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"Security Guards' Rally to Push Contract Talks"
Los Angeles Times (11/01/07) P. C2 ; Selvin, Molly Security guards in Los Angeles held a rally November 1 in an effort to force property management firms back to the negotiating table. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) began talks in July 2007 on what would be the first agreement for the 4,000 newly unionized security guards. However, SEIU leaders say that the negotiations have stalled because the five largest property management firms have cancelled several meetings, which caused the union to authorize a strike if negotiations break off completely. "They've been disrespectful about coming to the table in a timely manner," said local SEIU president Faith Culbreath. Culbreath added, "We will not go into another holiday season with conditions being the way they are right now." The primary issue for the union is raising pay and benefits for guards to be closer to what janitors earn. Currently, the average security guard makes between $8 and $9 an hour, compared to $15 an hour for janitors who are members of the SEIU.
(go to web site) "Firms Pledge to Hire No Illegal Immigrants"
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (11/01/07) P. 1A ; Moscoso, Eunice The nonprofit organization ProAmerica invites U.S. businesses to sign a statement that they will not purposely hire illegal or undocumented employees and report anybody they think is in the country illegally. The group's Web site was introduced in June and already has 920 firms participating in 44 states, and wants to launch a ProAmerica lobbying office in Washington, D.C. Dallas attorney and ProAmerica founder David Marlett stresses that his organization is not "hard line" and does not wish to insult illegal migrants; rather, he supports a "positive solution" to the illegal-immigration situation. ProAmerica offers a no-cost service to help businesses utilize the Homeland Security Department employee verification system e-Verify that compares worker data with millions of government documents.
(go to web site) "Dozing Guards Gone from Wackenhut"
Miami Herald (10/31/07) P. B3 ; Morgan, Curtis The security firm that employed guards accused sleeping on the job while assigned to Florida Power & Light's (FPL) Turkey Point nuclear power plant has terminated most of the guards implicated in the incident. On October 31, Wackenhut Nuclear Services executive Marc Shapiro confirmed that the Palm Beach Gardens-based security firm had released five of the six officers. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) investigators said five officers were found sleeping on separate occasions from 2004 to 2006, while another assigned to a high security area was caught sleeping by an NRC inspector in April 2006. In a separate case in Pennsylvania, a whistleblower videotaped 12 guards employed by the same security company sleeping on duty at Exelon's Peach Bottom nuclear plant. Exelon terminated its contract with Wackenhut on Wednesday. The Turkey Point incident comes months after investigators discovered that a small hole had been drilled in a cooling system.
(go to web site) "States Battle Rise in Copper Thefts"
USA Today (10/30/07) P. 1A ; Johnson, Kevin Scrap companies are facing a tougher regulatory environment because of the surge in thefts involving copper. Dealers in Arizona, for example, now have to keep photocopies of the driver's licenses of people selling copper as a result of a new law that took effect in May. At least 16 states have proposed or passed new laws in an effort to discourage people from stealing copper and selling the metal, which attracts higher prices due to the surge in worldwide demand. The price of copper has risen from 80 cents per pound in 2003 to about $3.50 in 2007. The increase in thefts has disrupted the flow of electricity, slowed construction projects, and knocked out irrigation networks. Theft of copper at Nevada Power has more than doubled since last year. "We're trying to do everything possible to fight this epidemic," says Nevada Power's Adam Grant. Businesses have lost about $1 billion due to copper thefts, and thieves have pocketed millions of dollars in cash from sales, according to state and federal officials.
(go to web site) "Security Upgrades at Several Nuclear Sites Are Lagging, Auditors Find"
New York Times (10/29/07) ; Wald, Matthew L. A report by the Government Accountability Office estimates that the Energy Department will not meet several deadlines to improve security at nuclear bomb factories and laboratories. After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the Energy Department made changes to its "design basis threat," the level of force that sites should be prepared to defend against. Last year, Congress passed a law requiring the Energy Department to submit detailed plans on how it would improve security to handle a potentially larger and more powerful attack. The Energy Department submitted a report to Congress in July 2006 outlining the proposed changes, including improving the weapons capabilities of security forces at nuclear facilities by providing them with large-caliber weapons and armored vehicles. Although Energy officials say that all 11 nuclear facilities are compliant with a 2003 security mandate, a GAO report says that at least five of those sites will not meet an updated mandate by next year's deadline. "The department seems to think that the terrorist threat to its nuclear facilities is no more serious than a Halloween prank, as evidenced by its failure -- more than six years after the 9/11 attacks -- to do what it must to keep our stores of nuclear-weapons-grade materials secure," says U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.)
