| |
Texas May Allow Workers to Bring Guns to Work
Republic (Columbus, Ind.) (03/23/11) Adame, Jaime
A new proposal by Texas lawmakers would allow employees to keep guns in their vehicles on company property, though schools would be exempt. The controversial bill received overwhelming approval in the Texas Senate by a 30-to-1 vote and will soon be up for debate in the Texas House. The commuter safety bill is similar to legislation enacted in 13 other states. The measure poses a problem for employers who have contrary gun policies. Gun control advocates and others have some serious concerns about the measure due to the potential of gun violence in the workplace. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 1997 and 2009, there were 587 fatal workplace shootings across the country, where the shooter was either an employee or a former employee. "The workplace very often involves tension. ... I think allowing people to bring a handgun, or if they want, even an arsenal of firearms can only have bad consequences," said Ladd Everitt, director of communications for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Supporters of the bill claim that it does not give employees the right to walk into work with a weapon, but instead to have a safety option on their commute.
Bill to Tighten Hospital Security Clears California Legislative Panel
Los Angeles Times (03/23/11) Garrison, Jessica
The California Assembly Committee on Health on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to legislation that aims to address the problem of violence in hospitals in the state. Under the legislation, which was sponsored by Democratic Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi and the California Nurses Association, hospitals would be required to adopt tougher security measures and would be required to report all assaults and batteries on employees and patients, not just those that result in serious injuries or deaths as they are required to now. The committee's preliminary approval of the bill comes several months after a nurse at a medical facility in a jail in Martinez, Calif., was bludgeoned to death. The bill is opposed by the California Hospital Association, which says that there is no evidence that the increased burdens that it would place on hospitals would provide any benefits. Now that it has been approved by the Committee on Health, the bill goes on to the Assembly appropriations committee for its consideration. From there it will move on to the full Assembly.
Toyota Fights to Limit Access to 'Crown Jewels'
Wall Street Journal (03/22/11) Searcey, Dionne
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit over the sudden acceleration problems in some Toyota vehicles are battling the automaker over access to its source code. Attorneys for the plaintiffs want access to the code, which is used in software that controls engine management and other electronics in Toyota's vehicles, because they think that it contains evidence that could support their cases. However, Toyota has said that it wants to limit access to the code, which it referred to as the "crown jewel" of its business. Toyota has said that security measures need to be put in place in order for the attorneys to view the code, including the use of highly-secure rooms to view the code. The automaker also wants to use iris and palm scans on attorneys in order to know who is looking a the code, as well as radio frequency identification chips on all software-related documents so that the documents are not improperly disseminated. Toyota has said that the security measures are necessary in order to prevent portions of the code from being seen by other individuals besides the attorneys. The plaintiffs have agreed to some of the demands, including the use of a secure room. However, legal experts have said that the security measures Toyota wants to put in place are very unusual, though they concede that such security will be more common in the future since more and more people will be required to understand the source code.
Arlington Man Gets More Than 9 Years in Hacking Case
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (03/22/11) Hanna, Bill
Jesse William McGraw of Arlington, Texas, has been sentenced to 110 months in a federal prison after admitting that he hacked into computers at his job as a security guard. McGraw was working as a contract security guard at the North Central Medical Plaza in Dallas when he decided to hack into 14 different computers, including one controlling the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system and another which contained confidential patient information at the W.B. Carrell Memorial Clinic. Last year, McGraw--who is the self-proclaimed leader of the Electronik Tribulation Army hacking group--pleaded guilty to two counts of transmitting a malicious code. While the FBI was conducting its investigation into the matter, it found a CD at his home that contained the Ophcrack program, which can be used to bypass any passwords or security. McGraw was seen inserting the CD into a computer in a YouTube video he made about the hacking. Investigators also found on his personal laptop the source code for a bot that McGraw planned to use to attack the Web sites of other hacker groups.
Digital Economy Act: 'Rushed' Anti-Piracy Laws Delayed Until 2012
Telegraph.co.uk (03/21/11) Barnett, Emma; Williams, Christopher
BT and TalkTalk are planning to file a legal challenge on Wednesday against Britain's Digital Economy Act, which aims to crack down on digital piracy. Under the law, which had been scheduled to take effect in January but will not be implemented until spring 2012, broadband Internet providers will be required to match data collected by film and music groups about illegal downloaders with information contained in their customer databases. Customers who are found to be infringing on copyrights will then receive written warnings. The law also stipulates that those who ignore the warnings will have their Internet access slowed or cut off altogether in the event illegal downloading is not reduced by 70 percent within a year. Should BT and TalkTalk's legal challenge prove successful, implementation of the Digital Economy Act could be blocked. Meanwhile, some members of the British Parliament are working to develop an alternative way to deal with Internet piracy, which is said to cost creative industries £400 million annually.
