| 
"FBI Probing University Bomb Threats"
CBS News (09/04/07) The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are investigating a series of bomb threats made by anonymous e-mails to at least 13 postsecondary schools over the past 10 days. Clemson University received three threats, and one was received each by the University of Akron, University of Alaska/Anchorage, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Iowa, MIT, Middle Tennessee State, University of New Hampshire, Oregon State, Princeton, Western Illinois, and William & Mary. Federal investigators believe the threats to be pranks related to the start of the school year and do not believe they are related to a recent string of threats and extortion attempts made against banks, stores, and businesses in 17 states. The FBI is investigating possible links between those threats and a March bank robbery in Miami Beach. One suspect was arrested in that case, and a second, who took part in the robbery by cell phone from Portugal, remains at large and has been identified as a fugitive indicted in New York in 2005 on wire fraud charges.
(go to web site) "Private Security Contractors' Role Grows In Iraq"
USA Today (09/03/07) ; Michaels, Jim According to records from the Multi-National Force-Iraq, nearly twice as many shots were fired by private contractors in Iraq between May 2006 and May 2007 than in the previous year, leading many to question U.S. reliance on private contracting groups, which are seemingly impervious to litigation. Records indicate contractors fired 207 shots at people or motorists who appeared aggressive, a number reflecting the increased number of convoys protected by contractors, 500 compared to 200 or 300 in 2005, according to the Pentagon. Groups like Triple Canopy have come under fire from critics for having ostensibly little accountability in tracking shots fired, as well as failing to bring charges against any security contractors, a fact analysts deem impossible considering contractors in Iraq outnumber the 150,000 troops by 10,000. "Compare that to how many soldiers have been court-martialed for crimes big and small," says Peter Singer, an analyst at the Brookings Institute.
(go to web site) "Senate Approves $50M for RNC Security"
MyFox Twin Cities (09/06/07) St. Paul, Minn., and Denver, Colo., the two cities hosting national political conventions this year (the Republican and Democratic, respectively), will each receive $50 million more for security in a Senate-approved measure. Since national conventions are notorious targets, Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman proposed that security should be handled by the federal government and not the host cities. Authorities are not sure how many arrests will be made during the conventions, since Boston and New York arrested fewer people than expected when they hosted in 2004, but law enforcement officers are taking extra precautions to stay on the safe side. Sheriff Bob Fletcher of Ramsey County, Minn., included an open-air detention center, Tasers, and $1.7 million in overtime in his convention security proposal, and says there may be more incidents this year than in 2004 due to stronger feelings about the war.
(go to web site) "Police Bomb Experts Conduct Info Drive Inside Malls"
GMANews.TV (09/04/07) Police in Manila are touring malls to teach security guards what to look for when trying to detect explosive devices. Police say that they were shocked to learn that some mall guards were using barbecue sticks to probe the bags of shoppers for bombs without knowing what they were actually looking for. After the mall tour, police plan a campus tour to educate school security guards. Manila is on high alert as the military launches an offensive operation against Abu Sayyaf in Mindanao.
(go to web site) "Executive Injured When Letter Bomb Explodes"
Agence France Presse (09/06/07) A manager in the technical department of Nestle's offices near Buenos Aires was seriously wounded when a letter bomb exploded in his hands. The explosion was triggered when he tried to open a package mailed to him. Investigators are looking into personal motives as well as ones linked to Nestle.
(go to web site) 
"Bin Laden Plans to Release New Video"
Associated Press (09/07/07) ; Keath, Lee A banner advertisement on an Islamic militant Web site used by al-Qaida's media arm has announced an imminent videotape from Osama bin Laden. "Soon, God willing, a videotape from the lion sheik Osama bin Laden, God preserve him," the advertisement read, accompanied by a photo from the coming video showing bin Laden's beard to have been dyed black, a common practice among Arab leaders that is designed to make them look young and healthy. Such announcements are typically released one to three days before a video is posted on the Web site. The anniversary in the past has been preceded by a slew of messages, note experts. It is seen as an occasion to draw support for the terrorist group. If the footage is new, it will be first videotape of bin Laden since Oct. 29, 2004, just before the U.S. presidential elections. On July 1, 2006, his last audiotape was released, welcoming a new leader of al-Qaida in Iraq after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed. Whether the video will indicate an imminent attack will depend on its message, say experts. The Department of Homeland Security says it has no credible information of an imminent threat to the United States.
