CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY: Not Just for Private Sector Any More

Tue, 2011-07-26 02:32 PM (www.gsnmagazine.com)

Mark Fabro (left) and Anthony Di Bello

By Mark Fabro and Anthony Di Bello 

In the last several years, critical infrastructure protection has moved to the forefront of almost every asset owner’s agenda, be they in the public or private sector.

Perhaps more importantly, cyber security and its relevance to the protection of national critical assets are gaining considerable attention from Congress, the White House and the U.S. Defense Department.

Even though much of the U.S. critical infrastructure is owned by private industry, many high-value critical facilities are actually operated by government agencies. Critical infrastructure systems, regardless of who owns them, often share a tremendous amount of interdependency and interoperability, and from these interdependencies come previously unseen attack vectors.  Read more

Rep. King discusses homegrown Islamic terrorism and other security issues at NYC breakfast

[Courtesy of www.gsnmagazine.com]
Tue, 2011-07-26 08:46 AM

Rep. Peter King (R-NY)

Rep. Peter King (R-NY), Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in the House of Representatives, asserted that Americans are much safer today than on 9/11. Among the reasons he cited were public awareness of the potential threats that exist, better integration and cooperation with our allies, and an exceptional commitment by the NYPD, which has 1,000 officers working in counter-terrorism and engages in extensive intelligence-sharing with the Nassau and Suffolk County Police Departments, the New York State police, FBI and CIA.

But he warned that Al Qaeda realizes that Americans feel secure, so they are now using radicalized homegrown operatives, such as Najibullah Zazi, the would-be 2009 NYC subway bomber, who grew up in Queens, and U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan, who allegedly murdered 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in Texas.

“The only way they found out about Zazi, was that his name came up in a conversation they were monitoring and an analyst picked it up,” said King. “One random mention of his name prevented a disastrous attack on the New York City subway system.”   Read more

Al-Qaeda: Weakened, Continues to Target U.S.: Officials

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Al-Qaeda still hopes to carry out attacks against the United States, even as the structure of the terrorist network has become more dispersed, the White House pick to oversee unified U.S. counterterrorism operations said at his Tuesday confirmation hearing (see GSN, July 18).

"That threat is not so much from the senior (al-Qaeda) leadership in Pakistan with one unified goal, it is now diffused in various regional locations under various leaders and with various goals," said Matthew Olsen, who is awaiting Senate approval to become the new director of the National Counterterrorism Center.

Olsen said the May shooting death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. Navy SEALs was a "significant milestone" that that there has been "substantial progress" in the fight against the terror group.

Al-Qaeda's Yemen branch "has shown a willingness and a level of capability to strike in the United States," Olsen told members of the Senate intelligence committee. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been linked in recent years to failed efforts to detonate a bomb on a passenger aircraft heading to Detroit and to mail explosives to the United States.   

Read more

TERRORISM: Norway Killer Wrote of Anthrax Attacks

Wednesday, July 27, 2011The man who confessed to carrying out last week's bombing and mass shooting in Norway wrote at length on the potential for waging biowarfare with anthrax, though specialists said there was no indication he possessed or was prepared to use the deadly pathogen, the New York Times reported on Tuesday (see GSN, May 18).

www.co.rockland.ny.us

"He obviously doesn't have any specialized knowledge," Harvard University biological weapons expert Matthew Meselson told the newspaper. "He's copied words from other places, and says himself that he doesn’t have the expertise."

Anders Breivik has admitted to carrying out the weekend bombing of a government facility in the capital of Oslo and the subsequent shooting spree on a political party youth retreat taking place at a nearby island. The two attacks killed a minimum of 76 people.

Shortly before the attacks, Breivik posted online a 1,500-page manifesto that addressed at length how to obtain and employ weapons of mass destruction including anthrax, which he described as "one of the most effective" threats. "Anthrax" was mentioned 50 times in the document and "spores" in 20 instances.   Read more

FREE: A PRIMER ON SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

[A must have for everyone, not just military. One of the best documents I have ever read.]
A Primer on Situational Awareness is republished with permission of STRATFOR.

STATE DEPT ISSUES WORLDWIDE TRAVEL WARNING

Tue, 2011-07-26 02:26 PM

By: Mark Rockwell

U.S. State Department

U.S. travelers worldwide should be on the lookout for trouble and increase their security awareness, said a travel warning issued by the State Department on July 26.

The department issued the warning because of “the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence against U.S. citizens and interests throughout the world.” The warning replaced a worldwide caution issued back in January, it said.

