confident [that] all terrorists were likely to be stopped from entering Britain.” He criticized the policy used by the immigration service and customs that deploy officers only “where risk is thought to be greatest” so “that for parts of the day, small and medium-sized ports of entry may have no officers at all on duty.” [View article]

Jordan to Indict al-Zarqawi and Others for Hotel Bombings (International Herald Tribune) “Jordan’s military prosecutor has concluded his investigation into last year’s hotel bombings in Amman and plans to indict 11 people, including the al-Qaida in Iraq chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, according to court documents obtained by the Associated Press.… Iraqi female would-be suicide bomber, Sajida Mubarak al-Rishawi, 35, would be the only one from those indicted who will stand trial in Jordan’s military State Security Court. The remaining 10 … are on the run … Jordan’s military court has so far sentenced al-Zarqawi to death in absentia three times.” [View IHT article] [View Focus on al-Zarqawi]

Iraq Foils Plot to Put Terrorists Around Green Zone (Yahoo! News) “Security officials foiled a plot that would have put hundreds of al-Qaida men at guard posts around Baghdad’s Green Zone, home to the U.S. and other foreign embassies as well as the Iraqi government, the interior minister told The Associated Press … the 421 al-Qaida fighters were actually recruited to storm the U.S. and British embassies and take hostages. Several ranking Defense Ministry officials have been jailed in the plot.” [View article]

Six More Countries Confirm Avian Flu (CNN; Reuters; New York Times) “Cameroon has become the fourth African country to be struck by the deadly bird flu virus,” reports the Associated Press. Afghanistan, India, and Myanmar have also reported the virus, reports Reuters. And in Denmark “tests showed [that] a wild buzzard found south of Copenhagen had H5N1.” Sweden has also “confirmed its first outbreak on Wednesday,” reports another Reuters story. [View AP article] [View Reuters article] [View 2nd Reuters article] [View Focus on Avian Influenza]

30,000 Birds Die of Flu in Russia in 24 Hours (Novosti) “More than 30,000 birds … died of bird flu in southern Russia over” a 24-hour period earlier this week, reports the Russian News and Information Agency Novosti. [View article]

Dog in Azerbaijan Dies of Avian Flu (Novosti) “Azerbaijan’s government commission for preventing a bird flu epidemic said Wednesday that a type A strain of the avian flu virus had been detected in a stray dog found dead in the country’s capital Baku a week ago,” reports the Russian News and Information Agency Novosti. [View article]

Judge Says International Terror Cell Planned Madrid Bombings (Expatica) “The judge leading the investigation into the Madrid bombings has said the attacks were carried out by a local cell linked to [an] international terrorist network,” reports Expatica News. “Judge Juan del Olmo said the cell of Islamic fanatics which planted the bombs had links stretching through France, Belgium, Italy, Morocco and to Iraq.” His “claims come in documents issued with a judicial order to detain nine suspects for up to two more years without trial. They show an extensive terrorist apparatus which conceived, planned and carried out the attacks which killed 191 people and left 1,500 injured.” [View article]

Bangladesh Security Forces Arrest Suspected Islamic Militants (Madras, India, Hindu) “Security forces in eastern Bangladesh on Monday arrested two suspected members of … Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, a banned Islamic militant group blamed for a string of bombings across the country that killed 26 people last year,” reports the Associated Press. The security forces “seized bombs and grenades from their hideout.” [View article]

11% of Indonesians Say Suicide Attacks Are Sometimes Justified (Melbourne, Australia, Age) “Eleven per cent of people in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, believe suicide attacks against civilian targets are sometimes justifiable,” reports Reuters. “… Indonesian leaders and moderate clerics” fear that “a tiny radical Muslim fringe may be making inroads into the masses.” [View article]

Nine Dutch Terrorists Sentenced (Expatica) “Nine of the 14 men accused of membership of a home-grown Muslim terrorist organisation in the Netherlands received sentences of up to 15 years on” 10 March, reports Expatica News. A “panel of three judges found them guilty and declared Mohammed Bouyeri was the leader and initiator of the Hofstad terrorist group. The group’s goal was not to plot terror attacks but to incite hatred and threaten people, the court found.” [View article]