(go to web site) "For Oil Producers, Energy Security Rises Up the Political Agenda"
International Herald Tribune (10/28/07) ; Farren-Price, Bill Oil exporters on the Arabian peninsula are stepping up efforts to increase pipeline security. Threats by terrorist groups including al-Qaeda have led to heightened security measures by oil producers, including the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), whose main oil-exporting country, Saudi Arabia, recently formed a 35,000 member Facilities Security Force (FSF) to guard pipelines. U.S. military contractor Lockheed Martin is training the force in state-of-the-art defense technologies such as laser security and satellite imaging in order to protect oil and gas networks. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has also stepped up efforts to bring his country's production back to 2003 levels, in order to bring in the revenue necessary to fund the struggling nation's reconstruction and growth. Officials say the Straits of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world's oil passes, still remains vulnerable to an attack by Iran. A proposal from the United Arab Emirates to build a 200-mile pipeline from Abu Dhabi to emirate Fujairah, on the coast of the Indian Ocean, is one of several being considered to avert this risk.
(go to web site) "Data Encryption's Adoption Grows"
Network World (10/25/07) ; Garretson, Cara Nearly two-thirds of corporate security professionals are increasing their encryption deployments, reports Forrester Research. Encryption's popularity is rising thanks in part to the variety of encryption products available. The constant threat of a data breach has also pushed companies to adopt encryption, as have mandates that require companies to protect their data, such as Sarbanes-Oxley and the Payment Card Industry data security standard. Meanwhile, the consolidation that has taken place amongst encryption vendors has helped encryption to increasingly become a feature of existing products, rather than a standalone offering that must be purchased separately and integrated on site. However, several problems could hamper further adoption of encryption, including usability issues surrounding encryption and the lack of consumer adoption of the technology.
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"New York's Post-9/11 Terrorism Law is Used to Convict a Bronx Gang Member in a Killing"
New York Times (11/01/07) P. B1 ; Williams, Timothy A state Supreme Court in the Bronx found 25-year-old Edgar Morales guilty Wednesday, a ruling that marks the first time a defendant has been convicted under New York's terrorism law. Morales was found guilty of killing a 10-year-old girl and wounding a man in a 2002 shooting. Many lawmakers criticized District Attorney Robert T. Johnson for pursuing a conviction under the terrorism statue because the statue was originally aimed at international terrorism organizations, not street gangs. However, Johnson countered that the terrorism charge was applicable because Morales' gang, the St. James Boys, had terrorized the area for several years with violence, an argument that the jury accepted. "When we think of terrorism, we think of Sept. 11th, so I was skeptical at first," said one juror. "But when we heard the definition of terrorism -- to inflict fear and to dominate -- from the get-go we agreed." Morales was found guilty on several charges, including first-degree manslaughter and attempted murder. Each charge contains a terrorism component that increases the crime one level, possibly increasing Morales' prison term from 15 years to 25 years to life. In 2001, 35 other states passed similar laws that call for harsher sentences in terrorism cases, including Virginia, which used the law to obtain a death sentence for the man behind 16 sniper attacks in 2002.
(go to web site) "City Soaking up $2M Security Tab"
Boston Herald (10/31/07) ; Wedge, Dave Boston residents may be saddled with almost $2 million in security costs associated with the World Series, costs that hometown heroes Boston Red Sox so far have not defrayed. According to city officials, the World Series parade in 2004 cost $535,000 and total public safety expenses cost $1.9 million, but the Department of Homeland Security covered $1.6 million of those expenses due to the heightened security situation. Organizers expect total costs to be similar this year. Security officials have already paid $400,000 for police, firefighters, and EMTs to monitor the Oct. 30 parade in downtown Boston, which drew hundreds of thousands of spectators. The celebrations have remained generally peaceful, though 60 arrests were made and several officers sustained injuries.
(go to web site) "Port Security to See New Federal Protocol"
Duluth News Tribune (MN) (10/29/07) ; Passi, Peter A new program from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will tighten security at major U.S. ports, but many port managers anticipate associated high costs and inconveniences. TSA officials have been testing the Transportation Workers Identification Credential, or TWIC, at the Wilmington, Del., port since early October, though the agency has fallen behind its deadline of running the program at 10 of the country's highest-risk ports by summer 2007 and at 40 more by the end of the year. Under TWIC, longshoremen, truckers, mariners, and other workers with access to ports must undergo background checks in order to receive TWIC cards, which will include biometric information. Port workers will pay upwards of $132.50 per card, while the federal government and ports can expect to pay $100 million and $1.2 billion, respectively, to comply with the new regulations.
(go to web site) "O'Hare Screeners to Get Better X-ray Equipment"
Chicago Tribune (10/27/07) ; Hilkevitch, Jon Chicago O'Hare International will receive new X-ray equipment to help detect bombmaking materials within a year, says Kathleen Petrowsky, the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA's) federal security director at O'Hare. The revelation comes on the heels of a report that screeners at O'Hare failed to detect simulated explosives hidden in carry-on luggage and in the clothing of travelers during TSA testing 60 percent of the time. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), whose district includes O'Hare, says that while the results of the testing, which took place in 2005 and 2006, were unsatisfactory, improvements have been made since, pointing to multiple layers of security at the airport that give authorities many chances to intercept weapons or explosives before they are smuggled aboard planes. "The message to people traveling is that the system is safer than it was when that [2005] report was first issued," says Petrowsky.
