DHS News

TSA Should Use Automated Privacy Safeguards, Says Inspector General (Federal Computer Week) “The Transportation Security Administration should deploy automated tools to test and monitor the effectiveness of privacy safeguards in its programs,” reports Federal Computer Week, citing “a new report from Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner.” [View article] [View report (1MB PDF)]

TSA Sets Interim Rule on Air Cargo Security (Transport Topics) “The Transportation Security Administration [has] announced an interim final rule implementing air cargo security regulations,” reports Transport Topics. Under the Certified Cargo Screening Program, “approved airlines” may “screen cargo at [a] site away from an airport and transport it to the airport securely, with no need to rescreen it.” [View article]

DHS IT Procurement Needs Better Management, Says Inspector General (Government Executive) “The Homeland Security Department’s ability to fully integrate its new IT procurement practices has been hindered by insufficient staffing in the Office of the Chief Information Officer and [in] fragmented management practices, … Deputy Inspector General James Taylor told a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee” on Tuesday, reports Government Executive. He said “that DHS has made significant progress in managing and overseeing its annual $6 billion budget for IT systems and infrastructure. But those efforts, he said, frequently have been thwarted by a lack of sound business processes, outdated or stovepiped systems, and an overreliance on contractors for core functions.” [View article]

DHS Announces More Preparedness Grants The Homeland Security Department on Wednesday announced more than $380 million in grants funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to pay for fire station construction and port and transit security initiatives nationwide (see the Statistics of the Week). [View press release]

Other Federal News

FBI National Security Branch Analysis Center Has 1.5 Billion Records (Wired) “A fast-growing FBI data-mining system billed as a tool for hunting terrorists is being used in hacker and domestic criminal investigations, and now contains tens of thousands of records from private corporate databases, including car-rental companies, large hotel chains and at least one national department store, declassified documents” show, writes Wired “Threat Level” blogger Ryan Singel. The center “maintains a hodgepodge of data sets packed with more than 1.5 billion government and private-sector records about citizens and foreigners.” The FBI wants to expand the database to include “airline manifests sent to the Department of Homeland Security, the national Social Security number database, and the Postal Service’s change-of-address database,” plus 24 additional databases. [View blog]

Obama Limits State Secrets Privilege (Wired) “The Obama administration announced new limits Wednesday on the so-called state secrets privilege used by the government to scuttle lawsuits that involve classified information, adding layers of oversight to a power that both the Bush and Obama” administrations have “used to kill off lawsuits challenging anti-terrorism programs,” writes Wired “Threat Level” blogger Ryan Singel. Government lawyers must “invoke the privilege [only] when there’s a possibility of ‘significant harm’ to the country” and not “use it to hide embarrassing or illegal government programs.” [View article] [View guidelines (680KB PDF)]

National Nuclear Security Administration Needs Better Reactor Security and Cyber-Security, Say Reports (Government Executive) The National Nuclear Security Administration has “upgraded the security at 18 of the 22 foreign research reactors” that “use highly enriched uranium” fuel, which “can also be used in nuclear weapons,” reports the Government Accountability Office. The remaining four should have their security upgraded by the end of next year. However, “at four of the five reactors” that the GAO visited where security had been upgraded, the agency “identified security conditions that did not meet” International Atomic Energy Agency “guidelines. For example, (1) at two reactors, no emergency response exercises had been conducted between the on-site guard force and off-site emergency response force, and one of these reactors lacked any formal response plans for emergencies involving attempts to steal [highly enriched uranium] fuel; and (2) personnel at one research reactor did not search visitors or their belongings before granting them access to restricted areas where nuclear material is present.” The agency’s classified data-management program is faulty, too: “After spending nine years and at least $153 million, managers at the National Nuclear Security Administration developing a project to improve cybersecurity throughout the nuclear weapons complex failed to plan or execute the program effectively, the Energy Department’s” Inspector General said, according to Government Executive. “Additionally, because managers failed to develop an acquisition strategy for the project, they purchased hardware years earlier than necessary, rendering it obsolete by the time the network became operational.” [View GAO summary] [View article] [View Energy Dept. report (510KB PDF)]