McCain: Border Still Not Secure
Arizona Daily Star (03/25/11) McCombs, Brady
In his remarks to reporters after touring the U.S.-Mexico border near Nogales, Ariz., and Douglas, Ariz., on Thursday, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) criticized plans to end the National Guard's mission along the border. National Guard troops were deployed to the border last August and are scheduled to be withdrawn in June and replaced with 1,000 additional Border Patrol agents. McCain acknowledged that while improvements have been made to border security during the National Guard's mission, more needs to be done. He added that the presence of the National Guard along the border needs to be increased rather than decreased, and that troops need to remain until there are enough Border Patrol agents and agents from other organizations that will complete the task of securing the border. When asked how he defined operational control of the border, McCain cited a 10-point plan that calls for 3,000 National Guard troops to be deployed to the Southwestern border and the construction of double and triple layer fencing along some parts of the border, among other things. The border security supplemental legislation that was passed last year provided funding for 250 Customs and Border Protection port offices, 250 Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators, the purchase of two new drone aircraft systems, and the construction of two new forward operating bases.
Rights Are Curtailed for Terror Suspects
Wall Street Journal (03/24/11) Perez, Evan
The FBI issued a memo last December that outlines new rules for reading terrorism suspects their Miranda rights. According to the memo, the contents of which were recently reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, investigators will be allowed to hold domestic-terrorism suspects longer than others without reading them their Miranda rights in cases where investigators determine that it is necessary to continue unwarned interrogation in order to collect valuable and timely information that is not connected to any imminent terrorist threat. However, investigators would first need to obtain the approval of supervisors at the FBI and lawyers at the Justice Department, the memo said. Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that the new rules--which were prompted by the controversy over the use of Miranda warnings in the interrogations of the suspects in the attempted Christmas Day airplane bombing in 2009 and the botched bombing attempt in Times Square last May--will ensure that investigators have the ability to interrogate suspected terrorists without immediately reading them their rights in cases where their questioning is "reasonably prompted" by an immediate concern for the safety of agents or the public. However, some critics say that the rules may not survive legal challenges in the absence of legislation from Congress.
Yemen Conflict a Fresh Conundrum for Obama
Reuters (03/22/11) Colvin, Ross; Hosenball, Mark
According to U.S. counterterrorism officials, the biggest issue facing the U.S. is not the situation in Libya but rather the unrest in Yemen. These officials say that the collapse of Yemen could have a negative impact on U.S. efforts to prevent al-Qaida from using the country as a base. The U.S. has been able to carry out its counterterrorism operations with the help of embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has allowed U.S. forces to conduct secret operations against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. However, it remains unclear whether the person who takes over as president of Yemen will share the U.S.'s priorities in going after terrorists, said Chris Boucek, an expert on Yemen at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. It remains unclear who would succeed Saleh should he be toppled, though a U.S. national security official that is familiar with Yemen said that some senior Yemeni officials who are now members of anti-Saleh groups could be good partners for the U.S. should they come to power, despite the fact that some may have had ties to extremists in the past.
Pilots Sue Over 'Invasive' Airport Screening Procedures
Reuters (03/21/11)
Two U.S. commercial airline pilots filed a lawsuit on March 18 challenging the constitutionality of the airport security measures they must go through before boarding a plane. Those security measures require pilots to pass through metal detectors and to submit to physical pat downs in the event the alarm on the metal detector goes off. In their lawsuit, the pilots contend that the security measures violate the Fourth Amendment, which limits unreasonable searches and seizures. One of the pilots who brought the lawsuit also said that she would always be subject to the pat downs--which she referred to as "physical molestation"--because she has an artificial hip that would set off metal detectors. The pilot has not flown since refusing to go through the security measures last November. She and the other pilot are asking the court to prevent the Transportation Security Administration from performing such screening measures without probable cause. The pilots are also asking the court to require security personnel to provide accommodations for people who have medical conditions.
American Official Warns That Qaddafi May Lash Out With New Terrorist Attacks
New York Times (03/18/11) Schmitt, Eric
With an international coalition pressing against Libya's forces with military might, there is heightened concern within the Obama Administration that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi might respond with terrorist attacks, says Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John O. Brennan. Any Qaddafi-derived terrorism threat would join a list that includes al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and North Africa, which may seek sanctuary in Libya's south region. Libya's mustard gas stockpile is one of the threats the United States is focusing on, Brennan says. He notes that the political unrest in the Middle East had enervated counterterrorism cooperation among some Arab states, but says the United States has taken unspecified steps to compensate for its losses in that area. Possible strategies include more electronic surveillance, spy satellite coverage, and more ground-based informants, say independent intelligence specialists. "We need to work hard to ensure that the cooperation that existed before with certain countries continues," Brennan stresses. It is well known that U.S. spy agencies have engaged in close collaboration with their equivalents in countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen. "When politics change, frequently security and intelligence services that are dedicated to thwarting transnational terrorist groups, they remain largely unaffected because their focus is on those elements that are trying to undermine the security and stability of the country," Brennan says. He reports that U.S. spy services and law enforcement agencies had cooperated with some Arab counterparts in recent weeks to prevent terrorist plots that allied officials had been keeping track of even before the region's political instability reached a boiling point. Brennan says a number of imprisoned terrorism suspects or sympathizers in those countries who had been released or escaped in the turmoil had been re-apprehended.
