News & Events and Other Interesting Stuff

The Peril of Digital Fidgeting

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:38:56 -0800

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

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:18:27 -0800

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

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:07:19 -0800

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...

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:30:55 -0800

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...

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 10:10:20 -0800

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

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:33:33 -0800

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

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 08:55:57 -0800

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

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:07:05 -0800

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

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:20:00 -0800

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

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:58:56 -0800

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

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:32:56 -0800

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

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:03:01 -0800

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

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:46:18 -0800

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

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:19:19 -0800

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...

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:55:33 -0800

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...