(go to web site) "Germany Hunts 10 Terror Suspects"
BBC News (09/06/07) Ten more suspects are being hunted for in Germany in connection with a suspected plot to attack spots frequented by Americans, including Frankfurt Airport and a U.S. military base in Ramstein. Three men--two German nationals who converted to Islam and a Turkish national--were arrested Tuesday in connection with the plot during a raid on an apartment in North Rhine-Westphalia. Another 40 raids were being carried out across the country. German authorities said that the planned attacks would have been "massive" in scale and involved carbombs intended for maximum damage. The three arrested suspects had trained in Pakistan and acquired about 1,500 pounds of chemicals for use in making explosives. They were working, say investigators, on orders from an "international network."
(go to web site) "Hurricanes Slam Ashore From Atlantic and Pacific"
San Francisco Chronicle (09/05/07) P. A3 ; Roig-Franzia, Manuel For the first time since the National Hurricane Center began keeping track in the 1940s, hurricanes in the Atlantic and Pacific have made landfall on the same day, with Felix slamming into Nicaragua with winds gusting up to 160 mph before heading inland across Honduras and, nearly 2,000 miles away, Henriette making landfall at the southern tip of Baja Peninsula, an area packed with high-end hotels and vacation homes. Felix, which is expected to drop up to 25 inches of rain in Tegucigalpa and Guatemala City, defied predictions that it would hit Belize on Wednesday, instead veering sharply and making landfall in a coastal region of Nicaragua populated mainly by small groups of Miskito Indians. In its wake, it destroyed or damaged some 5,000 homes in Nicaragua. Downgraded to a tropical storm, Felix bears a resemblance to Hurricane Mitch, which killed nearly 11,000 people in 1998. Mitch also weakened upon landfall but dropped so much rain as to cause devastating floods and mudslides. Memories of Mitch provoked panic in Honduras, with shoppers rushing to stock up on supplies. "There was collective madness -- it's not common to see this in Honduras," said Margarita Morales, editor of the English-language publication Central America Today. "People were behaving as if there was going to be a war or the end of the world." Meanwhile, Henriette, which reached land as a Category 1 storm, prompted states of emergency to be declared in five Mexican cities.
(go to web site) "Bomb Plot Foiled as Key ETA Members Arrested"
Guardian Unlimited (UK) (09/03/07) ; Tremlett, Giles A joint Spanish-French police operation has resulted in the arrest of four people in France inside what is being described as ETA's operations base and main bomb-making factory. The operation, say police, has foiled at least one major bomb attack by the outlawed Basque group, turning up 350 kilograms of explosives. Among those arrested was the group's chief bomb maker and suspects in an attack at Madrid's Barajas airport that left two people dead in December. Another was believed responsible for a car bomb explosion near Castellon in late August. That explosion was triggered in a remote location by ETA members who police believe were scared that they were being followed.
(go to web site) "Report: Al Qaeda Plans New Iraq Offensive"
CBS News (09/04/07) The Islamic State of Iraq has announced that its "War Ministry" will form several battalions to intensify suicide attacks against U.S. and Iraqi targets on an Islamic Web forum known for carrying similar announcements by militants . "These battalions, with God's help, will perform their duties in an excellent manner during the month of Ramadan and the enemies of God will suffer a lot," read the statement. Last year's Ramadan was similarly accompanied by a warning of stepped up attacks. The month of Ramadan has since the 2003 U.S. invasion been a time of increased activity. The Web statement also said that "most of the martyr seekers of these blessed battalions will be from the Ansar (Iraqi) brothers."
(go to web site) "EU's Frattini Says New Europe-Wide Anti-Terror Measures Needed"
Associated Press (09/05/07) The European Union's Justice and Home Affairs commissioner Franco Frattini says more EU-wide anti-terror measures are needed because the threat of terrorism in the European Union remains high. Frattini wants to push ahead with plans to establish a community-wide airline passenger data recording system modeled after a system developed by the United States. Passengers traveling to the United States are required to provide 19 pieces of information within minutes of boarding the plane. Some EU legislators have expressed concern for privacy, but Frattini says European citizens deserve the same protection as U.S. citizens. Other measures would include a plan to set up an explosive database to provide an early-warning system on lost or stolen explosives, and new regulations to deal with the misuse of the Internet by terrorists. Some EU lawmakers question the need for more anti-terror measures, arguing the effectiveness of the measures established after the terror attacks in Madrid and London have not been properly evaluated. "We should look at the efficiency of the EU legislation in this area," says French Socialist Martine Roure. "Some extremely restrictive measures have been adopted. Some haven't had the results expected, and some might even lend a false sense of security."
