Critical Infrastructure
The protection of the nation's critical infrastructure -- which might include an electricity plant, a nuclear power plant, the nation's power grid, a water treatment facility and other vital elements of the economy -- often entails video surveillance using CCTV, perimeter protection as well as high-tech steps to safeguard a facility's SCADA control system.
Internet Security Alliance’s message to President-Elect Obama
November 18th, 2008
If the Internet Security Alliance (ISA), a non-profit collaboration between the Electronics Industries Alliance and Carnegie Mellon University' s Cylab, the cyber-security research and education center, could send a Blackberry message to President-Elect Obama summarizing the reason why his administration needs to address the issue of cyber security, it would probably be this:
“Our physical security is threatened by vulnerabilities in our electronic information systems.”
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TISP management moves to SAME
October 6th, 2008
The secretariat for The Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP) has transferred from the American Society of Civil Engineers to the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME). The decision was characterized by the three groups as an “effort to support their parallel missions to improve the nation’s homeland security and disaster preparedness.”
A “secretariat” is generally defined as the clerical or administrative staff of an organization. As TISP’s secretariat, SAME will provide logistical support to the organization, according to a statement, which also noted that, “however, TISP will retain its own identity, branding and mission.”
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Virginia man sentenced to 22 years in prison for Capitol Hill scare
August 19th, 2008
A 38-year-old Virginia man, who was arrested on Capitol Hill last January and charged with manufacturing and possessing a weapon of mass destruction, which he might have used to hurt John Roberts, Jr., the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, was convicted last May and sentenced on Aug. 15 to 22 years in prison.
Roundtable in Seattle slated to establish VoIP interoperability
August 12th, 2008
On the seventh anniversary of 9/11, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will hold a public working group in Seattle, WA, to discuss ways to develop a common technical protocol that would enable different brands of public safety radios that utilize VoIP technology to communicate with each other.
GSN flexes its muscles
August 4th, 2008
I’ll let you in on a little secret: It’s not that rare for an article that appears in this e-newsletter, GSN’s Homeland Security Insider, or its companion monthly print publication, GSN: Government Security News, to generate a Letter to the Editor, or an e-mail, or a verbal reaction from one of our readers.
Industry wants to "grandfather" in today’s rail cars for 25 years
August 1st, 2008
Trade associations representing the nation’s chemical manufacturers, railroads, chlorine suppliers and rail tank-car builders have petitioned the Department of Transportation to issue new "interim regulations" that would allow newly-built rail tank cars that use today’s existing safety technology to be "grandfathered" in for the next 25 years.
Critical infrastructure panel to meet in DC on July 30
July 22nd, 2008
The Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council will meet in Washington, DC, on July 30 to discuss regional implementation of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan and both asset-based and systems-based approaches to infrastructure protection.
Louisiana Governor takes a shine to ArcMail for e-mail security
July 17th, 2008
The Governor of Louisiana has tapped a local company, Shreveport-based ArcMail Technology, to ensure that the state’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (OHSEP)is prepared for the increase in e-mail traffic during and after disasters, and can better respond to legal discovery orders and requests for information during emergencies.