Concerns about the continued threat of terrorist attacks, demonstrations, and other violent actions against U.S. citizens and interests overseas in the wake of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden’s death prompted the warning update. “Current information suggests that Al-Qa’ida and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks against U.S. interests in multiple regions, including Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East,” said the warning. “These attacks may employ a wide variety of tactics including suicide operations, assassinations, kidnappings, hijackings, and bombings,” it said.  More

FBI WMD Central: Five Years and Building

07/26/11

Five years ago this week, the FBI established its first Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Directorate to centralize and coordinate all WMD-related investigative activities, intelligence analysis capabilities, and technical expertise from across the Bureau. Recently, FBI.gov spoke with Dr. Vahid Majidi—the head of the WMD Directorate since its launch—on his office’s work over the past five years. Today, he talks about the current threat and specific focus of the directorate. Later this week, he’ll discuss case examples, lessons learned, and the future of the directorate.

FREE COURSE > Risk Communication Strategies for Public Health Preparedness

Description

Risk communication is an exchange of information about the likelihood and consequences of adverse events. In an emergency, effective risk communication is vital because it helps the public respond to the crisis, reduces the likelihood of rumors and misinformation and demonstrates good leadership. This training product will help you be more effective as a communicator and member of a crisis response team. After reviewing basic ideas about risk communication, you will learn to develop crisis communication plans and deliver public health messages by working with the media.

TOPIC 1: RISK COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS

• Part 1: Background on Risk Communication
• Part 2: What is Risk Communications?
• Part 3: Working with the Media
• Part 4: Communications Plans and Strategies
• Part 5: Crisis Communications
• Part 6: Implications and Action Steps

Useful Risk Communication-related Web sites:

Review CDC-Funded Cooperative Agreements on Public Health Preparedness and Response for Bioterrorism—Budget Year Four

CDC Guidance for Risk Communication and Health Information Dissemination (“Public Information and Communication, Focus Area F”)
Cross-Cutting Areas (co-funded with Health Resources and Services Administration)
Metropolitan Medical Response Systems (now part of the Department of Homeland Security)

FREE BOOK: The New Aztecs: Ritual and Restraint in Contemporary Western Military Operations

Brief Synopsis

The Western way of war has come full circle. After centuries of evolution toward increased totality and brutality, it has turned back once again to the ritualistic and restrained methods of primitive warfare. Largely, this has been due to an interaction between the perceived lack of utility in contemporary warfare, developing humanitarian public opinion, and increasing professionalism among militaries. The significance of these evolutionary trends in the way that the West engages in modern warfare is that they are potentially dangerous, and they include the possibility that the West will be unprepared for a future foe whose defeat requires more unrestrained methods.

TERRORISM 9/11: Bin Laden Plotted New Attack

By SIOBHAN GORMAN

Osama bin Laden was working to assemble a team of militants to attack the U.S. on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, according to communications Navy SEALs seized from his Pakistani hideout when they killed the al Qaeda leader this spring.

Bin Laden and his operations chief, Attiyah Abd al-Rahman, swapped views about the composition of the attack team, with bin Laden repeatedly rejecting names that Mr. Rahman suggested, according to U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence taken from the bin Laden compound.

The News Hub covers documents indicating al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden planned a U.S. attack on Sept. 11, 2011. Also, Rebekah Brooks resigns from News Corp (parent company of The Wall Street Journal) as it UK newspapers chief. Getty Images photo.

The plans were only in the discussion phase, U.S. officials said. They haven't seen any signs the nascent plot ever went beyond the early planning, the officials said.

Still, earlier this month in his first meeting with senior staff at the Central Intelligence Agency, acting Director Michael Morell told his staff that one of their top priorities would be to make sure that neither that plan nor any others were carried out.

Plans for an anniversary attack were one of the few specific potential threats to emerge from the trove of documents and other materials taken from bin Laden's residence in Abottabad, Pakistan, in the May 2 raid. An initial analysis of the evidence said al Qaeda hoped to attack trains in the U.S., possibly on the anniversary of Sept. 11.   For more

TERRORISM: Updates on the Oslo Bombing, Al-Qaida Takes Responsibility

UPDATED JULY 22, 5:16 P.M.
WASHINGTON -- At least seven people are dead Friday after an explosion rocked a government building in Oslo, Norway and a man dressed as a police officer opened fire at a youth camp outside the capital.

Al-Qaida-linked terrorists have taken responsibility for Friday's attacks, a respected blog about counter-terrorism reported.

An officer stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo said all American personnel assigned to the mission were safe and accounted for, though personnel were still checking to see if any American tourists had been at the scene.