Defense Dept. Could Improve Nuclear Weapons Security, Says GAO The Defense Department “has not provided adequate guidance or capabilities to fully develop local threat assessments where nuclear weapons are stored, maintained, or transported,” reports the Government Accountability Office. In particular, “the Air Force lacked a consistent method to identify requirements specifically related to nuclear weapons security.” [View GAO summary]

High-Containment Labs Need Oversight, Says GAO “No federal agency can determine whether high-containment laboratory capacity may now meet or exceed the national need or is at a level that can be operated safely,” according to the Government Accountability Office. Oversight by one agency could ensure that there are not too many or too few of these labs that handle dangerous pathogens and could balance the risks and benefits, says the GAO. [View press release]

National News

Up to 24 More Investigated in Terror Probe (CNN; Fox News; USA Today; Christian Science Monitor) “Investigators are looking for about a dozen more people in connection with a wide-ranging terror investigation that has already netted arrests in Colorado and New York City,” reports CNN (see last week’s newsletter), and “as many as 24 people may be under observation,” reports Fox News. “… Investigators said Najibullah Zazi has admitted attending courses and receiving instructions on weapons and explosives at an al Qaeda training facility in Pakistan’s tribal areas during a 2008 trip,” reports CNN. He “was indicted Thursday on charges that he conspired to detonate bombs against undisclosed targets in the U.S.,” reports USA Today. “DHS didn’t change the threat level before and after agents nabbed Najibullah Zazi because advisories to local police were deemed sufficient,” reports the Monitor. [View CNN article] [View Fox article] [View USA Today article] [View Monitor article]

Al-Qaeda Manual Prompts Warning to Police (Kansas City Star) Having obtained “an al-Qaida training manual [that] specifically lists ‘blasting and destroying the places of amusement, immorality, and sin … and attacking vital economic centers’ as desired targets,” U.S. “counterterrorism officials have issued security bulletins to police around the nation about terrorists’ desire to attack stadiums, entertainment complexes and hotels,” reports the Associated Press. “… officials said they know of no specific plots.” [View article]

ASIS Discusses Current Threats and How to Meet Them (Security Management) Sessions at the American Society for Industrial Security conference in Anaheim, CA, this week discussed lone-operator terrorism, whether modeling and simulation can really save lives, insider threats to information assets, executive protection, maritime security, and Islam vs. jihadism. Security Management presents some of the highlights. [View article]

Evacuation Planning Checklist (Emergency Management) “Site and area evacuations are a common occurrence,” writes James Sideras, a division chief for Sioux Falls, SD, Fire Rescue, in Emergency Management. “However, the incident isn’t over until all the evacuees are returned safely to their homes.” He offers a checklist for incident commanders at small and large evacuations and identifies common operational concerns. [View article]

International News

U.S. Shifts to Protecting Populated Areas of Afghanistan (Washington Post) “Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top military officer in Afghanistan, has told his commanders to pull forces out of sparsely populated areas where U.S. troops have fought bloody battles with the Taliban for several years and focus them on protecting major Afghan population centers,” reports the Post. “But the changes, which amount to a retreat from some areas, have already begun to draw resistance from senior Afghan officials who worry that any pullback from Taliban-held territory will make the weak Afghan government appear even more powerless in the eyes of its people.” [View article]

29 Uganda Rioters Charged With Terrorism (AllAfrica) “At least 29 people suspected to have participated in the burning of property and cars at Nateete Police Station when riots broke out in Kampala nearly two weeks ago are to be charged with terrorism,” reports the Kampala, Uganda, Monitor. The suspects “face the death penalty” if convicted. “More than 164” others “were last week charged with unlawful assembly, rioting and inciting violence.” Three days of rioting “started on September 10.” [View article]