(go to web site) "US Lacks Labs to Test for 'Dirty Bomb'"
Associated Press (10/25/07) ; Sullivan, Eileen The U.S. would be unable to test people for radiation exposure if a dirty bomb was detonated in a major city, according to an investigation by the House Committee on Science and Technology. A dirty bomb attack, which could potentially expose up to 100,000 people to radioactivity, is one of the 15 disaster scenarios that the federal government told officials to plan for. However, due to a shortage of laboratories that could perform the radiation test, it would take up to four years to completely test that many possible exposures. Committee chair Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.) said, "I can't imagine a parent, who is told that their child can be tested for cesium in two-and-a-half more years, is going to be reassured to hear that their child probably won't die." The report cited the performance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after a former Russian KGB agent was poisoned with polonium-210 as an example of the problem. The CDC could only find one laboratory in the U.S. that was qualified to test the 160 people staying at the same hotel or eating at the same restaurant as the man who was poisoned. The lab shortage also hurts law enforcement's ability to quickly identify the origin and type of nuclear materials.
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"New U.S. Tack to Defend Power Grid"
Christian Science Monitor (10/30/07) P. 1 ; Clayton, Mark Despite the U.S. government's efforts to secure the nation's critical infrastructure from cyber attack, hackers as well as attack simulations continue to be more successful, prompting lawmakers to call for a massive overhaul of cybersecurity defenses. "Times are changing very quickly here, and cybersecurity that was good enough even a couple of years ago--the strategy and approach--is obsolete," says U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit director Scott Borg. While the greatest concern was once losing control over an infrastructure system such as the power grid, now the biggest threat is that cyber attacks could be used to cause serious physical damage to infrastructure system. Losing control of a system may lead to a loss of power for a few hours or even days, but physical destruction of, for example, an electrical turbine through a cyber attack would be even more devastating. A recently released video by the Idaho National Laboratory demonstrates how a cyber attack could be used to physically destroy a large electrical generator, a technique that could be replicated and adapted to destroy larger and more valuable equipment. "There's a great danger right now that government will spend a lot of money trying to provide better perimeter defenses around the email systems of government, when they should be thinking a lot more about critical infrastructure like the grid," Borg says. To safeguard against such threats U.S. lawmakers are pushing for a new approach. Instead of focusing on building ever-stronger firewalls to keep hackers out, lawmakers want a system that focuses on building infrastructure that can quickly bounce back following an attack. The House Homeland Security subcommittee is expected to unveil a blue-ribbon commission tasked with developing a national cybersecurity strategy to be ready for the next president.
(go to web site) "Secure DNS? Not Just Yet"
InformationWeek (10/29/07)No. 1160, P. 55 ; Fratto, Mike The Domain Name System lacks foolproof security, a weakness that provides an opening for worms, Trojans, and other malware to gain control of a server, even if for a short time. DNSSec, developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force's DNS Extensions working group, promises a solution to the problem, but a lack of support has slowed its deployment. For nearly 10 years the DNS Extensions working group has focused on DNS security by making basic protocol changes. RFC 4033, 4034, and 4035 currently comprise the core DNS Security requests for comment. DNSSec allows DNSSec-aware clients to walk up the certificate chain and verify each DNS response as authoritative using public key cryptography. If private keys are handled securely by all zone administrators, the DNSSec-signed responses making up a host name will be validated. In the event an attacker tries to spoof a forged reply, the forgery would be detected. Normally a computer's DNS client off-loads the DNS query to a recursive DNS server that resolves a host name to an IP address, caches the response if necessary, and sends the answer back to the DNS client. Under the IETF's DNSSec plan, DNS clients will be able to off-load DNS validation to the recursive resolver, though communication between the DNS client and the recursive resolver must be secured. If the DNS client is DNSSec aware, it can also request all DNSSec records and perform its own validation. Although IETF's DNSSec is seen by some as a desirable solution to DNS security problems, there are some stumbling blocks to implementing DNSSec around the world. For instance, a global DNSSec environment would require the root zone to be signed, as well as all top-level domains.
(go to web site) "Al Qaeda Declares Cyber Jihad on the West"
DEBKAfile (10/30/07) Al Qaeda has declared an "Electronic Jihad" against their enemies in an Internet announcement on October 29. According to the message, the campaign will begin on Nov. 11 with cyber attacks on 15 targeted Web sites. Eventually, al Qaeda plans on having hundreds of thousands of active hackers, promising them a chance to fulfill their jihad obligations over the Internet. The announcement included instructions on how to join the jihad through an "impenetrable" e-mail network that will allow hackers to contact al Qaeda without alerting security agencies. The campaign appears to be in response to Western intelligence agencies' ability to find and shut down al Qaeda's Web sites almost immediately. The day of the announcement, several of the organization's Web sites were crashed by American intelligence experts, although they were back online Tuesday.
(go to web site) Abstracts Copyright © 2007 Information, Inc. Bethesda, MD | 
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