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Georgians get $67 million for homeland safety
Georgia cities and counties got another $67 million in homeland security funds Wednesday to be used for equipment and training in the nation's fight against terrorism. Asa Hutchinson, an undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, made the announcement at Cobb County Fire Station No. 8 in Kennesaw, where a medical response vehicle bought with homeland security money was unveiled. The bus, which cost about $346,000, would be used to respond to such things as biological or other emergencies at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Federal officials could also call it to any emergency medical situation in the state. About $45 million of the new money will be distributed to local governments for use by police, fire rescue and other "first responders," Hutchinson said. The Georgia Emergency Management Agency decides where the funds are distributed based on applications from cities and counties. Atlanta and MARTA will get another $12 million as part of a federal Urban Area Security Initiative program, Hutchinson said. The remaining $10 million could be spent bolstering security efforts on the state level or given to cities and counties for other uses.
www.ajc.com
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Terrorist threat center to lead intelligence analysis, collection efforts
The Bush administration on Tuesday announced that a new intelligence analysis center has expanded its mission to improve communications among intelligence agencies. The one-year-old Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC) is now the lead government entity responsible for analyzing intelligence related to international terrorism and tasked with collecting and analyzing terrorism-related intelligence by other agencies, including the CIA, FBI and Homeland Security Department. "Both of these roles are substantially different from what was originally envisioned when TTIC was created last year, and represent a significant expansion of TTIC's mission," Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a statement.
www.govexec.com
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Airport security still lax, covert testing discovers
Airport security remains lax despite billions of dollars and thousands of federal employees added since the Sept. 11 attacks, lawmakers were told Thursday. A pair of government investigations submitted to the House aviation subcommittee found that dangerous objects still get past security checkpoints. And they said neither government nor privately employed screeners performed their jobs well. The findings are "pretty scary," said Rep. John Mica, Republican of Florida, the panel's chairman. He plans to hold an emergency meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and other key agency officials in the next 10 days to discuss ways to tighten airport security. "We really ought to be doing a better job for all the money we're spending," said Mica, who threatened to subpoena Ridge and the others if they fail to respond to his request for a meeting. Congress created the Transportation Security Administration after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and ordered the agency to replace the privately employed screeners with a better-paid, better-trained federal work force. More than 50,000 screeners were hired.
www.cleveland.com
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IT on front lines of agroterrorism fight
State and local homeland security officials got a sneak peek today at a new system that may one day play a critical role in preventing a massive outbreak of food-borne diseases. Speaking at the North Central Regional Homeland Security Conference here (Omaha), state law enforcement and private-sector officials outlined what they consider an urgent need to get standardized IT tools into the hands of both cowboys and security officials to help identify and respond to acts of agroterrorism, the deliberate introduction of biological or chemical agents into the nation's food supply. And now the nation's farmers and livestock owners are getting help from an unlikely source: Science Applications and International Corp. (SAIC), a major Defense Department systems integrator. On April 1, SAIC completed a successful three-month pilot project for Clinton County, Ill., called the Interactive Livestock Emergency Response Tool (ILert). The system is among the first designed specifically for the farming and livestock industries and may contribute significantly to the need for standardized data for agroterrorism monitoring.
www.computerworld.com
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Companies' Reluctance to Report Cyberthefts Hampers Law Enforcement
It is a war in which the victims rarely report their casualties. Federal authorities say a new generation of cyberspies is quickly becoming one of the most serious threats facing corporate America -- routinely stealing sensitive and valuable secrets from the data banks of major firms. But in many cases, authorities say, the crimes go unreported and the victims remain silent. As a result, authorities say, efforts to fight the growing cyberthreat are being thwarted. "It's a huge problem," said Jan Gilhooly, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service in New Jersey. The Secret Service has jurisdiction in cases of computer-related crime. Gilhooly said inaction by business hampers law enforcement efforts both to protect the nation's financial and industrial infrastructure and to identify the sources of the threats. In New Jersey, investigators have tracked cases in which a major drug company and a telecommunications firm "were hacked into and their data on development of new products taken," Gilhooly said. "The research data, we know, went back to a foreign country," he added. The victims in these cases actively cooperated with the government. But such cooperation, he said, is the exception rather than the rule.
