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MISSISSIPPI DEPLOYS NEW HOMELAND SECURITY SYSTEM TO HELP LOCAL PUBLIC SAFETY TEAMS FIGHT CRIME AND TERRORISM
IBM today announced the successful initial deployment of the Mississippi Automated System Project (ASP), a mobile data infrastructure that links local law enforcement and public safety agencies in a single database. When complete, this project will provide mobile units with real-time access to all available public safety information including mug shots, arrest warrants, criminal intelligence, hazardous materials data and medical emergency protocols enhancing their ability to prevent and respond to incidents that pose a danger to the public. "It is critical that all of our first responders have instant access to the critical information that can save lives, speed arrests and ensure public safety," said Major Julian Allen, Ph.D., director of the Automated System Project. "IBM and Tarantella have delivered a secure and robust server/software solution that provides this secure remote access capability without any single point of failure." Through the efforts of US Senators Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Trent Lott (R-MS), Federal funding was secured for this pilot project that could eventually become a national model for linking more states together using a centralized software applications model.
www.linuxpr.com
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Homeland Security Warns Against Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer continues to have vulnerabilities that allow unauthorized access to computers, US-CERT has warned. The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) is a partnership between the Department of Homeland Security and the public and private sectors. It was established in September 2003 to protect the nation's Internet infrastructure against cyber-attacks. "There are a number of significant vulnerabilities in technologies relating to the IE domain/zone security model, the DHTML object model, MIME type determination, and ActiveX," said CERT in its vulnerability note. "It is possible to reduce exposure to these vulnerabilities by using a different Web browser, especially when browsing un-trusted sites." However, using a different browser could reduce the functionality of sites that require IE-specific features, CERT says. More alarmingly, it warns that "using a different Web browser will not remove IE from a Windows system, and other programs may invoke IE, the WebBrowser ActiveX control, or the HTML rendering engine (MSHTML).
wireless.newsfactor.com
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Homeland Security fee proposed for international students
The U.S. government is about to do something that will add an extra expense for the hundreds of international students who come to Hawaii to attend the University of Hawaii, Hawaii Pacific University, the Hawaii campus of Brigham Young University and other schools. The Department of Homeland Security has printed a proposed rule, appearing in Thursday's edition of the Federal Register, to require international students and scholars visiting America to pay a $100 fee to register in the Homeland Security database, effective Sept. 1. The fee is designed to defray the costs of the program, whose objective is to track students while they are in the United States. While all Hawaii universities have the potential to be affected by this, the $100 fee will be felt the most by the student body of Hawaii Pacific University, whose student population is, by design, about one third local, one third mainland, and one third international.
pacific.bizjournals.com
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Ashcroft: Atlanta possible al-Qaida target
Attorney General John Ashcroft warned metro Atlanta on Tuesday to be alert this summer for a possible al-Qaida attack. "We face serious challenges, imminent danger," said Ashcroft, speaking in downtown Atlanta. "Al-Qaida wants to hit us and hit us hard, especially sometime during this year ? summer or fall." Because of its importance to the country's economy and air traffic system, Atlanta could be a target, the attorney general said. "This leads us to believe we should do everything we can to mobilize our resources and cooperate, particularly in conjunction with state and local authorities." Credible intelligence indicates al-Qaida has plans that "are largely in place" to attack the United States soon, Ashcroft said, listing as possible targets July Fourth holiday celebrations or the upcoming Democratic and Republican conventions. Ashcroft made similar statements a month ago at about the same time Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge appeared to downplay threats, saying the new intelligence was not unlike what authorities had detected over the past several years. Ridge also said the government did not plan to raise the nation's terror alert level. A few days later, Ashcroft and Ridge issued a joint statement saying they were working together to deter any attacks attempted this summer.
www.news-journal.com
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Lawmaker seeks biometric ID cards for aviation security workers
Frustrated by the lack of progress to control access to sensitive areas at the nation's airports, a House lawmaker plans to introduce a bill after the July Fourth recess that aims to push the Homeland Security Department to act swiftly. Florida Republican John Mica, chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee, said before the break that he would introduce the bill when lawmakers return next week. Mica said the department must issue standards for biometric technology -- which includes facial recognition, iris scans, hand readers and scanned fingerprints -- to help create uniform identification cards for law enforcement officials, pilots, flight attendants and others who work in secure areas. A Mica spokesman said on Friday that the bill would include a deadline for establishing standards for the advanced technology. "It's still in the formative stages," he said of the legislation.