Web Firm Suspects Iran Hacked Into It
Wall Street Journal (03/24/11) Rhoads, Christopher
The Internet-security company Comodo Group says that it believes that it was hacked by the Iranian government earlier this month. According to the company, which issues digital certificates that verify the authenticity of Web sites, the attacker broke into its system on March 15 by obtaining the username and password of a European affiliate. The attacker then issued nine digital certificates for fraudulent sites that were set up in Iran, including fake versions of Gmail, the login page for Yahoo!, and several Web sites run by Microsoft. The attack could have redirected someone who was trying to log into his Yahoo! account, for example, to a fake Web site, which in turn could have allowed the attackers to read e-mail, monitor the user's activity on the fraudulent site, and steal usernames and passwords. Comodo said that it believes that the attack was carried out by the Iranian government because it was traced back to an Iranian Internet service provider, and because the attacker would have needed to use critical Web infrastructure in Iran in order to carry out the attack. Comodo added that the attackers were likely trying to obtain online information about Iranian citizens. However, the company noted that the attacker may have made deceptive moves in order for it to appear that the attack was carried out by the Iranian government.
Federal Cyber Incidents Rose 39% in 2010
GovInfoSecurity.com (03/24/11)
Government information systems were affected by nearly 42,000 cyber incidents in the last fiscal year, an increase of 39 percent from the year before, according to an Office of Management and Budget report. The report noted that the 41,776 cyber incidents that affected government information systems in fiscal 2010 represented 39 percent of the 107,439 cyber incidents that were compiled by the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (U.S. CERT) for the last fiscal year. The remaining cyber incidents affected state and local governments, commercial enterprises, U.S. citizens, and foreign CERT teams. The report also found that malicious code was used in 31 percent of cyber incidents at federal agencies, making it the most commonly used form of attack. Scans, probes, and attempted access, used in 27 percent of cyber incidents, were the second most common form of attack. In addition, the report says that phishing attacks made up nearly 53 percent of the total number of cyber incidents reported by U.S. CERT, making it the most common type of attack.
Hackers Take Schools to School
DarkReading (03/23/11) Wilson, Tim
Roughly 63 percent of K-12 schools say they have experienced two or more security breaches in the past 12 months, according to Panda Security research. Their IT administrators are struggling to locate the resources they need to stay ahead of security tasks. The Panda Security Kindergarten-12 Education IT Security Study found that many schools are having difficulty finding the time and resources they need to shore up their security programs. The study found that overall schools struggle to upgrade IT security platforms, with 72 percent identifying budget limitations as the primary barrier to growth, and 38 percent identifying a lack of personnel for these initiatives. Twenty-nine percent indicate that the IT staff are ensconced in other responsibilities that take precedent over IT security system upgrades. IT administrative staff at 38 percent of schools report clearing IT systems of viruses or malware several times a week, and 21 percent are doing so daily. Ninety percent of schools install antivirus and/or anti-malware on machines, but close to 25 percent neglect to use firewalls, block high-risk Web sites, or wield user authentication, according to the survey.
Has Complexity Become Security's Chief Nemesis?
Dark Reading (03/21/11) Wilson, Tim
The complex nature of enterprise security management has made it difficult to create a secure network environment, according to a recent study by the Ponemon Institute and Check Point Software Technologies. The study found that managing complex security environments was the most significant challenge cited by the more than 2,400 respondents, all of whom were IT security administrators from around the world. More than 55 percent of companies are using seven or more different vendors to secure their networks, the survey found. Ponemon Institute CEO Larry Ponemon notes that many companies would like to consolidate vendors but cannot because it is easier for them to get a budget if they present a problem and purchase one product to solve it. The survey also found that more than 700 respondents believe that the primary issue with adopting emerging technologies is compliance, although achieving regulatory compliance on a global scale can be difficult. Finally, the survey found that nearly 49 percent of respondents believe that their organizations' employees have little or no awareness of data protection or corporate policies.
Industry Searches for Lessons After RSA Breach
CSO Online (03/18/11) Lemos, Robert
Attackers who carried out the recent security breach on RSA's network obtained information related to its SecurID technology, which is used by many companies to secure their virtual private networks and by banks to protect online banking sites, according to RSA. The company says the information that was taken could be used to weaken a two-factor authentication system as part of a wider attack. In the wake of the breach, RSA is urging companies to keep the number of workers who have administrator accounts to a minimum, and to protect administrators from social engineering attacks. RSA also is calling on companies to enforce strong passwords. Meanwhile, security experts say that other security and infrastructure companies should improve security on their own systems, since they could be targeted next. There are fears that other security and infrastructure companies could be victimized because the attack against RSA was an advanced persistent threat, a type of attack that is carried out by attackers that do not typically start and stop at one organization, says Shadowserver Foundation security researcher Steven Adair.
Abstracts Copyright © 2011 Information, Inc. Bethesda, MD |
No comments:
Post a Comment