Canada Trade Minister Says Security Is Stifling Trade
Dec 13, 2007
Washington's overriding concern for security and its heightened protectionism are hurting the world's largest trading relationship, Canada's Trade Minister David Emerson said.
In the prepared text of a speech he was delivering to the Miami Conference, Emerson had tough words for his country's top trading partner, criticizing Washington for "escalating protectionist rhetoric" and a "rigidity of mindset" that he says is damaging cross-border business, Reuters reports.
"We see 'security' trumping all else in ways that are now hurting cross-border trade, and the legitimate and beneficial movement of people," Emerson said....
DHS Shares 2007 Highlights From A Tough Year
Dec 13, 2007
The terrorist threat to the United States has not abated despite government steps in the past year to tighten rules for people and goods that enter the country, the nation's chief of Homeland security concedes.
"The fact that we have not had a terrorist attack on this country in the last six years is not a cause for complacency or a time to celebrate," said Michael Chertoff during a year-end speech. "The threat is not going away. The enemy has not lost interest. And if you have doubt about it, look at [the recent] reports about bombings in Algeria."
However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released its notable 2007 achievements....
Data Program To Boost Cargo Security In Development
Nov 29, 2007
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in "very few weeks" will issue a request to industry for a proposal to create a pilot program for a data warehouse aimed at boosting cargo security, an agency official said.
"Our enemies are always looking for ways to exploit us," Jayson Ahern, deputy commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said at the 2007 U.S. Maritime Security Expo. He added that increased transparency in the supply chain can reduce risk, according to National Journal's Technology Daily.
The Global Trade Exchange (GTX) would fuse together a range of nontraditional cargo-movement information. It is one element of the three-part Secure Freight Initiative (SFI), which also calls for international container-scanning and the collection of advanced data about cargo heading for U.S. ports....
Online Database Upgrades Alabama First Responder Capabilities
Nov 29, 2007
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and the Alabama Department of Homeland Security have unveiled the Virtual Alabama software program, a limited-access Web site that combines data such as maps, photos and governmental databases from across the state into one centralized electronic location, reports The Tuscaloosa News.
"Alabama is the only state in the union that has this capability," Riley said at a news conference, where officials demonstrated the state-sponsored Web site.
Michael Jones, chief technologist with Google Earth, says several states are developing Web sites that layer lots of government information into a quickly accessible format, but Alabama is "unique in the United States" because its Web site includes data submitted by every county....
Colorado School Inventories 'Chemicals of Interest' On Campus
Nov 29, 2007
University of Colorado (CU) officials are taking inventory of "chemicals of interest" on the campus, a newly mandated task from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intended to prevent terrorist attacks.
The federal security regulations require laboratories at colleges and universities across the country -- along with other buildings and plants that store chemicals -- to determine the location and quantities of more than 340 chemicals on the department's list. If the chemicals stored exceed the department's "threshold quantity," the university may be required to adopt more stringent security requirements, according to The Daily Camera.
Potentially dangerous chemicals that need to be catalogued include those that are explosive, toxic or flammable and those that could be used as weapons if stolen or mixed with other materials, says Amy Kudwa, spokeswoman for the DHS....
TWIC Program Intermittently Fails Credential Authorization
Nov 29, 2007
BetaNews reports that the director of credentialing technology for U.S. government contractor Lockheed Martin, Jon Rambeau, told attendees at the 2007 U.S. Maritime Security Expo that fingerprint biometric security systems currently used in the Transportation Security Administration's Transport Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program fail to properly authorize enrollees' credentials 2 percent of the time.
The TWIC program issues tamper-resistant smart cards to personnel who work in maritime facilities and on maritime vessels ("mariners"), giving them unescorted access to those areas with auditable, secure authentication. Identifying data on the smart card is matched against fingerprint data assessed at the time the card is read....
Lack Of Supervision At Biodefense Labs Stirs Debate
Nov 15, 2007
Since Sept. 11, the federal government has spent billions of dollars on research to protect the public from an invisible but devastating threat: biological attack.
But a lack of supervision over the hundreds of labs and thousands of scientists now handling deadly germs -- as demonstrated by recent problems at Texas A&M University -- has put the country at higher risk for dangerous disease outbreaks than before 2001, federal investigators told The Dallas Morning News.
"The labs are pretty much overseeing themselves at this point," Keith Rhodes, an investigator with the Government Accountability Office, said this month. "I would have to say we are at greater risk today" of an infectious disease epidemic....
Auditors Find Nuclear Site Security Upgrades Are Lagging
Nov 15, 2007
More than a year after Congress told the Energy Department to harden the nation's nuclear bomb factories and laboratories against terrorist raids, at least 5 of the 11 sites are certain to miss their deadlines, some by many years, reports The New York Times.