Japan Secretly Allowed U.S. Nuclear Weapons (Tokyo Asahi Shimbun) “A secret pact allowing” the United States “to bring nuclear weapons into Japan” led to “decades of denials from” the Japanese government, reports the Asahi Shimbun. “… The revision of the Japan–U.S. Security Treaty in 1960” led the Japanese to believe that consultation was required before “U.S. ships and aircraft carrying nuclear weapons anchored or landed in Japan or even passed through Japanese waters or airspace,” but the United States concluded that no prior consultation was required. In 1963, “Japanese officials finally figured out the U.S. interpretation,” and beginning in 1969 they secretly but officially allowed the presence of nuclear weapons while publicly denying it. [View article]

South Korea Offers North ‘Grand Bargain’ Over Nukes (BBC) “South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak has offered North Korea a ‘grand bargain’—giving up its nuclear plans for aid and security guarantees,” reports the British Broadcasting Corporation. “… He criticised the approach of past six-nation talks on North Korea—between North and South Korea, the US, China, Japan and Russia—as doing little but rewarding the country’s bad behaviour.…. But his proposal still follows the general outline of the 2007 six-nation agreement, under which North Korea would halt its nuclear programme in return for badly-needed oil and security guarantees.” [View article]

Britain Revokes Control Orders on Two Terrorism Suspects (London Guardian) Britain has revoked control orders on two terrorism suspects known only as AE and AF rather than reveal the evidence against them, reports the Guardian. The Home Office uses control orders—“virtual house arrest”—against “suspected terrorists” it can “not prosecute or deport.… There are now 14 remaining control orders in force.” [View article]

French Police Clear Out Migrant Camp (London Times) “French police moved to clear migrants out of their makeshift camp in Calais,” arresting “278 people, 132 of them under the age of 18,” reports the Times. The migrants were “virtually all Afghans” who for three years have been trying to reach Britain. “The French Government says that all the migrants will be invited to seek asylum in France.” [View article]

European Commission Plans Portable Emergency Command and Control System The European Commission has approved an Emergency Support System Consortium comprising 19 companies to research and develop a portable emergency command and control system that incorporates real-time data-collection technologies. It will provide intelligence to managers during crises and will be used as a framework for future crisis management systems. [View press release]

China Begins Mass Swine Flu Vaccinations (MSN) “China kicked off mass vaccinations for swine flu Monday in Beijing, making it apparently the first nation in the world to start [inoculating] its population against the virus,” reports Agence France-Presse. China “plans to vaccinate 65 million people, or five percent of the country’s total population of 1.3 billion, before year’s end.” [View article]

Talking to the Taliban Wins Emmy (Toronto Globe and Mail) Talking to the Taliban, a “multimedia series, which features taped interviews with 42 Taliban soldiers [see the March 28, 2008, newsletter], won” an Emmy award “for New Approaches to News and Documentary,” reports the Globe and Mail. Talking to the Taliban “has also won an Online Journalism Award for best investigative piece by a large website, and a coveted Editor & Publisher ‘Eppy’ online journalism award. It won a National Newspaper Award earlier this year as [Canada’s] best multimedia feature.” [View article]

U.S. and Georgia Agree to Joint Aviation Security Work The U.S. Transportation Security Administration and the Georgian United Transport Administration have agreed to a cooperative effort to enhance aviation security, including plans for comprehensive assessments, developing targeted aviation security programs, and sharing best practices. [View press release]

United Nations News

Does UN Have Evidence of Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program? (Washington Post) “Iran experts at the [UN] nuclear monitoring agency believe Tehran has the ability to make a nuclear bomb and worked on developing a missile system that can carry an atomic warhead, according to a confidential report seen by The Associated Press.… The document, titled ‘Possible Military Dimension of Iran’s Nuclear Program,’ appeared to be the so-called” International Atomic Energy Agency “‘secret annex’ on Iran’s alleged nuclear arms program that the U.S., France, Israel and other IAEA members say is being withheld.” Yet the agency “said [on Sep. 17] it had no proof that Iran has or once had a covert atomic bomb program,” according to Reuters. (See last week’s newsletter; also see the Quote of the Week.) [View AP article] [View Reuters article] [View Focus on Iran’s Nuclear Program]

