U.S. sees homegrown Muslim extremism as rising threat – LA Times
The Obama administration, grappling with a spate of recent Islamic terrorism cases on U.S. soil, has concluded that the country confronts a rising threat from homegrown extremism.
Subway airflow tests to prepare T for possible terror attacks – The Boston Globe
A team of researchers convened by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began a series of tests today at 20 MBTA stations to determine how airborne contaminants would spread in a terrorist attack on Boston’s subway system.
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.
Incentives Can Help Build Public-Private Cyber Partnership – CQ Homeland Security
For years, cybersecurity experts have expounded on the need for a “public-private” partnership to protect critical infrastructure, financial institutions and other targets of attackers. But a new report from the Internet Security Alliance suggests the approach thus far has been backward: It should really be a “private-public” partnership.
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.
Cargo-Screening Flaws Put Fliers at Risk, U.S. Report Finds – Bloomberg.com
Air passengers may be at risk of terrorist attacks because of air-cargo screening flaws, including a lack of required background checks on freight handlers, according to a U.S. government report.
IBM hosted a Cyber Security Leadership Summit in Boston on November 18. It was interesting for someone like me (who is constantly immersed in the Washington discussions on cyber issues) to hear cyber security discussed as a local issue. For these folks, it is not an intellectual or philosophical discussion; it is not even the grand strategic problem we normally hear about in DC. It is a tactical and completely real issue that has implications for people whose faces these men know.
The Hindustan Times recently published an article arguing that if India had only invested in IT systems with a common information pool, the Mumbai attacks could have been prevented because information had been received elsewhere that Mumbai was a target. It’s interesting to see IT portrayed as the panacea solution to countering the threat of terrorism. As with countering any human-based threat, a capability must be created. But buying the IT isn’t enough.
With the news of former TSA Administrator David Stone’s untimely death, two events compressed in my mind: TSA relocating to the Department of Homeland Security with President Bush signing the Homeland Security Act of 2002; and the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. It is my hope that we remember the “right” lessons from these events; that we honor the public servants and private sector folks who work so diligently to make us safer and more secure, and that we are ever vigilant against those who would do us harm.
Prospects fade for quick Real ID repeal – Government Executive.com
Congress appears increasingly unlikely to repeal a sweeping driver’s license law by the end of the year, which may force the Homeland Security Department to grant blanket waivers to states unable or unwilling to issue licenses that meet federal security standards.
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