UK Policies Put People at Risk of Torture, Says Amnesty Intl. The United Kingdom’s antiterrorism policies are damaging human rights, according to a report issued by Amnesty International on 23 February. The report criticizes the British government for detaining foreign terrorist suspects for years on the basis of secret evidence and asserts that the UK has tried to circumvent its obligations in relation to human rights abuses committed by UK armed forces in Iraq. [View press release] [View report]

Joint Antiterror Maneuver Held in Uzbekistan (Xinhua News Agency) “Member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) carried out a joint anti-terror maneuver in Uzbekistan early this month,” reports Xinhua News Agency. “… The exercise was aimed at improving the cooperation” among its member countries “to prevent terrorists from disrupting the political and social stability of Central Asian countries through mass attacks on major state infrastructure.… special forces and military troops demonstrated ways to stop terrorists from sabotaging facilities, and joint actions to recover hostages.” The SCO members are “China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan”; there are “four observer states”: Mongolia, Pakistan, India and Iran. [View article]

Antiterrorist Exercise Held in Moscow (Novosti) “Police in southern Moscow held an exercise [on 9 March] to train officers in operations to free hostages held in a building seized by terrorists,” reports the Russian News and Information Agency Novosti. “With memories still fresh of hostage-taking crises such as the 2002 theatre siege, police had to conduct an operation after a group of ‘militants’ disarmed security guards at a municipal facility, blocked entrances into the building and took ‘hostages’ inside.” [View article]

Mad Cow Disease Diagnosed in Alabama (CBC News) “A cow in Alabama has tested positive for mad cow disease, officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Monday,” reports Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News. “The cow was found to have the disease after routine testing last week” and officials “are still working to find out where it was born and raised. They say the cow had not entered the food supply for either people or animals. This is the third time officials have confirmed a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the United States.” [View article]

Arizona Governor Orders Troops to Border (Washington Post) “Gov. Janet Napolitano on [8 March] ordered more National Guardsmen posted at the Mexican border to help stop illegal immigrants and curb related crimes,” reports the Associated Press. “National Guard troops have worked at the border since 1988, but Napolitano signed an order authorizing commanders to station an unspecified number of additional soldiers there to help federal agents. Once the funding is approved, the troops will monitor crossing points, assist with cargo inspection and operate surveillance cameras.” (See also the Quote of the Week.) [View article]

Topoff 3 in Connecticut: Good Emergency Response, but With Communication Gaps (Boston Globe) “Fire and rescue crews responded well to a simulated terrorist attack in eastern Connecticut last year but the drill revealed gaps in the way top officials share information and delegate authority,” according to an independent review by the University of Connecticut’s Homeland Security Education Center, reports the Associated Press. Topoff 3, a “federally funded terrorism drill, simulated a chemical attack in New London [CT] and a biological attack in New Jersey in April 2005. It was designed to test the limits of emergency response plans and see how top officials react.” There was “confusion over the authority and responsibility of different agencies and … New London officials complained they were not receiving information promptly.” [View article]

NJ Animal Rights Group Convicted of Terrorism (Omaha [NE] World-Herald) “A federal court jury in Trenton, N.J., slapped down an extremist animal-rights organization for terrorism and Internet stalking, rejecting the group’s claim of First Amendment protection for its advocacy of violence and intimidation,” according to the World-Herald. Six “members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA … were found guilty of using the group’s Web site to incite threats, harassment, intimidation and vandalism against people associated with Huntingdon Life Sciences, which tests drugs and household products on animals.” [View editorial]

Starbucks to Install Cargo Security Devices (Houston Chronicle) “Starbucks Corp. announced Wednesday it will install high-tech sensors to detect tampering with its cargo containers filled with coffee beans shipped from Guatemala to Europe or the United States,” reports the Associated Press. “Starbucks, the world’s leading coffee retailer, had participated in an ongoing study by the Homeland Security Department” warning that “such containers can be opened secretly during shipment to add or remove items without alerting authorities.” [View article]

The Homeland Security Institute lists these education programs as a service to readers who may be interested; it does not endorse them or their courses.

