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Thank you, USSN Staff
DISCLAIMERTHE 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
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Safety and security have weighed heavily on the minds of real estate practitioners in Atlanta, Ga., since the murder of two agents at Morrison Homes' Oakwind subdivision in Powder Springs earlier this week. A number of firms now are thinking about installing security cameras or creating emergency hotlines, while others are simply reviewing safety procedures with their agents or putting upcoming open houses on the back burner. The Atlanta Board of Realtors and several offices in the metropolitan area already offer security training, and First Multiple Listing Service posts descriptions and other information about suspicious individuals who have generated complaints from agents on its Web site. Some of the basic precautions agents should take when in the field include letting the client into the home first; parking in the street--not the driveway--to allow a fast getaway; working in pairs; carrying a cell phone to call a colleague or the police if they feel uncomfortable; frequently checking in with the office; and using an emergency code word to inform co-workers of an unsafe situation. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As world events continue to raise geopolitical risks and organizations grapple with tighter budgets, many companies have started revising their overseas travel policies. In light of the prolonged economic downturn and rising political tensions, many organizations are restricting long-term excursions for employees and top-level executives. While stopping short of eliminating overseas travel altogether, organizations have significantly curtailed the percentage of employees they station abroad and amended their risk management policies. The decline in the expatriate population has resulted in organizations instead relying on new technologies to maintain global communication. For example, both teleconferencing and videoconferencing have seen a marked increase in use since Sept. 11, 2001. Risk experts cite 9/11 and the war in Iraq as primary reasons for the policy change. Jennifer Igval, director of consulting services for workforce and mobility management company Cendant Mobility, agrees that companies are stepping up safety and security measures in higher-risk areas, noting that "there is now a heightened focus on contingency planning, alternative work options, and security." xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is making plans to add 650 security screeners to the 45,000 screeners who are already providing security at the nation's airports. About 150 new screeners will be added to the Washington, D.C., area's three top airports, as all three of those airports are considered to be low on security screeners, says Deirdre O'Sullivan, spokeswoman for the TSA. Addressing several recent, notable security lapses at the nation's airports, including box cutters discovered aboard planes, O'Sullivan says that the TSA performs "human performance standards" on all security screeners to ensure they are capable of performing at a high level. The TSA is currently taking applications for the new screener positions. The applicants have been forced to participate in FBI background checks, including photographing and fingerprinting, and were also put to rigorous testing by the TSA. That testing including tests of eyesight, strength, personality, and ability to recognize objects solely by touch. Applicants who are hired will then take 40 hours of classroom instruction and 60 hours of on-the-job training. The TSA conducts "vulnerability probes" on a daily basis to determine whether its active screeners are doing a good job of keeping illegal items off airplanes. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
James McGinty, who served 24 years in the Philadelphia Police Department, says schools should plan for violence just as they do for fires. A child is more likely to die from a school shooting than from a fire, says McGinty, noting that more than 100 individuals have died as a result of gun violence in schools over the past five years. At a two-day seminar on school violence in Cheyenne, Wyo., McGinty recommended that schools lock their doors during school hours, request that visitors sign in, and keep the campus closed during lunchtime. He also advised schools to replace obsolete evacuation plans with lockdown schemes, which allow police to confront the danger immediately instead of having to clear every room first. McGinty urged schools to be ready to face a Columbine High School-type incident at any time. He added that school violence is identical to workplace incidents except for a difference in age. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
State and local law enforcement officials would be given access to national-security intelligence information gathered by the FBI under terms of new data-sharing guidelines that Attorney General John D. Ashcroft will announce Wednesday. The FBI would be empowered to share some national-security intelligence with state and local officials "for the purpose of preventing or responding to a threat to national security or public safety," according to the new guidelines. The information shared could include warnings about specific groups or individuals, but classified information would be available only to those with the proper credentials. The guidelines will be a boon to local authorities, who have complained in the past that the FBI's threat information is not helpful because it is vague. In addition, the guidelines also broaden the FBI's ability to gather intelligence by ruling that the FBI may use all legally permitted "authorities and investigative techniques," meaning that the FBI will be allowed to use the same investigative tools during a preliminary investigation as it normally would in a full investigation. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A Homeland Security Department official briefed lawmakers last week on progress made at the department to implement new technologies for combating terrorist threats. "We are shaping the [science and technology division] to serve as the department's hub for research and development for exposing and countering chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, high-explosive and cyber threats," Penrose (Parney) Albright, an assistant secretary at the department, said in prepared testimony before a House Homeland Security subcommittee. Albright said that within his division are "portfolios" to focus on the different directorates at the department, including border and transportation security, intelligence analysis and critical infrastructure, and emergency preparedness and response. The department also is focused on developing standards for technologies used by local, state and federal officials, he said. