[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
USSN Link 009-04 (February 27, 2004) (fwd)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2004 11:02:07 -0500
From: JimKing@xxxxxxxx
To: "goodman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <goodman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: USSN Link 009-04 (February 27, 2004)
If this e-mail does not show up in its correct formatting, please point
your browser to this address:
http://www.ussn.org/content/contentCT.asp?P=179
Thank you,
GSC Staff
[Link%20Header%20009-04.jpg]
www.USSN.org
DISCLAIMER
THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS REPORT HAS BEEN ASSEMBLED FROM A
VARIETY OF SOURCES AND IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.
INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS REPORT IS PROVIDED AS RECEIVED AND DOES
NOT CONSTITUTE AN ENDORSEMENT BY THE US SECURITY NETWORK, ANY MEMBER
COMPANY, OR PARTICIPATING PUBLIC AGENCIES.
INFORMATION MAY BE REPEATED, AS IT IS EXTRACTED EXACTLY AS PRESENTED BY
THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
[Red%20Bar%20.jpg]
Secretary Tom Ridge on the One-Year Anniversary of the Department of
Homeland Security
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxx
Groove networked in to Homeland Security project
The Dept. of Homeland Security demonstrated Thursday a massive new
network that uses software from Beverly-based Groove Networks Inc.
Groove did not specify the amount of revenue it received for
contributing to the project. Groove's software allows people to
collaborate on projects using the Internet. It is a contractor on the
Homeland Security Information Network, which was scheduled to be
unveiled Thursday in Washington, D.C. The system allows agencies to
exchange photos, maps and video feeds to respond to crises or threats.
HSIN expands on an existing network called the Joint Regional
Information Exchange System, which also uses Groove software. JRIES
enables federal, state and local agencies to share intelligence and
tactical information. Eventually, HSIN will be used by agencies in 50
states, five territories, tribal governments and 50 major urban areas,
as well as by organizations in the private sector. Homeland Security
will be using the network by this fall.
boston.bizjournals.com
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxx
Microsoft's Homeland Security
Viruses. Worms. Creepy, crawly things nobody likes to worry about, and
certainly not in the virtual world. Nevertheless, Microsoft at a
security conference yesterday addressed those concerns by discussing a
string of "active protection" initiatives to make its products safer. It
makes sense that all eyes would be on the technology giant's security
plans, considering its recent rep as needing a security boost. Bill
Gates exhibited an upcoming Windows XP Service Pack (due out later this
year) that includes security-friendly features where users can check
their antivirus software and whether they have applied all critical
patches. In addition, firewalls will be part of default installation.
Microsoft's deal with RSA Security will enhance security past the usual
username and password system, stepping it up to include a keychain-like
device, requiring authorized personnel to enter a code that changes on a
minute-by-minute basis. Also, there's a proposed "caller ID for email"
to combat spam. Such a function is something many of us non-techie folks
can relate to. I use caller ID to screen out anything that looks like a
telemarketer, and I'm addicted to knowing who's on the phone before I
answer. It addresses spam as one of the highest-profile issues around,
but it's probably still a ways off.
www.fool.com
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxx
UTSA students help market Department of Homeland Security
The Department of Homeland Security has selected the University of Texas
at San Antonio (UTSA) to help develop a marketing campaign to recruit
individuals to work for the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE). ICE is the Department of Homeland Security's
investigative arm, overseeing the functions of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service and U.S. Custom Service. For the next 10 weeks,
UTSA professor Tina Lowrey and 24 of her MBA students will research,
budget, program and execute an integrated marketing campaign for ICE.
UTSA is only one of five schools selected to participate in the ICE Peer
Marketing Program nationwide. They will present their initial marketing
pitch on March 2. Last semester, Lowrey's graduate-level business
students worked to develop a recruitment campaign for the FBI as a class
project. UTSA officials say Lowrey is considering making the assignment
a permanent part of her coursework, by working with different agencies.
sanantonio.bizjournals.com
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxx
Law Enforcement Associates Added to Federal Counterdrug Tech Program
Surveillance and technology security firm Law Enforcement Associates
(LEA) Corp. has been selected to participate in the Counterdrug
Technology Assessment Center's (CTAC) Technology Transfer Program. The
program, which is sponsored by the Office of National Drug Control
Policy and administered by the U.S. Army Electronic Proving Ground,
helps local law enforcement improve their counterdrug capabilities by
providing federally funded technologies to local and state law
enforcement agencies. The aim of the CTAC technology transfer program is
to identify emerging technologies that can improve officer safety and
aid in criminal apprehension. The program will make available LEA?s
wireless video kit, which uses RF technology to provide law enforcement
personnel with a tool for recording audio and video in undercover
situations.
www.localtechwire.com
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxx
New technology drives changes in border policy
The infrastructure at border crossings and other points of entry to the
United States will look completely different in the next few years,
driven in part by new technologies, a senior Homeland Security
Department official said last week. "We're halfway through restructuring
our border policy," said Stewart Verdery, assistant secretary for policy
and planning at Homeland Security's directorate on border and
transportation security. "In a couple of years, [crossing the border] is
going to be a hell of a lot different than it is today." Verdery made
the comments after a speech to the Heritage Foundation. But changes may
not happen as quickly as Congress and some others want. Verdery said
only three or four nations appear to be on track to complying with a law
requiring that they implement biometric-readable passports to enter the
United States by late October 2004. He said Homeland Security is working
with Congress on the possibility of changing that deadline.
