Adfero Group HSPI

If you follow aspects of homeland security that involve the screening of individuals for potential risk, you better be familiar with the Screening Coordination Office (SCO) at DHS. Under its recently-departed director, Deputy Assistant Secretary Kathleen Kraninger, the SCO has been a shining example of the promise that DHS was meant to deliver.

A big topic today is the so-called Smart Grid. This is our power system on steroids, or at least, on millions of small, very capable monitoring computers that will make our power usage more efficient and more, well…smart. Most people are now aware (or are getting more so) that all this wonderful technology that makes us efficient, effective and connected also makes us vulnerable to those who want to do us harm.

AFCEA International held its two-day Solutions Conference, December 2-3. The original keynote was supposed to be LTG Keith Alexander, the Director of the National Security Agency, and the nominee for a 4th star and command of the newly established U.S. Cyber Command. Instead, he sent one of his very able subordinates from the NSA, Ms. Sherri Ramsey, to address the group at the National Conference Center in Leesburg.

Security Debrief spoke with Dr. Dave McWhorter, principal of Catalyst Partners, to learn more about the new Catalyst Homeland Security Technologies Assessment practice.

By Jena Baker McNeill
Homeland Security Policy Analyst at The Heritage Foundation
Today, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano testified before the Senate Commerce Committee on the topic of transportation security. What she said about cargo security was something lots of folks in the homeland security community have been saying for the past two years. There are a number of serious challenges that stand in the way of the 100 percent scanning mandate.

With the long-belabored deliberations of his war-council concluded and the decision to deploy 30,000 troops to Afghanistan to get the job done now revealed, I think it is worth noting the importance of the “how” and “where” of last night’s speech. While there are many on the ‘right’ and ‘left’ who will find fault with whatever the President had to say, I give him an enormous amount of credit for taking his orders directly to many of the men and women who will be charged with implementing them.

It’s been observed by many over this past year that the House Homeland Committee has lost a lot of its ‘umph.’ That will change on Thursday morning and all because of two egocentric, reality TV wannabes who showed up uninvited to places they don’t belong. Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson has called the entire Committee membership together to grill U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan and America’s newest pariahs, Tareq and Micheale Salahi.

By Jena Baker McNeill
Homeland Security Policy Analyst at The Heritage Foundation
America’s allies matter when it comes to keeping our homeland safe. But working with our allies on the security front is more than just a matter of safety for U.S. soil. It is about the security of these countries as well. Their security ensures that the bad guys don’t get the upper hand in terms of global terrorism, while forming bonds between the U.S. and other countries that sustains information sharing, military cooperation, and overall goodwill. It also helps keep the global marketplace up and running—making everyone better off.