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"Contract Negotiations Continue for San Francisco Security Officers"
Business Wire (09/27/07) The security officer strike called for by SEIU Local 24/7 in San Francisco will end after the two sides agreed to accelerated negotiations. Less than 1 percent of the 5,500 security guards who are in the union actually went on strike Monday, and they will return to work tomorrow morning. Negotiations between the security companies and union officials will continue through Friday evening as the two sides discuss workplace policies and procedures. The companies believe that the union should accept the current policies because they were only negotiated four years ago. "We look as this as a good sign as we progress toward a contract that is good for our employees and good for our clients," says Guy Thomas, spokesman for the security companies.
(go to web site) "Private Security Providers Become a Pentagon Focus"
Wall Street Journal (09/27/07) P. A9 ; Cole, August U.S. Defense Department officials and Iraqi government representatives are debating further oversight of private security officers in Iraq after the Sept. 16 shootings involving Blackwater agents. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Sept. 26 he is concerned "whether there has been sufficient accountability and oversight in the region over the activities of these security companies." The Defense Department recently released a memo to U.S. commanders in response to growing concerns, instructing them to "disarm, apprehend and detain" any private security officials in Iraq involved in illegal conduct, signaling the end of immunity for defense contractors currently shielded from oversight by U.S. law. Though Blackwater has not assumed fault for the shootings and says its controversial tactics are necessary to safeguard the dignitaries and companies it protects, insiders say Iraqi officials are crafting their own domestic laws for private contractors. According to Pentagon spokesmen, the Defense Department has no plans to retract the 7,300 security contractors working in Iraq under jurisdiction of the department, but aims to indict errant security officers under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act and Uniform Code of Military Justice.
(go to web site) "Iraq's Oil Exports to North Rise"
Christian Science Monitor (09/27/07) P. 1 ; Sabbagh, Leslie; Peter, Tom A. Attacks on oil pipelines in Iraq have dropped significantly since the beginning of this year due to a campaign to stop sabotage, security officials say. From January to March 2007, officials recorded 30 attacks on pipelines stemming from central Iraq's Bayji refinery but noted only ten attacks between April and September since the deployment of 3,000 Iraqi guards around the pipelines. Col. Jack Pritchard, who trained the guards, says now that a strategy has been implemented, Iraqi's primary focus should be "maintaining their army and keeping themselves free of corruption," referring to previous instances of insurgents posing as guards to propagate sabotage. Construction of a 50-mile "pipeline exclusion zone" between Bayji and Kirkuk is currently under way, say officials, and will serve as an obstacle to discourage attacks.
(go to web site) "Oil Man Dies in Niger Delta Raid"
BBC News (09/27/07) A Colombian national working in the Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt was killed and two other workers were kidnapped during a raid by members of a militant group. Security contractors said that 10 gunman arrived in boats and exchanged gunfire with soldiers at the Saipem yard. The attack came a few days after the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) called off a truce with the government because one of their leaders was arrested in Angola. MEND announced that it would resume kidnapping in the hopes that the region would receive more of the profits that foreign oil companies make. In the past, the group has released kidnapped oil workers unharmed.
(go to web site) "FBI Investigating Possible Sabotage of Chicago Commuter Train Tracks"
Fox News (09/27/07) The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, and the Transportation Security Administration are investigating the possible sabotage of a section of railroad tracks in Chicago's south side. Security officials were called in on Sept. 24 after Metra workers discovered 12 missing spikes, and a spokesman for the FBI says the agency is "aggressively investigating" the incident. "If a sufficient number of spikes are removed in a contained location, there's the potential for the rail to shift, which would lead to disastrous results and train derailment," says Steve Kulm, spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration. Metra officials are investigating the involvement of one of their workers and say the incident may have been a personal attack on the worker by her estranged husband.
(go to web site) "Chinese, US Citizens Charged With Espionage in San Francisco"
Agence France Presse (09/26/07) A U.S. citizen and a Chinese national have been charged with conspiracy to commit economic espionage and steal trade secrets, the U.S. Attorney's office in northern California announced Wednesday. Lee Lan and Ge Yuefei are accused of planning to steal microchip designs that could be used in military technology from their employer, NetLogics Microsystems, and from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation. Justice officials allege that Lee and Ge set up a company to develop and market trade secrets and had contacted the Chinese government in an attempt to secure funding. The two men have been released on $300,000 bail but face a maximum of 15 years in jail and a $500,000 fine. This alleged espionage plot comes at a time when U.S. officials believe that spying by Russia and China is almost as widespread as it was during the Cold War.