(go to web site) 
"Chinese Military Hacked Into Pentagon"
Financial Times (09/03/07) ; Sevastopulo, Demetri; McGregor, Richard U.S. officials say that a June cyberattack on a computer system serving the office of Defense Secretary Robert Gates was initiated by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China. Though the Chinese and U.S. military are widely assumed to probe each others' networks on a routine basis, the June attack has raised concerns over China's demonstrated ability to disrupt critical systems. "The PLA has demonstrated the ability to conduct attacks that disable our system ... and the ability in a conflict situation to re-enter and disrupt on a very large scale," says a former U.S. official. Those familiar with June's attack say that hackers from numerous locations in China spent several months probing the Defense Department's system before overcoming its defenses. Data was downloaded during the attack, though most of the information that was accessed is believed to be "unclassified," according to officials. The breached network was taken down for more than a week while the attacks continued. "These are multiple wake-up calls stirring us to levels of more aggressive vigilance," says Richard Lawless, the Pentagon’s top Asia official at the time of the attacks.
(go to web site) "DHS Head: Cybersecurity Remains a Concern"
IDG News Service (09/05/07) ; Gross, Grant Michael Chertoff, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, spoke before the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee and testified that DHS will continue to give the "very big issue" of cybersecurity high priority. Because the department's cybersecurity endeavors are confidential, Chertoff simply made a short statement to assure committee members that DHS is collaborating with other parts of the government to develop an improved strategy for cybersecurity. Chertoff also acknowledged that threats to cybersecurity have great potential to harm the United States in the future. Though cybersecurity problems continue to plague the federal government, the legislators primarily focused on other issues during the meeting, urging DHS to improve in other ways, such as by filling open positions at DHS.
(go to web site) "Businesses Plan to Increase Spending on Wireless Security"
eWeek (08/30/07) ; Prince, Brian A majority of businesses plan to invest heavily in wireless security by 2008, reveals an InsightExpress study. Forty-six percent of IT representatives polled reported that they anticipated wireless network spending to increase over 10 percent, while one in 10 surveyed said they saw a 20 percent increase in the same investment. An earlier Cisco Systems report revealed that over 25 percent of mobile users did not account for security risks, while 73 percent noted that they were not always knowledgeable about security threats. Cisco Systems' survey included wireless employees in seven countries, including the United States, India, and China. Although many respondents cited meeting compliance and mitigating security risks as their concerns, 9 percent of those surveyed cited lost or stolen devices such as laptops as being a reason for an increase in spending. "Going forward, secure mobility solutions will need to comprehend the increasing number of mobile devices and applications beyond the traditional PC that are connecting to the IP network," said Cisco's Fred Kost. He added that the industry has focused considerably on wireless LAN networks and that better security is essential to companies, especially ones that have mobile connections as their primary communication device in the workplace.
(go to web site) "Employees Breaching Office Security"
News.com.au (09/04/07) ; Greenberg, Andy A greater number of office workers are transmitting confidential information over unsecured networks, according to a recent study commissioned by Cisco Systems and the National Cyber Security Alliance. The study found that over 60 percent of employees in the United States use mobile devices without encryption or password protection to log on to their company's server, and more than 33 percent use a neighbor's unsecured wireless network, sloppy practices which could expose important data. Though third-party Webmail services like Yahoo and Gmail offer convenience and availability, Executive Director of Stanford's Center for Internet and Society Jennifer Granick warns that any confidential or potentially incriminating information will be stored on the third-party's server, which anyone may access by subpoena. By their own admission, office workers in the U.S. and U.K. using corporate laptops are more than twice as likely as desktop users to transmit important data via instant messaging, and more likely to send private information through Webmail.
(go to web site) Abstracts Copyright © 2007 Information, Inc. Bethesda, MD | 
No comments:
Post a Comment