The Energy Department has put off security improvements at some sites that store plutonium because it plans to consolidate the material at central locations, but the Government Accountability Office said in a Senate briefing that that project was also likely to lag. A copy of the briefing materials was provided to The New York Times by a private group, the Project on Government Oversight, which has long been pushing for better security at the weapons sites....
Preparation Against Anthrax Attacks Not Strong Enough?
Nov 15, 2007
The United States has done too little to prepare for another potential domestic anthrax attack six years after spore-laden mail killed five people, a former CIA director and other experts tell Reuters.
"I think we're very poorly prepared," James Woolsey, who headed the CIA from 1993 to 1995, said at a news conference to unveil a report by a security consulting firm warning of U.S. vulnerability to another anthrax attack.
Anthrax is a sometimes fatal disease caused by Bacillus anthracis, a bacterium that forms spores. The spores can be used as a biological weapon and are most deadly when inhaled into the lungs. Experts have worried particularly about the possible release of an anthrax weapon in an urban setting....
Unisys Security Index Pinpoints Consumer Fears
Nov 15, 2007
Americans feel fairly safe overall, but the Unisys Security Index reveals that many are anxious about national security, ID fraud and financial health. Unisys Corp. has unveiled the first U.S. results from its ongoing, global survey of consumer opinion on security issues. Key findings include:
* A majority of respondents (62 percent) are very concerned about national security threats;
* Women and blacks, more so than other respondents, want tougher anti-terrorism efforts from the U.S. government;
* College graduates and city dwellers are less concerned about national security than people with less education and those who live outside cities;
* Four in 10 Americans are extremely concerned over their financial security; and
* Seven in 10 Americans fear identity fraud; senior citizens are less worried about identity fraud than younger Americans....
Chemical Plants Seeing Widespread Demand For Screening
Nov 1, 2007
need to submit to the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Top Screen in 2007. As of Oct. 1, 2007, a staggering 40,000 plus plants have submitted Top Screens for review.
Why the huge discrepancy?
The government and the petrochemical industry are facing the very real fact that our critical infrastructure is currently being targeted for attack and that vulnerability exists. Many chemical plants previously thought to be negligible to our national security have been found to play integral roles in the stability of the nation's critical infrastructure....
Officials Claim Screeners Report "Misleading"
Nov 1, 2007
The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) calls a report misleading claiming security screeners at O'Hare missed about 60 percent of bomb materials and explosives hidden in carry-on items during recent tests.
According to the TSA report, 60 percent of bomb materials and explosives hidden in carry-on items by undercover TSA agents were missed by screeners at O'Hare, according to a release from U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk. At Los Angeles International Airport, screeners missed 75 percent of bomb materials, while at San Francisco International, a private screening company missed 20 percent of bomb materials.
But TSA spokeswoman Lara Uselding, who says tests are conducted at every airport in the nation, told Sting Wire Reports that the leaked figures actually reflect 2006 test results and things have improved in the past year....
Transportation Worker ID Credential Program Making Progress
Nov 1, 2007
On Oct. 16, port workers, longshoremen, truckers and others at the port of Wilmington, Del., became the first workers in the nation to enroll in the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. The program ensures that any individual who has unescorted access to secure areas of port facilities and vessels has received a thorough background check and is not a security threat.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the U.S. Coast Guard have announced other developments including the release of the next 11 ports where enrollment will begin in this month, publication of an updated port site list with additional enrollment locations and a revised final rule that lowered the credential fee to $132.50....
Questions Linger While Nation Prepares For Terror Drill
Nov 1, 2007
The nation is preparing for its biggest terrorism exercise ever when three fictional "dirty bombs" will go off and cripple transportation arteries in two major U.S. cities and Guam, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.
Yet even as this drill begins, details from the previous national exercise held in 2005 have yet to be publicly released -- information that's supposed to help officials prepare for the next real attack.
House lawmakers have demanded answers, including why the "after-action" report from 2005 hasn't been made public. Congress has required the exercise since 2000, but has done little in the way of oversight beyond attending the actual events, according to AP....
White Paper Helps Security Directors Migrate To FIPS 201
Nov 1, 2007
Security directors and those responsible for physical access control systems (PACS) within government agencies have a new resource to help them choose the right path to accept FIPS 201 compliant credentials -- a white paper, developed by the Smart Card Alliance Physical Access Council in collaboration with the Open Security Exchange (OSE), Security Industry Association (SIA) and International Biometric Industry Association (IBIA).
The white paper, "Physical Access Control System Migration Options for Using FIPS 201-1 Compliant Credentials," directly addresses challenges unique to PACS when transitioning to FIPS 201-1 compliant credentials (the Personal Identity Verification card, known as the PIV card). It describes key elements of a typical PACS, identifies migration considerations relative to each and outlines various migration options and their benefits and challenges. The white paper also discusses options for integration, PACS enrollment and registration and biometrics....