www.govexec.com
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Ports boost security against terror threat
Canadian ports have implemented new security rules as part of a worldwide agreement between 147 nations to secure ports against potential terrorist attacks. The new security regulations have been put in effect on the day the U.S. Coast Guard denied entry to three foreign ships that planned to enter U.S. ports. From now on, all foreign-flagged ships will be inspected and required to show that they meet the standards of the new international security code. Ships are now required to have a security officer on board, an alarm system, with restricted access to engine rooms and the bridge. Those who fail to comply with the new regulations face tough penalties. "There will be a point in entry where if they don't comply, we can conceivably exercise the right to ban them from the United States. And that's the only way we can operate," said Tom Ridge, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security.
www.ctv.ca
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FBI Warns Home-Made Mines May Lurk in U.S. Waters
Home-made bombs and mines hidden in inner tubes or other harmless-looking flotsam may be bobbing in U.S. waters, a confidential FBI bulletin warned shortly before new anti-terror shipping laws take effect. The FBI report, issued last Wednesday and titled "Potential Indicators of Floating Improvised Explosive Devices or Terrorist Improvised Mines" said the agency knew of no specific planned attack, an FBI official told Reuters on Monday. But he said the bulletin sought to warn local, state and federal authorities that such attacks could take place. "This is information that is disseminated on a weekly basis in order to provide law enforcement with current, relevant terrorism information," the official said. "This particular one dealt with the potential indicators of floating improvised explosive devices." U.S. officials have repeatedly voiced concerns about possible seaborne attacks since the bombings of the U.S. warship Cole in 2000 and the French tanker Limburg in 2002 in Yemen. Fears of militant activity in the United States have increased in the run-up to elections in November. The warning about possible home-made explosives in suspicious floating objects came about a week before new UN security codes designed to avert maritime terrorist attacks come into force on July 1.
www.reuters.com
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Athens Olympic Security Network Nears Completion After Delays
Siemens AG and its partners will complete a 255 million-euro ($312 million) security network for the Athens Olympics by July 10, six weeks later than originally planned because of delays in building Olympic venues. The group, led by San Diego-based Science Applications International Corp., got access to the main stadium in May, six months behind schedule, Dionysios Dendrinos, general manager of the Siemens division working on the project, told reporters in Athens. The project is now 95 percent complete, he said. The system linking sea and air surveillance with cameras and sensors in and around Olympic arenas is central to security plans for the first Summer Games since the Sept. 11 attacks. In February 2003, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said he had ``serious concerns'' delays in signing contracts for the security network would prevent proper training of personnel. The delays haven't prevented training of security workers, because command centers are up and running, Dendrinos said. Training is ``going on all the time, exercises are on all the time,'' he said. The project accounts for about a quarter of the 1 billion euros Greece has budgeted for Olympic security. The planned spending is about five times what Australia spent to protect athletes and spectators at the 2000 Games in Sydney.
quote.bloomberg.com
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Law enforcement getting ready for holiday weekend
If you are on Hall County roads this July 4 weekend, you will likely see more sheriff's patrol cars on the road. Sgt. Kiley Sargent said they will have twice the usual number of patrol units on the road. "We are looking for any aggressive and unsafe driving," Sargent says, " really concentrating on removing DUIs, speeders - just any kind of unsafe driving." The state patrol predicts 14 people will die statewide in 2,044 accidents that yield 665 injuries between 6:00 p.m. Friday and midnight Sunday. Last July Fourth weekend, in the 13-county northeast Georgia region, there were 225 accidents, with 78 injuries and one fatality. Statewide, there were 2,453 accidents with 711 injuries and 14 fatalities.
www.accessnorthga.com
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Lawmakers back full funding for data-sharing center
The Homeland Security Department's nerve center for analyzing and sharing information about potential terrorist threats would receive significant funding next year under pending legislation. The House and Senate have proposed matching President Bush's request for $35 million to fund the Homeland Security Operations Center in fiscal 2005. The House passed its bill, H.R. 4567, on June 18 by a vote of 400-5; the Senate measure, S. 2537, is awaiting floor action. The Washington-based center employs officials from various agencies like the CIA, FBI and National Security Agency, as well as a state and local representative. They analyze incoming intelligence data and share the relevant information with law enforcement officials. The center also issues the controversial color-coded advisory warnings that inform Americans about terrorist risks ranking from low (green) to severe (red).
www.govexec.com
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