News & Events and Other Interesting Stuff

The Peril of Digital Fidgeting

2008-07-22T20:38:56Z

Our phones, PDAs, MP3 players and computers have become the adult equivalent of security blankets, pacifying us with familiar apps and rhythms of dialogue.

From the July 21, 2008 "American Geek" column in NEWSWEEK. To read this article, click here...

President signs FISA Amendments Act of 2008

2008-07-22T14:18:27Z

President signs H.R. 6304, FISA Amendments Act of 2008. To read more, click here...

BACKGROUND - "The Intelligence Consensus" - a Wall Street Journal Opinion by Congresswoman Anna Eshoo and Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell. To read, click here...

UPDATE: 22 July 2008 - Review of FISA Amendments Act of 2008, click here ...

SD Forum Security SIG

2008-07-21T15:07:19Z

WHAT: "Understanding the Insider Threat in Information Technology" and "Latest Threats and Protection"

WHEN: Thursday / July 24th . 06:30PM PDT

WHERE: Cubberley Community Center / Palo Alto, CA

For more info, click here...

Disgruntled System Admin Arrested for Hijacking San Francisco's Computer System...

2008-07-18T01:30:55Z

A disgruntled city computer systems administrator has been arrested and accused of commandeering San Francisco's new multimillion-dollar computer network, altering it to deny access to other administrators. To read more, click here...

Follow-Up / June 17, 2008 - Experts say lax security allowed San Francisco network hijacking. To read more, click here...

2008-07-13T17:10:20Z

On July 26, 2008, the FBI will celebrate its 100th anniversary as a national security agency. To read more about the history of the FBI, click here...

Reverse-911 calls now available to cell phones in Santa Cruz County

2008-07-11T19:33:33Z

The Santa Cruz Consolidated Emergency Communications Center (9-1-1) has launched a new Emergency Notification system to send important messages to residents and businesses within Santa Cruz County via their cell phone and email. The system has the capability of sending thousands of messages in a very short time based on geographic location of the incident. For more info and to register, click here...

National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center

2008-07-11T15:55:57Z

This new DHS activity is organized as part of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and appears to be focused on the proliferation of counterfeit products.

To see the remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff at the Inauguration of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, click here...

National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center web site, click here...

Threat Advisory System Response Guideline

2008-07-11T01:07:05Z

The American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) recently released the second edition of the "Threat Advisory System Response Guideline." ASIS developed the Guideline as an initiative to provide private business and industry a methodology for prompt consideration of possible actions that could be implemented based upon changes in the Homeland Security Advisory System. The document's overarching objective is to balance the need for a process both applicable and understandable to a large portion of the private sector, while also providing sufficient detail to be of practical use to the organization.

To download the Guideline, click here...

DHS Grant Funding Formula Disregards All-Hazards Threats

2008-07-08T02:20:00Z

The threat assessment equation that DHS uses to calculate "RISK" addresses international terrorism and not domestic terrorism or natural hazards.. To read more, click here...

EDITORIAL COMMENT: This type of funding used to be evenly split between the states with some high risk regions getting an additional supplement. That approach resulted in a per-capita skew to the funding. Ignoring domestic terrorism and especially natural hazard risks is very short sighted. Although the Bay Area gets its fair share of international terrorism related funding it needs even more funding in this regard because of the earthquake risk. Fortunately the local end users of this funding are beginning to take an all-hazards approach to the actual investments in disaster mitigation, response, recovery and preparation funding ... for example improvements in first responder communication systems helps disaster prepardness for all-hazards.

For more info see the GAO report, DHS Risk-Based Grant Methodology Is Reasonable, But Current Version's Measure of Vulnerability is Limited, June 2008, GAO-08-852. To downlpoad this report, click here...

Private Sector Counterterrorism Awareness Workshop

2008-07-02T15:58:56Z

For those who missed this workshop in Oakland in June ... CA OHS will be hosting a repeat of the Private Sector Counterterrorism Awareness Workshop in Sacramento, CA on Tuesday / September 23, 2008.

To download the flyer on this event, click here...

Bay Area SecureWorld EXPO 2008

2008-07-01T17:32:56Z

Santa Clara Convention Center
http://www.secureworldexpo.com

InfraGard Members receive a $60 registration discount and $200 discount of any of the SecureWorld+ Training Pass (worth 16 CPE Credits) . Discount details are posted on the Members Only page, click here...

Plan to Help Business Stockpile Tamiflu, But Not as Prophylactic

2008-07-01T17:03:01Z

F. Hoffmann-La Roche, the manufacturer of the antiviral Tamiflu, has launched a program under which US companies that have a designated person on staff skilled with flu diagnosis can stockpile supplies of the drug in preparation for distribution to employees in the event of a pandemic. To read more, click here...

To read the F. Hoffmann-La Roche press release, click here...

Preparing for the unthinkable - nuclear attack

2008-06-30T14:46:18Z

A panel of the National Academy of Sciences is looking at the risk of a terrorist nuclear attack on a U.S. city. Six U.S. metropolitan regions are considered to be at most risk, New York City, Washington D.C., Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. To read more click here...

NOTE: To keep things in perspective USGS and CGS say California has more than a 99% chance of having a magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake (equivalent to about a .3 Megaton nuclear explosion) within the next 30 years, click here...

Summer 2008 Quarterly Meeting

2008-06-27T21:19:19Z

Thursday / August 21st
9AM - Noon
Hosted by Adobe at their San Jose, CA corporate HQ

More info soon ...

Computers brought into U.S. subject to search...

2008-06-26T19:55:33Z

Next time you travel outside the country you might be surprised on your return that DHS wants to do a search or to copy your computer hard drive. U.S. Courts have recently ruled that warrants or suspicions when a person is seeking to enter the country are not required to do a search of a computers hard drive ... court rulings say "routine search" is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Independent of the privacy concerns, U.S. based companies and U.S. companies with foreign partners are concerned over the possible compromise of sensitive intellectual property. For more info on this, click here...