Security Council Adopts Nuclear Proliferation Restrictions (New York Times) “The United Nations Security Council, with President Obama acting as chairman, unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday morning aimed at increasing deterrents for withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and decreasing the likelihood that a civilian nuclear program can be diverted toward the development of advanced weapons,” reports the Times. “The resolution is aimed at ensuring full compliance with international arms agreements from countries like Iran and North Korea, which have either banned inspectors or severely limited their access.” [View article]

State and Local News

Shootout Closes San Ysidro Border Crossing (Reuters) “U.S. authorities closed the world’s busiest land border crossing”—the “San Ysidro crossing between the Mexican city of Tijuana and San Diego”—for several hours “on Tuesday after a shootout between suspected Mexican human traffickers and U.S. agents,” reports Reuters. “… The suspected smugglers shot across busy lines of traffic at U.S. agents when they tried to stop three vans packed with about 70 illegal immigrants from crossing into the United States … The agents returned fire, and three people in the vans and a motorist were wounded.” [View article]

Fitna Screened in Kentucky Public High School (Kentucky Enquirer) A “class at Pulaski County High School” in Somerset, KY, was shown the film Fitna (see the March 6 newsletter), which contains “images of beheadings, children being injured and dead bodies interspersed with readings from the Quran,” reports the Associated Press. “… Pulaski County Superintendent Tim Eaton says the presentation was meant to commemorate 9-11 and discuss the dangers of extremism, but that the teacher used poor judgment showing the film.” [View article]

Maryland Teen Pleads Guilty to Possessing Bomb (MSNBC) “Collin McKenzie-Gude, 19,” of Bethesda on Wednesday “pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a destructive device,” reports NBC. “When police searched McKenzie-Gude’s home in July 2008, they allegedly found a cache of weapons, chemicals and electrical timing devices. Prosecutors believe the teenager intended to use those ingredients to make bombs.” (See the Nov. 21, 2008, newsletter.) [View article]

Missouri Chooses Satellite Service for Emergency Communications In case of a major earthquake, when primary phone service might be disrupted, “the Missouri Department of Transportation needed an emergency communications network capable of aiding first responders across the state and the region,” according to the World Teleport Association. “… The New Madrid fault line, stretching 150 miles to the southwest from New Madrid, Missouri, is a prolific source of tremors and quakes across the Southern and Midwestern” states. But after previous “failed attempts” to obtain reliable emergency satellite service, the Show Me state was skeptical. However, Spacenet and Orbital Data Networks provided a network serving 25+ locations that got a real-life test when the Mississippi River overflowed its banks last year and responders from across the state were able to communicate. [View article (497KB PDF)]

Colorado Fire Dept. Uses Software to Track Personnel and Resources (Emergency Management) “The North Metro Fire Rescue District” uses “Salamander Technologies’ interTrax Personal Identity Verification” system to track “all personnel and apparatus,” reports Emergency Management. The system lets “emergency managers and first responders keep people, resources and equipment from multiple agencies and jurisdictions organized during an emergency.” [View article]

Private-Sector News

Telstra Will Build Australian Bushfire Alert System (Australian) “Telstra has been selected to build a $15 million national bushfire warning system that will allow authorities to warn residents in declared disaster zones by their mobile phone,” reports the Australian. “… Once in place the system will deliver real-time, location-based warnings to landlines and mobiles based on people’s billing addresses. In addition to warning people, the technology could help locate survivors in the aftermath of a fire. The system will also be able to send at least 100,000 messages at a time for disasters that cover a wide area or densely populated centres of large cities.” [View article]