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Retail loss, or "shrink" can be attributed to a number of causes, including shoplifting, robberies, cashier theft, and employee or vendor mistakes. Shrink can be grouped into four categories: internal, external, administrative, and vendor. Internal shrink causes the most damage to U.S. retailers, with cashier theft being the main culprit, accounting for 65 percent of internal shrink. Cashier theft can be carried out in many different ways, including fraudulent refund activity, fraudulent credit card activity, fraudulent use of the void key, switching bar codes on merchandise, and short-changing the customer. One of the best ways to avoid internal shrink is for companies to reduce their employee turnover rates, according to the 2002 National Retail Security Survey. Companies can reduce their turnover rates by improving the tools and methods they use during the pre-employment screening process. These screening methods include honesty-predictor testing, criminal background checks, drug testing, and employment and references verification. A number of loss-prevention technological solutions for internal theft are also available, including access control, advanced CCTV applications, POS exception monitoring applications, and case management applications. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Companies are opting for further monitoring programs to keep track of staff members and their productivity levels. Paralegals and receptionists are required to place their finger on a sensor at Akin & Smith LLC to ensure that workers are at their desks and taking appropriately timed breaks. The law firm contends that the new biometric system has been successful in increasing productivity and keeping employees honest. Mitsubishi plant workers log their work hours on their desktop computers, which can be accessed by managers to determine what workers have shown up on time and how many are actually on the plant floor at any given time. The National Workrights Institute claims that the biometric systems invade privacy needlessly, and hinders workers' abilities to be individuals with different needs than their co-workers. However, managers see the systems as a way to determine which workers are dedicated and which have been lying about the hours they spent in the office working. Companies like the systems because they reduce overtime abuses and improve scheduling, allowing managers to have more control over budgets and productivity goals. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A team of researchers at UCLA and the University of California at Berkeley expects to determine the effects of wide-scale coordinated cyberattacks on the Internet and how such assaults could be repelled by building an Internet simulation they will lay siege to with the help of a $5.46 million grant from the Homeland Security Department and the National Science Foundation. The objective of such experiments, which should be taking place by spring 2004, is to furnish more data for policy-makers in charge of administering network security, and to help industry develop more hacker-resistant defense measures. Carrying out such tests on the real Internet is untenable, because "you can't afford to break [the Internet]," explains S. Shankar Sastry of UC Berkeley. Although the Cyber Defense Technology Experimental Research Network (DETER) will not match the real Internet in terms of scale, it is hoped its behavior will be comparable. DETER attacks what many security experts consider to be a flaw in current network defense strategy: The focus on security products such as antivirus software and firewalls, when in fact the real weaknesses reside in the Internet's infrastructure and the software that is run on it. "[DETER] brings us out of the realm of speculation to what can happen, what defenses will be effective, and analyzing the effectiveness of the defense before we make large investments in it," posits Cyber Defense Agency President O. Sami Saydjari. University of Pennsylvania computer science professor Jonathan Smith lauds DETER, believing it will be an excellent project for testing cyberattack scenarios that for now only exist as theoretical possibilities. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
School systems are emerging as one of the newest markets for Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. Schools have turned to the technology due to increasing concerns about school violence, school bus hijackings, terrorist attacks, and kidnapping. GPS technology allows parents and school officials to keep track of students' whereabouts, even if the student happens to be on a field trip 3,000 miles away. California-based Wherify Wireless produces wireless location-detection products and services, including a GPS locator that a child can wear like a wristwatch. The locator can pinpoint a child's location to within 30 meters. Parents can track their child's location by logging onto the Wherify Wireless Web site and entering a security code; the site gives parents tracking options, including viewing their child's location on a street map similar to the kind found on MapQuest. If parents determine there is an emergency with their child, they can use the site to declare an emergency or call Wherify and the company will call 911. Some schools are using GPS technology to track students' movements as they arrive and depart from campus, while other schools have tested the technology on school buses. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Aug. 14 blackout forced power-industry executives to recognize the need to upgrade transmission networks, but analysts and security experts are calling the blackout a warning about the vulnerabilities of the outmoded, intrusion-prone computers that control the grid to domestic and foreign terrorists. Two of the main problems are a lack of regulatory oversight of the equipment and the connection of power-company computers to the Internet, according to Jerry Brady, CTO of security-services company Guardent and Alex Bakman, CEO of security-software design company Ecora Software. However, Brady says changes on these issues made by any one power company does not amount to much. The federal government needs to impose rate-structure and interconnectivity solutions. Holes in a utility's network can be created through innocent actions, such as allowing a company worker access to the corporate network from home, but those holes can be exploited by foreign terrorists, disgruntled workers, and hackers. William Flynte, former director of the U.S. Army's Homeland Infrastructure Security Threats Office, suggests that utilities maintain a patch-management program to protect against computer worms and viruses, activate firewall software, disable unnecessary network services, install intrusion-detection systems, and bar remote access to corporate networks. Flynte also advocates the creation of a new executive position that would combine physical plant security with cyber security in a single job. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Transportation Security Administration has altered the way it screens communications at its contact center as a result of a security breach last month, an agency spokesman said Monday. Bags containing box cutters, bleach, matches and simulated bombs were found on two Southwest Airlines planes last month during routine maintenance checks, prompting TSA to order a search of every commercial plane in the country. An FBI investigation later revealed that a 20-year-old college student from Baltimore, Nathaniel Heatwole, had smuggled the items onto the planes five weeks earlier to test airport security, and then emailed TSA with detailed information about the location of the bags and how he could be contacted. Last week, the chairman and ranking member of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security sent Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge a letter asking for an accounting of Heatwole's communication with TSA and why the agency did not act or notify Southwest Airlines.
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