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As you may have noticed, we’ve slowed the pace of publishing through the Christmas week and the week leading up to New Year’s. We’ll continue to publish sporadically during this period — and don’t worry, we’ll back in full force after the New Year.

Looking ahead in cyber, I have written some predictions for the actors, events and threats in 2011. Though we have not yet had a major cyber event in the United States, my gut says it’s coming. Here are five other major events we can expect in the coming year.

By Edward Alden
The DHS Office of the Inspector General this week released a report on implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which for the first time in U.S. history requires all crossers at the land borders with Canada and Mexico to present secure documents. While 96 percent of border crossers complied, four percent did not. Senator Cornyn voiced concern about this four percent, but in a free and open country like the United States, there can never be such a thing as a completely secure border.

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) recently published an op-ed in Roll Call, calling for Congress to “grab a shovel” and start digging the country out of debt. He noted wasteful spending in DHS but neglected to address the wasteful and counterproductive manner in which Congress currently oversees DHS. I responded to the Congressman, beginning with an old adage: if you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.

The end of the year is approaching, and it is time to look back and see what the major cyber events/issues have been in 2010. I tried to keep it manageable, but it was a busy year. So, here are my nominations for the most significant cyber issues.

Mike Hickey, Verizon’s Vice President for Government Affairs and National Security Policy, has decided to do the unthinkable – he’s retiring to enjoy the good and great life he has earned for himself and his family. For those of us fortunate enough to work with Mike, his professionalism, level-headedness and willingness to hear things out became the measure by which we would judge the leadership of various groups working in homeland centric areas.

By Edward Alden
Nearly a decade after the United States and Canada set the early template for cross-border cooperation in the post-9/11 era with the 2001 Smart Border Accords, the two governments finally appear ready to take the next step towards a genuine system of “perimeter security.” While the initiative as outlined makes tremendous sense on both sides of the border, it will face significant opposition in Canada from those who fear that national sovereignty will be sacrificed on the altar of continental security, and in the United States from those who favor unilateral approaches to securing the borders.

Security Debrief’s Stewart Verdery moderated a panel at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars regarding trade and border security on the Canadian border. Specifically, the panel was titled “Mixed Signals at the Border: The Future of U.S.-Canada Preclearance Programs.”

Providing accurate coverage of any protest event, especially an event where there is violence, is difficult at the best of times; the media often misunderstand or misrepresent what actually happened. However, it is rare that the media coverage of an event is as inaccurate or misleading as some of the reports I have seen concerning the violence at the student protest in London yesterday. Much of what has been written and broadcast about yesterday’s incidents does not stand up to the facts. Without naming and shaming individual media groups, there were many glaring errors.

By Elaine Bussjaeger
The notion of the “citizen watch” is tried and tested. In communities throughout the country, neighborhood watch programs operate on a simple principle – you watch my back, and I’ll watch yours. In the ever-advancing technological age, how can this basic concept be modified for a new generation of smart phone-using, social media-minded citizens? The Department of Homeland Security, with its Small Vessel Security Strategy, has taken steps to rally citizens through social media as a kind of nautical “neighborhood watch.”

This is the second video from the US Chamber’s forum on supply chains and cargo security. Officials from TSA and CBP join representatives from the private sector to discuss where policy might be going.

The US Chamber of Commerce hosted a forum on global supply chain this week, which of course had to include a discussion on international cargo security. Check out the video of CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin speaking to the group.

I’ve watched with some frustration and amusement the coverage that has unfolded regarding DHS’ announcement earlier this week of working with Wal-Mart as part of its “See Something, Say Something” campaign. The coverage has been pretty cynical, and that’s really disappointing. The truth is there is probably no better company in America to aid this country’s bad days than the worldwide enterprise headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The partnership DHS is putting forward with Wal-Mart to engage the public in keeping an eye out for things of concern makes perfect sense on so many levels.

The most recent military development on the Korean Peninsula cannot be seen outside the overall context of US-China relations. In recent weeks, the United States and China have been engaged in a “currency war,” underscoring the race between Washington and Beijing for global influence in the 21st century. The reality is that the US-China relationship is very complex; it is governed by two forces pulling in opposite directions: economic interdependency and economic competition. As long as these two forces are at equilibrium, the U.S.-China relationship can develop on a win-win basis with tremendous benefits to the world community and the global economy. Unfortunately, current data clearly point to a trend towards imbalance favoring China.

As the stories of how Representative Darrel Issa (R-CA49), who is expected to be chair the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee next year, plans to implement the Blueprint for Oversight of the Executive Branch, I could not help but be reminded of the Thomas Fuller quote about charity beginning at home – or in this case, more precisely, in the House (of Representatives). I can think of no better starting place than the inefficient, duplicative and overly-complex manner in which Congress itself oversees the Department of Homeland Security.

In the days before the 2004 Presidential Election, Osama Bin Laden released a videotaped message that essentially told the world what he was up to. Within his remarks there was one sentence that has stayed with me: “We are continuing a policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy.” After taking a look at our country’s financial situation and continuing explosive debt, it might be easy to declare that Bin Laden and his cronies can celebrate in their caves in “where-ever-istan” they might be currently residing. At least that is the conclusion you might derive from the recently released report of the President’s Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

I think we all need to take a deep breath and remember we live in a dangerous world. I worked as a Special Agent for the U.S. Customs Service and DHS/Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for over thirty years. In that capacity, I was assigned for a period of time to narcotics smuggling groups at Newark and JFK International Airports. While in this assignment, I was forever amazed at the various methods utilized by individuals to attempt to smuggle narcotics through the international port of entry. The bottom line – you could take nothing for granted. Should TSA be any less vigilant?

The world is astir over the data stolen from U.S. government secure facilities by PFC Bradley Manning and passed to the self-proclaimed crusader Julian Assange. This is an unconscionable act of treason and irresponsibility by all involved. The elephant we are missing is the lack of protection of classified and sensitive data by our military and State Department.

There are 1,721 people dead in Haiti due to a Cholera epidemic that we had the power to prevent and the ability to eradicate. How can it be that just 600 miles off the coast of Florida, Cholera is expected to eventually infect over 400,000 people? This despite the fact that we have cheap access to three different vaccines, understand disease prevention and knew it was coming.