Abu Suleiman al Nasser issued a statement saying the bombing was connected to a Dec. 2010 attack in Stockholm, Sweden, according to  The Long War Journal, a blog on counter-terrorism, which  received a translation of the statement from the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist groups online.  For more

TERRORISM: What the Oslo, Norway Attack Could Mean for Europe

July 22, 2011

Firefighters at the site of an explosion near government buildings in Oslo on July 22

At least 17 people have died and more have been injured in an explosion in downtown Oslo and a shooting at a Labor Party youth camp outside the Norwegian capital. Norwegian police arrested the shooter at the camp and believe he is connected with the explosion, though others could be involved.
The significance of the events in Norway for the rest of Europe will depend largely on who is responsible, and the identity of the culprits is still unclear. However, STRATFOR can extrapolate the possible consequences of the attacks based on several scenarios.  Read more

CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: Insider Threats and Critical Infrastructure: Sometimes, the News is Worth Worrying About

Thu, 2011-07-21 11:10
by CSO, Salted Hash – IT security news analysis, over easy! 

My instinct is almost always to look at something scary and tell you why there's no real reason to be afraid. But when it comes to malicious insiders working in nuclear power plants, a little fear may be justified.

I bring this up after reading all the reports about how Osama Bin Laden was planning an attack for the 10th anniversary of 9-11. The Department of Homeland Security issued a report that malicious insiders sent by the terrorists may already be on the inside at nuclear and other facilities essential to maintaining our energy supply, in positions of deep responsibility.

And so here we are, on guard like we've been so many times before, with the TV news people telling us to be afraid -- very afraid.

Exhibit A: This ABC report featuring Brian Ross, who is, in my opinion, one of the biggest doom-and-gloom-we're-all-gonna-die reporters out there:

Sabotage by an insider at a major utility facility, including a chemical or oil refinery, could provide al Qaeda with its best opportunity for the kind of massive Sept. 11 anniversary attack Osama bin Laden was planning, according to U.S. officials.

A new intelligence report from the Department of Homeland Security issued Tuesday, titled Insider Threat to Utilities, warns "violent extremists have, in fact, obtained insider positions," and that "outsiders have attempted to solicit utility-sector employees" for damaging physical and cyber attacks.

"Based on the reliable reporting of previous incidents, we have high confidence in our judgment that insiders and their actions pose a significant threat to the infrastructure and information systems of U.S. facilities," the bulletin reads in part. "Past events and reporting also provide high confidence in our judgment that insider information on sites, infrastructure, networks, and personnel is valuable to our adversaries and may increase the impact of any attack on the utilities infrastructure."   For more

Fourteen arrested in PayPal cyberattacks

photo courtesy of todayszaman.com

Published 21 July 2011

U.S. authorities have arrested fourteen people for allegedly hacking into PayPal's network; the attacks on website came as retaliatory move for corporate pressure against WikiLeaks; last year after WikiLeaks released thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, websites like PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard withdrew their services to WikiLeaks; hackers responded by taking the websites down; the fourteen hackers that were arrested were charged with conspiracy and intentional damage to a protected computer; the hackers could face as much as ten years in prison

DISASTER COMMUNICATION: Bringing First Responder Communications Into the 21st Century

Posted: 7/21/11 11:44 AM ET

photo courtesy apfn.org

New Yorkers know better than anyone the constant threat that our country faces. As we've seen time and again, New York continues to be the number one target for terrorists around the world who want to harm Americans.

That's why, as the Senator from New York, I am extremely concerned that we not forget the lessons of 9/11.

One important lesson we learned on that horrific day was how crucial it is that our first responders can communicate in real time between agencies in a time of emergency. We have the best firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians and public safety professionals in the world, yet currently they communicate on different frequencies and with different systems -- creating barriers to providing a coordinated and efficient response during a crisis.

DISASTER COMMUNICATION: Call for Public Safety Wireless Network

Published: July 20, 2011 at 5:44 PM
By ROBERT SPOERL, MEDILL NEWS SERVICE, Written for UP

WASHINGTON, July 20 (UPI) -- A bipartisan coalition of U.S. politicians urged that the auction of wireless spectrum be used to, in part, fund a public safety wireless network for first responders, which has been stalled since the days following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D. N.Y., said Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol that the plan would save lives and make emergency response more efficient without costing taxpayers money.

"To get this kind of help for our first responders without it costing the taxpayers a dime is a great accomplishment," Schumer said.

"The 9/11 Commission Report," released in 2004, called for a public safety communication network. First responders had difficulty communicating in the chaos after the attacks, chiefly because various departments were on different radios and networks.