(go to web site) "Universities Rethink Unarmed Police"
USA Today (09/20/07) P. 1A ; Johnson, Kevin The tragedy at Virginia Tech has prompted renewed debate about the arming of campus police. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 81 percent of public universities had armed police agencies in 1996, the latest year for which figures are available. The department expects to see a slight increase in its upcoming report, due in November. Among schools and states considering changes to their policies is Iowa, where Gov. Chet Culver, a Virginia Tech alumnus, is pushing for a measure to arm officers at the state's three public universities. Education officials in Nevada are set to take up a proposal to allow some college faculty members and staff at eight public colleges to carry guns as part of a special reserve officer corps. On the other hand, Oregon lawmakers recently rejected a proposal to allow college officers to carry guns, leaving serious law enforcement issues up to state and local police. "There are police forces that have the responsibility to make life and safety decisions, and they don't have the full equipment to do it," says Raymond Thrower Jr., president of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. "It's like giving a firefighter a car and telling him to go put out the fire without the truck and the rest of the equipment."
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"Lorenzo Weakens to Tropical Storm"
Associated Press (09/28/07) ; Hernandez, Miguel Angel Mexican officials evacuated several low-lying coastal communities in Veracruz after Hurricane Lorenzo strengthened quickly into a Category One hurricane Thursday. At least 30 communities were ordered to evacuate, several ports were closed, and more than 60 shelters were opened in preparation for the storm. "We never expected the hurricane would hit here," said Ribay Peralta, a resident of the coastal town of San Rafael. "San Rafael is a town that gets flooded easily." Forecasters predicted that the storm, which had top sustained winds of around 65 mph before it made landfall, could drop up to 10 inches of rain and cause a storm surge of two to four feet. Officials also warned of mudslides in the area, which was previously flooded in August by Hurricane Dean. Lorenzo made landfall early Friday morning along the east-central coast of Mexico, and quickly weakened into a tropical storm.
(go to web site) "Alert Over Nuclear Theft"
Gulf Daily News (Bahrain) (09/28/07) A study commissioned by the Nuclear Threat Initiative found that "the threat of nuclear theft and terrorism remains high in many parts of the world," especially in Russia and Pakistan. Although the report acknowledged that nuclear security has improved in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union, it also said that terrorists have been monitoring nuclear warhead storage sites. Pakistan has a smaller nuclear arsenal than Russia, however the report raised questions over the reliability of several military officers who aided Al Qaeda in two assassination plots. The report also cited highly-enriched uranium-fuelled research reactors as a possible terrorist target.
(go to web site) "Official: Iran Ordered Terrorist Bombing in the Americas"
Fox News (09/27/07) Argentinean officials recently named former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iranian Supreme Council of Security members as the prime suspects involved in two terrorist attacks on Buenos Aires in the 1990s. Miguel Angel Toma, former head of Argentina's intelligence service, told reporters Hezbollah was initially fingered in connection with the two bombings, which killed over 100 and injured hundreds more, but recent evidence pinpoints a time and place when leaders met in Tehran to plan the second bombing, which occurred at a Jewish community center in 1994. Toma says Iran organized the first bombing, of the Israeli embassy, on March 17, 1992, after Argentina called off agreements with the country to help develop nuclear and missile technologies. "We never thought in Argentina this would be a factor for determining a terrorist attack," Toma told reporters. Arrest warrants were issued for nine Iranian officials and Hezbollah agents; presently all have evaded arrest.
(go to web site) "Anthrax Drill Is Met With Relief and Skepticism"
Boston Globe (09/24/07) ; Smith, Stephen A three-year-old disaster plan was tested over the Sept. 22, 2007, weekend when postal workers in Boston, Mass., dispensed white boxes marked "This is only a test" to homes throughout the city. Government officials sent the postal workers out into the city to see how long it would take to dispense antibiotics to over 23,000 residents should terrorists release anthrax into the air over the city. Similar experiments were conducted in Seattle, Wash., and Philadelphia, Penn., but residents are concerned the government is asking too much of postal carriers. However, government officials indicate postal carriers have been lectured on their roles as citizens and postal union leaders stated the workers would dispense medications to the public if necessary. If an anthrax attack occurred, police officers would follow postal workers on their routes to ensure residents did not panic and attack postal workers to get the medicine. Postal workers engaged in the drill delivered the bottles quicker than they deliver the mail on their routes, but postal workers were not obligated to match names and addresses before delivering the boxes.