www.newhousenews.com
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Bioterrorism training starts at five UT health care facilities
To prepare for possible bioterrorism attacks, almost 20,000 state health providers are starting training at five University of Texas institutions. About 2,500 medical workers have already been through the course. Federal funding of $3.6 million for the two-year effort $3.6 million, came through earlier this month. "Is this really necessary? I think so," project leader Dr. Scott Lillibridge told the Houston Chronicle in Friday's editions. "Especially if you believe we find our nation in a war with terrorism that's likely to continue for some time." Lillibridge is director of the Center for Biosecurity and Public Health Preparedness at the University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston. Health professionals in the 13 hours of training learn about protocols to follow for different threats and what an attack scene might be like. They also learn who to report to if a suspicious infection turns up. hands-on practice in simulated disasters is provided through an advanced course.
www.dfw.com
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US Department of Justice cracks down on Warez sites
Led by the US Department of Justice, law enforcement agencies worldwide have swooped on the organised groups behind so-called 'warez' sites offering copyrighted material of everything from music, to movies to software. Raids occurred in 11 countries worldwide, including the United Kingdom. In the US alone 120 searches took place in 27 different states. 'We have moved aggressively to strike at the very core of the international online piracy world,' US Attorney General John Ashcroft said. Investigators taking part in 'Operation Fastlink' have impounded more than 200 computers, including 30 computer servers that operated as the hub. One such storage and distribution system found in the US allegedly contained 65,000 pirated titles worth an estimated $50 million. The announcement made by the DoJ said that the aim of the operation was to break up international piracy rings. The DoJ said that almost 100 people had been targeted although no charges have been made as yet.
www.pcpro.co.uk
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Highway department unveils high-tech center to monitor tunnels, roadways near bay
The Alabama Department of Transportation's new $2.3 million Traffic Management Center near the east end of Mobile's Bankhead Tunnel was presented to the public Wednesday afternoon, with speeches by DOT officials. The new TMC building on Blakeley Island contains the very latest high-tech equipment to monitor traffic on the Interstate 10 Causeway, Cochran-Africatown USA Bridge, the U.S. 998 Causeway, Bankhead and George C. Wallace tunnels and a short stretch of I-10 near the west end of Wallace Tunnel. Besides the 59 video cameras located at strategic points along the roadway, tunnels and bridge, the new system contains programmable electronic signs that warn of speed limit changes, the buildup of fog and other dangers. The cameras are connected to video recorders, and the tapes can be reviewed by law enforcement officers, center employees said Wednesday in response to questions from Mobile Police Chief Sam Cochran.
www.al.com
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Law Enforcement Strives To Expand Megan's Law
California sheriff's departments want to expand Megan's Law by making a list of child sex offenders available online, KERO reported. The departments want to put the initiative on the November ballot and allow California voters to decide whether the list should be on the Internet. A Senate committee has blocked a bill that would make the state's sex offender list more accessible to the public, it was reported Tuesday. Sheriff Mack Wimbish said he is disappointed that the Public Safety Committee rejected Sen. Jim Battin's legislation. Battin has now proposed seven similar bills without any luck. Wimbish said he is not surprised the legislation was once again rejected. He said he wants all the state's sex offenders names on the Internet, along with their address, employment and vehicle information.
www.thebakersfieldchannel.com
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House Asks 'What If,' Adopts Doomsday Strategy
For many members of Congress, one of the most indelible memories of Sept. 11 was being forced to flee the Capitol amid reports that terrorists had hijacked a fourth airliner and were bent on decimating the legislative branch of the government. While no such attack occurred, the shock of what might have been spurred an all-out effort to develop plans for assuring that the legislative branch quickly recover from a devastating blow. But three years later, the once-bipartisan issue has become just one more object of political wrangling ? as shown by House action Thursday on a measure that Republicans praised but Democrats said could render Congress unable to respond to a crisis. As approved, the House measure provides for special elections to be held within 45 days if more than 100 of the House's 435 seats become vacant. It calls for state political parties to nominate one candidate for each vacant seat within 10 days after the speaker of the House declares a national emergency.
www.latimes.com
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