Some telecommunications companies have spectrum they don't use. Part of the bill would establish a means to persuade broadcasters and companies to return spectrum to the government. The Federal Communications Commission would have an "incentive auction" selling extra spectrum. Proceeds from that auction would go toward creating the public safety network.

ECONOMIES: U.S. Shale Gas Weakening Russian, Iranian Petro-power

Published 22 July 2011

Rising U.S. natural gas production from shale formations has already played a critical role in weakening Russia’s ability to wield an "energy weapon" over its European customers, and this trend will accelerate in the coming decades

Natural gas drilling rig in Hopewell Township, PA // Source: congdonghoalan.com

Rising U.S. natural gas production from shale formations has already played a critical role in weakening Russia’s ability to wield an “energy weapon” over its European customers, and this trend will accelerate in the coming decades, according to a new Baker Institute study, “Shale Gas and U.S. National Security.” The study, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, projects that Russia’s natural gas market share in Western Europe will decline to as little as 13 percent by 2040, down from 27 percent in 2009. “The geopolitical repercussions of expanding U.S. shale gas production are going to be enormous,” said Amy Myers Jaffe, the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow for Energy Studies and one of the authors of the study. “By increasing alternative supplies to Europe in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG) displaced from the U.S. market, the petro-power of Russia, Venezuela, and Iran is faltering on the back of plentiful American natural gas supply.”  For more

SITUATIONAL AWARENESS: Test for Classifying Force Used in Bottle Stabbings Developed

[Another form of weaponry, in an asymmetric way.  Be aware of those yielding beer and wine bottles!  Article is courtesy of HSNW and single slide is courtesy of University of Leicester.]

Published 22 July 2011 (Britain)

Stabbing is the most common method of committing murder in the United Kingdom; in approximately 10 percent of all assaults resulting in treatment in the U.K. emergency units, glasses and bottles are used as weapons; official UK estimates suggest that a form of glass is used as a weapon in between 3,400 and 5,400 offenses per year; engineers at the University of Leicester have for the first time created a way of measuring how much force is used during a stabbing using a broken bottle

'Glassings' and Stabbings - Bottles as Weapons: The Engineering Story

Engineers at the University of Leicester have for the first time created a way of measuring how much force is used during a stabbing using a broken bottle. The advance is expected to have significant implications for legal forensics.

A team from the University has conducted a systematic study of the force applied during a stabbing and come up with the first set of penetration force data for broken glass bottles. This work has been published in the International Journal of Legal Medicine.

A university of Leicester release reports that stabbing is the most common method of committing murder in the United Kingdom. Injuries and assaults related to alcohol consumption are also a growing concern in many countries. In such cases the impulsive use of weapons such as a glass bottle is not uncommon.

In approximately 10 percent of all assaults resulting in treatment in the U.K. emergency units, glasses and bottles are used as weapons.

ACTIVE SHOOTER TIPS: Your Response to an Active Shooter UCLA Document

[A great 2 page desktop procedural guide for Active Shooter incidents, which are becoming more and more common. This document can be printed, folded and put under our phones at work, somewhat like our bomb threat guides.]

An Active Shooter is a situation where one or more suspects participate in a random or systematic shooting spree, and demonstrating intent to continuously harm others. The overriding objective appears to be that of inflicting serious bodily injury/death rather than other criminal conduct. These situations are dynamic and evolve rapidly, demanding immediate deployment of law enforcement resources to stop the shooting and mitigate harm to innocent victims.

TECHNOLOGY: "Amplified" Nanotubes for Efficient, Loss-free Grid

The current U.S. copper-based grid leaks electricity at an estimated 5 percent per 100 miles of transmission; Rice University researchers have achieved a breakthrough in the development of a cable that will make an efficient electric grid of the future possible; the armchair quantum wire (AQW) will be a weave of metallic nanotubes that can carry electricity with negligible loss over long distances

Rice University scientists have achieved a breakthrough in the development of a cable that will make an efficient electric grid of the future possible.

Armchair quantum wire (AQW) will be a weave of metallic nanotubes that can carry electricity with negligible loss over long distances. It will be an ideal replacement for the U.S. copper-based grid, which leaks electricity at an estimated 5 percent per 100 miles of transmission, said Rice chemist Andrew R. Barron, author of a paper about the latest step forward published online by the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters.

A Rice University release reports that a prime technical hurdle in the development of this “miracle cable,” Barron said, is the manufacture of massive amounts of metallic single-walled carbon nanotubes, dubbed armchairs for their unique shape. Armchairs are best for carrying current, but can not yet be made alone. They grow in batches with other kinds of nanotubes and have to be separated out, which is a difficult process given that a human hair is 50,000 times larger than a single nanotube.  Read more