New Upcoming Events (Events are listed for four weeks; after that, they are still on the Upcoming Events page) (October 15; statewide) At 10:15 a.m., millions of Californians will participate in the largest earthquake drill ever. Its purpose is to practice protecting ourselves during earthquakes and to get prepared at work, school, and home. [View event website] Emergency Management 2009 All-Hazards, All-Stakeholders Summit (October 22; Los Angeles) The summit will address the natural and man-made hazards facing the Los Angeles area—fires, earthquakes, mudslides, terrorism—and address best practices in preparing for and mitigating these crises. [View event website] 2010 Biometrics Conference (Jan. 20-21; Arlington, VA) The theme is “Matches to Mission,” addressing the challenge of “finding the needle”—those who might harm Americans and the Nation—in the national haystack of data and agencies. New, rapidly emerging biometric and forensic technologies are moving toward interoperability, but bureaucratic stovepipes and walls remain. This conference will foster discussion focused on exploring steps toward creating a holistic architecture to accommodate the use of biometrics, today and in the future, to support an expanding variety of federal, state and local, international, and private-sector missions. [View event website] (February 3-5; New Orleans) This event will bring together professionals, academics, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, consultants, emergency managers, and transportation planners to discuss evacuation planning for cities and regions across the United States. [View event website] Cyber Security—Legal and Policy Issues for National Security, Law Enforcement and Private Industry (March 18-19; San Antonio) This conference is designed for the Defense and Homeland Security departments, corporate security managers, law enforcement, and the business community to receive critical information on the full range of legal and policy issues related to cyber-security. [View event website] Homeland Security: Global and Domestic Perspectives (March 29-30; Warrensburg, MO) This conference will investigate the range of issues surrounding the efforts to secure the homeland from threats of human origin and natural threats. It will examine best practices and assess and examine policies. [View event website (163KB PDF)]

Calls for Papers ESRI California/Hawaii/Nevada Regional User Group Conference (February 3-4; Redlands, CA) Environmental Systems Research Institute users are invited to present and share their knowledge and experience in implementing geographic information systems technology, explaining the application of GIS, lessons learned, and the return on investment and benefit of implementing a GIS solution. Among the topics for which presentations are solicited is homeland security. The deadline for submitting abstracts is October 30. [View call for papers] (February 3-5; New Orleans) This event will bring together professionals, academics, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, consultants, emergency managers, and transportation planners to discuss evacuation planning for cities and regions across the United States. Papers are welcome on topics such as evacuation policy, carless and vulnerable populations, nuclear power plants, communications and human behavior, legal issues, evacuation modeling, and issues for first responders and voluntary organizations. Abstracts are due by September 30. [View call for papers] 4th International Conference on Digital Society (February 10-15; St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles) The conference, sponsored by the International Academy, Research and Industry Association, will cover a large spectrum of topics related to advanced networking, applications, and systems technologies in a digital society. Among the topics for which the conference is soliciting presentations is “Homeland Security and Public Records.” The deadline for submitting a full paper is October 5. [View call for papers] Homeland Security: Global and Domestic Perspectives (March 29-30; Warrensburg, MO) This conference will investigate the range of issues surrounding the efforts to secure the homeland from threats of human origin and natural threats. It will examine best practices and assess and examine policies. The deadline for paper proposals is January 31. [View call for papers (163KB PDF)] AIAA Infotech @ Aerospace 2010 Conference and Exhibit (April 20-22; Atlanta) In the category “Information Technology Applications to Unmanned Systems,” discussions of homeland security and disaster response are especially welcome. The deadline for submitting abstracts is October 23. [View call for papers (873KB PDF)] Advances in Reactor Physics to Power the Nuclear Renaissance (May 9-14; Pittsburgh) Among the topics for which the conference is soliciting presentations is nuclear techniques for non-proliferation and homeland security. The deadline for submission of full papers is October 31. [View call for papers (344KB PDF)]