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A senior official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced new immigration procedures designed to streamline the processing of legal immigrants. Speaking in Washington Tuesday, Homeland Security immigration specialist Prakash Khatri said his office has recommended steps, including using state of the art technology, to speed-up the process in which parents, children or spouses of U.S. citizens can get their permanent resident cards, or green cards. Mr. Khatri says under the present system, the wait for a green card in New York City can take three years or more. He says a pilot program for the new system in Dallas was able to process green cards in 75 days or less. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxTechnologies and Solutions for Homeland Security Requirements Exhibited at GOVSEC Information Technology (IT) products and services designed to support the war against terrorism will be a prominent focus of GOVSEC, The Government Security Expo and Conference, July 28-29 at the Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. National, state, and local government officials responsible for the securing their agency's information assets can participate in eight conference sessions to discuss the foremost concerns for public sector IT security professionals. Attendees will hear from government and industry experts involved in information security policy, strategy, and technology implementations, and learn about key government regulations such as the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). Sessions topics include policies and regulations for security programs, strategies for managing secure enterprises, case studies and practical analysis of proven technologies in use today, and a look into emerging security technologies. GOVSEC IT, a special pavilion located within the GOVSEC Exposition, is designed to give attendees an opportunity to identify, evaluate, and compare multiple security tools and strategies at once. More than 85 IT vendors will showcase up-to-the minute technologies -- including encryption and authentication, secure communications, identity management and credentialing, biometrics and more. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Homeland Security deploys armies of sensors in war against terrorism The Homeland Security Department’s Science and Technology Directorate is trying to make security at airports, bridges and city streets as unobtrusive as possible. “We have been successful in the best possible way,” said Marc Hollander, deputy assistant secretary for plans programs and budget. “People walk right by our sensors, don’t notice them and don’t have to think about whether there is a chemical, biological or radiation threat.” The directorate, in existence a little more than a year, has fielded devices that sense whether there are dangerous elements in the air. For example, Washington-area commuters give little notice to devices placed on subway platforms. “It made a humming noise, and people would glance at them, but nobody realized they were chemical sensors,” Hollander said July 20 at an Industry Advisory Council forum in Washington. Newer sensors are much smaller. Law enforcement officers wear biological and chemical sensors the size of beepers, Hollander said. The directorate also has sensors at ports that peer right inside shipping containers that might hold hazardous material. “We have been amazed by the things people have tried to sneak in,” Hollander said. The directorate has a budget of $987 million in 2004, and House and Senate appropriators have approved more than $1 billion for 2005. The directorate has more technology in the works aimed at protecting the public. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx New Homeland Security Web Page Delivers NIMS Guidance The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced the creation of a centralized Web portal to serve as a resource for emergency managers and first responders related to the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The NIMS Web page, www.fema.gov/nims, is designed to offer emergency managers on an on-going basis a complete listing of NIMS requirements, tools and resources, and general information on Homeland Security’s new incident management and maintenance tool. President Bush directed the creation of NIMS as a means to develop a standardized incident management approach to emergency incidents and streamline coordination at the federal, state and local levels. “This Web page reflects our emphasis on developing tools and sharing information that will help incident managers and responders at all levels integrate NIMS into their operations,” said Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response. “Our ability to provide a central location that collects the most current resources available to support NIMS integration allows us to directly support states’ and communities’ preparedness and response activities related to NIMS. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Outgoing TSA official cites progress, challenges The Transportation Security Administration's outgoing deputy administrator lauded the work his agency has done, particularly in the area of aviation security, but said major challenges rest on the horizon in securing other forms of transportation and balancing federal budget requests with actual needs. During an interview Tuesday with Government Executive, Stephen McHale, who will resign the No. 2 post at the end of July, took issue with criticism that TSA's work in securing aviation and managing a workforce of 45,000 federal passenger and baggage screeners is not as effective as it could be. "I'm incredibly proud of what we achieved, but it hasn't been perfect and wasn't without an awful lot of pain for a lot of people, including our screeners," he said. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxGovernors engage in terror simulation Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge gave governors a taste of terror Monday, playing out a simulated "tabletop" bioterrorism attack and likely responses -- from trying to keep the public informed and calm to carrying out massive vaccinations. Gathered for the final day of a National Governors Association meeting, state leaders brought their concerns about homeland security to the simulation. Some worried about administrative logjams over money. Others talked of pressure on the National Guard. "How do the state government, local governments and federal government interact? That's why we're here," Ridge said. "The homeland is secure when the hometowns are secure." The exercise comes at a critical time, with increased chatter about a potential attack during the election season -- even as Ridge's agency has kept the official terror alert at "yellow," the midpoint on the five-step terror alert system. Behind closed doors, governors were faced with a scenario of simultaneous bioterrorist attacks in cities in several states, then discussed responses through several steps: the first credible report; engaging law enforcement, intelligence and information officials; then deploying stockpiled vaccines. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Big companies employing snoopers for staff email Large companies are now so concerned about the contents of the electronic communications leaving their offices that they're employing staff to read employees' outgoing emails. According to research from Forrester Consulting, 44 per cent of large corporations in the US now pay someone to monitor and snoop on what's in the company's outgoing mail, with 48 per cent actually regularly auditing email content. The Proofpoint-sponsored study found the motivation for the mail paranoia was mostly due to fears that employees were leaking confidential memos and other sensitive information, such as intellectual property or trade secrets, with 76 per cent of IT decision makers concerned about the former and 71 per cent concerned about the latter. Porn and ropey jokes still figure on the list of concerns for execs, though, with 64 per cent admitting to worrying about "inappropriate content and attachments" on the emails. What worries those in charge of tech most about their staff emails differs depending on the size of the business, the study found. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Logan to be test site for biometric security American Airlines frequent flyers will test a new biometric security system at Logan Airport next month intended to shorten the wait for frequent flyers. Travelers are being invited to participate by airlines. Prospective participants must undergo a 20-minute application process at a kiosk set up at the airport, and are informed after a week whether they qualify. The Transportation Security Administration is limiting the test to 2,000 people at each airport. The system has been used at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for three weeks, and debuts at Los Angeles International Airport this week. The system is being tested over 90 days in each location. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Athens bomb fuels fears for security at Olympics A petrol bomb attack yesterday against a culture ministry building in central Athens has underlined continuing fears about security during the August 13 to 29 summer Olympics. A police official said the attack did not cause any injuries. The building houses an exhibition about the Olympics that has been on display for several years. The culture ministry holds overall responsibility for staging the Athens games. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Greek anarchist groups have staged hundreds of similar attacks against cars and businesses in Athens, but the number declined this year as security in the capital was tightened in the run-up to the games. An Athens-based security analyst warned that low-level attacks against games-related venues could disrupt sports events and movement around the capital during the games. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 15 on Investigative Leave at Los Alamos Fifteen employees at the Los Alamos National Laboratory were placed on leave amid an investigation into the disappearance of two computer disks containing classified information, the director of the nuclear weapons lab said Thursday. Four other employees also were placed on leave by Director Pete Nanos in a separate investigation involving an intern at the lab who suffered a serious eye injury from a laser. Nanos said the workers were stripped of their badges and will not be allowed back in until their cases are resolved. They can show up at the lab only for purposes of the investigation. ``We've essentially moved them aside,'' Nanos said. He did not identify the workers or say what they may have done wrong. Of the jobs they perform, he said: ``Suffice to say it's all levels.'' Of the 15 employees on leave over the missing disks, Nanos said 11 had access to a safe where the classified material was stored. |
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