National Fire Academy Course in Public Education (18-23 June; Emmitsburg, MD) The course, “Discovering the Road to High-Risk Audiences,” looks at each major community audience most at risk from fire, analyzes what makes them vulnerable, discusses solutions for reaching each group, and addresses program planning needs. Personnel who have responsibility for public fire and life safety education in their departments or organizations and who have at least one year of fire safety education experience are invited to apply by 31 March. For more details and application instructions, see the website. [View course website]

Mirror Image: Training to Combat Terrorism (19-24 March; Moyock, NC) Mirror Image is an intensive, one-week classroom and field training program, designed to realistically simulate terrorist recruiting, training techniques, and operational tactics. During the course, participants will receive insight into the mindset and rationale of the terrorist, through hands-on experience with the methods and means they use and education about the ideologies that motivate them and cultural dimensions that influence their decision making. Military, law enforcement, intelligence, and security professionals will be able to see themselves as the terrorists see them and understand the weaknesses in their own environment that the terrorists will see. Participants will leave the course better able to anticipate, prevent, and respond to multiple terrorist threats. [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:

Powerful Leadership in Perilous Times: Preparing Your Business (24 March; Washington, DC) This conference, sponsored by the DC Wharton Club, was created to meet the need of businesses to prepare for changing times. It emphasizes development of strategies to mitigate risks to businesses from major natural or man-made disruptions and to prepare corporate leadership teams to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities presented. The conference is designed for corporate decision makers directly or indirectly responsible for business continuity and disaster recovery, entrepreneurs in emerging growth businesses and new technologies, and investors and analysts trying to gauge risks and identify investment opportunities. For more information, contact Steven Lebischak or call (571) 218-3438. [View conference website]

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]

Hospital Management of Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear, and Explosive Incidents (24-28 April; Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD) This course is designed for hospital-based medical professionals, including physicians, nurses, dentists, paramedical professionals, hospital administrators, medical planners, and others who plan, conduct, or have responsibility for hospital management of mass-casualty incidents or terrorism preparedness. Classroom instruction, scenarios, and tabletop exercises will equip military and civilian professionals with skills, knowledge, and information resources to carry out the full spectrum of healthcare-facility responsibilities required by a chemical, biological, radiological/nuclear, explosive, or other mass-casualty event. [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]

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]

Intelcon (7-9 May; Bethesda, MD) Intelcon is a major, annual national conference and exposition on intelligence and the relationship between intelligence and national security. By combining a high-quality educational program, which emphasizes practical applications and techniques, with a full-scale vendor exposition, the event attracts a wide audience of intelligence professionals and vendors from the public and private sectors. [View conference website]

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]

Air & Port Security Expo Asia (13-14 June; Hong Kong) The conference, held at the AsiaWorld Expo, will feature a two-day aviation security conference, a two-day maritime security conference, and a two-day new technologies seminar. More than 60 suppliers of security equipment and services to the transportation sector are expected to exhibit, and over a thousand heads of security from airports, airlines, seaports, shipping, supply chain operatives, government agencies, and integrators of security are expected to attend. The course is conducted jointly by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, and the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute. [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]

Air & Port Security Expo Europe (13-14 September; Brussels, Belgium) The conference will cover airport, port, supply chain industry, passenger, cargo, and terminal security. It will feature a two-day aviation security conference, two-day maritime security conference, and two-day new technologies and solutions seminar. More than 100 suppliers of security equipment and services to the transportation sector are expected to exhibit, and over 2,000 heads of security from airports, airlines, seaports, shipping, supply chain operatives, government agencies, and integrators of security are expected to attend. [View conference website]

U.S. Maritime Security Expo (19-20 September; New York) The expo will address the protection of ports, harbors, bridges, cargo containers, powerplants, offshore oil rigs, railroads, and cargo and passenger ships. [View conference website]

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