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"US Video Shows Hacker Hit on Power Grid"
Associated Press (09/27/07) ; Bridis, Ted; Sullivan, Eileen A video released by the Idaho National Laboratory shows the possible result of hackers attacking industrial electrical turbines, an effort to warn policy makers of the risks facing the U.S. electrical grid. The video shows hackers triggering commands that cause the turbine to violently shake, causing pieces to fly off and smoke to come out, eventually shutting down power. The test was conducted in the spring by researchers looking for vulnerability in supervisory control and data acquisition systems. Although the flaw has already been fixed, researchers hope that the video will help officials realize the need for upgraded security. "It's so graphic," said Amit Yoran, former U.S. cybersecurity chief and current CEO for NetWitness Corp. "Talking about bits and bytes doesn't have the same impact as seeing something catch fire." Although members of the electric industry claim that such an attack would require special knowledge by the hacker, including the ability to shut down warning systems, the Department of Homeland Security is working with the industry to improve security. One security expert acknowledges that the electrical and nuclear power infrastructure was designed using old technology that did not consider security a large concern.
(go to web site) "Congressmen Call for Investigation on Government Cyberattacks"
InformationWeek (09/24/07) ; Gaudin, Sharon In a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, Reps. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) and James R. Langevin (D-R.I.) expressed their concerns that the department is being attacked by foreign powers and has been put in jeopardy by the "incompetent and possibly illegal activity" of a U.S. contractor. Though the letter did not identify the contractor alluded to, the FBI is currently probing IT firm Unisys for allegedly failing to discover cyberbreaches traced to a Chinese-language Web site, according to a report by the Washington Post. Unauthorized users' infiltration of government networks is not a new threat, and years of cyberattacks have yielded enormous amounts of lost critical data. Moreover, cyberespionage is a national security issue necessitating an improved defensive stance, stated Thompson and Langevin. The congressmen also charged that the Department of Homeland Security contracted the adoption of network intrusion-detection systems, but that such systems had not been fully implemented at the time of the last incident.
(go to web site) "Is the U.S. at Risk From Cyberwarfare?"
IDG News Service (09/20/07) ; McMillan, Robert Commerce could take a serious hit from cyberattacks, given the degree to which elections, banking, and point-of-sale systems have migrated online. "As we become more networked and more wired, our vulnerabilities increase," notes Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis director James Mulvenon, who cites the May shutdown of Estonian Internet servers and the subsequent crippling of Estonia's banking system as a case in point. The Homeland Security Department's Gregory Garcia says preparing for cyberattacks involves many of the same procedures as gearing up for other online threats. "For our purposes, we really need to focus on reducing our vulnerabilities so those attacks don't happen in the first place," he explains. One of the sticking points in plans for the United States to wage cyberwarfare against other countries is that such attacks could have a cascading effect that damages civilian systems and services that may not be intended targets. There is also the additional threat of rogue elements who may launch cyberattacks without the approval of their government. Cyberwarfare planners will for now continue to proceed with caution out of concern for unintended consequences, according to Mulvenon.
(go to web site) "New Activist Tool: Cyber Sit-Ins"
IDG News Service (09/24/07) ; McMillan, Robert A group called the Electronic Disturbance Theater urged Michigan residents to bombard the state's Web site in protest of proposed state health care program cuts. Those that participated in the cyber sit-in went to the group's Web site and downloaded a browser plug-in that hit the Michigan.gov site repeatedly. Michigan CISO Dan Lohrmann said the attack only produced traffic that was about 10 percent above normal page views, but "had a million people joined in, it would have been interesting." Lohrmann said the protest mirrored a denial-of-service attack. Although many cyber protests involve manipulated botnet networks, hackers also create software that can be downloaded by individual users for synching their computers in the attack. Professor Dorothy Denning of the Naval Postgraduate School says drawing public attention to specific issues is the main goal of the cyber sit-in, not bringing down the state's Web site.
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