www.govexec.com
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxx
US livestock ID program to begin this year - USDA
A national livestock identification system will begin to be put into
effect this year, one of the government's responses to the first U.S.
case of mad cow disease, a senior Agriculture Department official said
on Thursday. Scott Charbo, USDA's chief information officer, said he
would make recommendations to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman in
coming months on the shape of the animal ID system. Open questions
include whether the system will be mandatory and how costs will be
shared, if at all, he said in remarks at the USDA's annual outlook
forum. Charbo began looking at options soon after the Dec. 23 discovery
of the nation's first case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform
encephalitis. Veneman directed Charbo to oversee an acceleration of
adoption of a tracking system that could trace within 48 hours the
history of livestock as a step to protect food safety and animal health
in the event of a disease outbreak. There are 1 million farms, ranches
and feedlots that produce livestock and 2,000 slaughterhouses, according
to USDA, so creation of an ID system will be a massive task. One-half of
the cow-calf operators have no animal ID system at all, according to
USDA data.
www.agriculture.com
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxx
US Homeland Security Chair likens 'cyberterrorists' to Al Qaeda
US President Bush's Homeland Security Assistant this week stopped just
short of referring to hackers as Al Qaeda terrorists in a keynote at the
RSA Conference in San Francisco. But Gen. John Gordon, who also serves
as chairman of the Homeland Security Council, did not balk at drawing
key distinctions between the importance of securing the United States
from terrorist attacks and protecting the internet from possibly
debilitating cyber attacks. Speaking to attendees Wednesday afternoon,
Gordon said that terrorists and so-called cyberterrorists -- people that
use the internet to wreak havoc on the everyday lives of American
citizens -- have some key similarities in their tactics. "The [Al Qaeda]
enemy fights from the shadows," Gordon said. "This is similar to the
cyberterrorist community." Both types of attackers also can carry out
their plans on limited resources and can make multiple attempts to
succeed in mounting an attack, he said. Gordon said that whether someone
detonates a bomb that causes bodily harm to innocent people or hacks
into a web-based IT system in a way that could, for instance, take a
power grid offline and result in a blackout, the result is ostensibly
the same; both are acts of terrorism. But rather than focus on
identifying the individuals staging such the attacks, the Homeland
Security Council must focus on creating more secure systems to deter and
prevent them, he said.
www.itnews.com.au
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxx
Cybersecurity vendors form policy group
A collection of technology providers working in the online-security
sector announced the formation of a new industry oversight organization
Wednesday, in the name of establishing common ground among vendors,
legislators and users to discuss threats to Internet safety. Introduced
at security software maker RSA's ongoing conference in San Francisco,
the group has been christened the Cyber Security Industry Alliance
(CSIA) and will be headed by Paul Kurtz, a former special assistant to
the president who has worked on technology issues for the White House's
Homeland Security Council. Among the 12 companies represented in the
organization are security specialists such as Check Point Software,
Computer Associates International, Entrust, Internet Security Systems,
Network Associates, Symantec and RSA. The group announced plans to
outline its agenda over the coming weeks, but representatives said CSIA
would focus primarily on four topics related to Internet security:
policy, education, standards and increasing public awareness of Web
safety issues.
msnbc.msn.com
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxx
Air Marshals Get Extra Help Policing the Skies
With limited resources and thousands of flights with which to concern
themselves each day, the Department of Homeland Security has taken an
unusual step to protect travelers flying the skies. The government
announced Tuesday that it has decided to recruit Secret Service and
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers to share air marshal
duties while those agents are already flying as part of their normal
course of business. "The future in law enforcement is to be joint. We
have to be joint at all levels, and we have to be able to utilize the
resources of each organization to be able to continue this war on
terrorism," said Thomas Quinn, director of the Federal Air Marshal
Service. Since Secret Service and Customs agents take tens of thousands
of flights for business each year and are already trusted federal
agents, DHS officials decided to coordinate their travel schedules so
that air marshals will be diverted from flights where Secret Service and
Customs agents are already expected to be present. That way, air
marshals won't overlap on flights with other federal agents, and can be
deployed to protect other routes.
www.foxnews.com
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxx
Homeland Security unveils technology advisory panel
The Homeland Security Department on Thursday unveiled its new 18-member
science and technology advisory committee. The body, mandated under the
2002 law that created the department, consists of top government and
industry scientists with expertise in various fields deemed essential to
homeland security. In remarks to panel members at their first meeting,
Charles McQueary, Homeland Security's undersecretary for science and
technology, said their expertise will be vital in helping the department
ready equipment to protect the country from terrorism. "This division
has the responsibility to provide the best science directly to our
operational units. It's very important to me that this organization help
deliver things," McQueary said. "The real important responsibility we
have is to engage in scientific areas that will provide capabilities to
the nation's first responders" to emergencies.
www.govexec.com
[Red%20Bar%20.jpg]
The US Security Network is an initiative of the GA Security Council, a
501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization.
Please forward your feedback to JIMKING@xxxxxxxx or call at (404)
525-9991.
If you would like to subscribe to this publication please click here.
To opt out of future mailings, click here.