Emergency Preparedness
Preventing a catastrophe generally includes careful emergency preparedness, business continuity planning, data recovery and disaster recovery, often with the use of GPS, Wi-Fi and other communications technologies that offer alert systems, backup solutions and interoperability.
Congress urges beefing up mass security
May 19th, 2008
The House Committee on Homeland Security has proposed that the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies dramatically increase their role in guaranteeing public safety at mass events, including sports venues, concerts, political rallies and official ceremonies.
FEMA concerned about electro magnetic pulses at Mount Weather
May 12th, 2008
There has been a debate for years as to whether an Electro Magnetic Pulse, also known as EMP, could blow out the electrical circuits and computer systems at the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center in rural Virginia – a site to which the president and top government leaders might be relocated in case of a nuclear attack – but it now appears that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is actively worried about such a potential EMP threat.
People: Bush names Cairns as DHS "Human Capital" chief
May 12th, 2008
President George Bush announced his intention to appoint Thomas Cairns as the Chief Human Capital Officer for the Department of Homeland Security. Prior to this DHS position, Cairns worked in the private sector, where he has more than 30 years of human resource management experience, mkost recently as a senior vice president with NBC Universal responsible for all human resource and labor relations practices, policies and programs within its Media Works – Media Technology and Operations unit.
People: Buswell named to key S&T Directorate post
May 5th, 2008
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the appointment of Bradley Buswell to serve as the deputy under secretary for the agency’s Science and Technology Directorate. Prior to joining the department, Buswell served for more than 24 years in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear submarine officer, and also worked as a manager for General Electric Global Research, GE’s corporate laboratory. Buswell most recently served as the S&T chief of staff, and was cited by Chertoff for having overseen its dramatic transformation in strategy and operations during the last 18 months.
"Manufacturing" becomes 18th critical infrastructure sector
April 30th, 2008
Key portions of the U.S. manufacturing industry - namely primary metals, machinery, electrical equipment and transportation equipment – have been identified by the Department of Homeland Security as the core of a newly established critical infrastructure sector that will be known as "Critical Manufacturing".
People: Shriver boosts California emergency preparedness Web site
April 25th, 2008
California’s First Lady, Maria Shriver, and CaliforniaVolunteers, the lead state office responsible for coordinating volunteer activities, have launched a first-of-its-kind online disaster preparedness effort focused on the greater Los Angeles area, known as WE Prepare. "We cannot afford to wait for the next disaster to hit before we take steps to get ready," Shriver said at a ceremony launching the Web-based program. Since 1950, 255 states of emergency have been proclaimed in California. Since 1989, there have been 27 major declared disasters. Despite this looming threat of unexpected disasters, less than half of Californians have a disaster plan in place. Shriver pointed out that WE Prepare hopes to motivate families to take action and get prepared for both natural and man-made disasters. It is located within the web site of CaliforniaVolunteers: www.californiavolunteers.org.
InfraGard eyes cyber crime and the forensic debate
April 21st, 2008
Last week, a group of high-powered corporate lawyers, security geeks and FBI agents met to ponder how to secure sensitive corporate data. It was part of an on-going series of conferences mounted by InfraGard, the national collaboration between the FBI and the private sector. Presentations examined protection of intellectual property, the use of forensics in determining and controlling network intrusions and data theft, and an overview of emerging issues in e-discovery.
Skelton: Iraq war strips homeland security resources
April 10th, 2008
Ike Skelton (D-MO), the powerful chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, warned that the demands to maintain military combat levels in Iraq are endangering the nation’s ability to supply first responders and the National Guard with equipment and personnel to respond to terrorist attacks on the homeland.
