CYBER SECURITY: New Stuxnet-like Virus Hits Europe

Duqu provides the parthways for Stuxnet to do its damage //
Source: inquisitr.com

Published 24 October 2011

The dreaded Stuxnet worm, which was the first instance of a computer virus creating physical damage, may have spawned a dangerous new piece of malware; researchers at Symantec believe they have discovered a new computer virus that uses many of the same techniques in European computers  Read more

EDUCATION: Penn State offers online minor in homeland security

Published 25 August 2011

Penn State is the latest to join the handful of educational institutes offering a minor in homeland security; the degree is available online and is designed to provide students with the skills needed to enter the homeland security field

An increasing number of colleges across the United States have recognized the critical importance of training the next generation of leaders in homeland security and are now offering specialized degree programs in the field.

Penn State is the latest to join the handful of educational institutes offering a minor in homeland security. The degree is available online and is designed to provide students with the skills needed to enter the homeland security field.

Courses will focus on homeland security and defense, terrorism, national security policy, security administration, border security, emergency management and critical infrastructure.  Read more

SECURITY vs FREEDOM: Norwegian Ambassador: A More Restrictive Society” is Not the Answer

[I can't help but empathize with this guy and Norway as a whole.  I vacationed there, and absolutely love the people and their country. Maybe they are learning from our mistakes...hopefully, somebody does...SDF Blogger]

Published 4 August 2011

coutesy of www:s260.photobucket.com

Following the deadly terrorist attacks in Norway that left at least seventy-six people dead, Svein Sevje, Norway's ambassador to Israel, said in an interview that the Norwegian government will not become a surveillance state and instead focus on maintaining freedom and transparency; "The answer to this is not closing in and a more restrictive society, it's more transparency, more involvement, that must be the answer," Ambassador Sevje said; "Our prime minister and foreign minister have stated that Norway will still be recognizable tomorrow," he said; the ambassador added that some new security measures will be introduced, but he hopes that they will not come at the cost of democratic freedoms

What Could Austerity America's Defense Posture Look Like?

By Philip Ewing Monday, August 1st, 2011 11:21 am
Posted in Rumors

The Pentagon is staring at the prospect of as much as $850 billion in budget reductions over the next 10 years and beyond — which, as DoD and service officials keep saying, will require some major strategic recalculations. Even now, we can only imagine what’s in the PowerPoint slide decks rocketing back and forth across the Building as staffs come up with alternatives and scenarios for absorbing those kinds of cuts. The only upside, from DoD’s perspective, is that it sounds as though the White House and Congress are sold on the idea of a grand strategy that lays out how to move forward and where to accept risks.

Two old caveats remain in effect, though: First, whatever the Pentagon comes up with has to survive Congress, where defense lawmakers in the age of austerity will fight harder than they ever have to keep their pieces of the military-industrial complex. And second: The Pentagon needs a better bad guy than “persistant global instability” when it’s fighting to keep budgets and hardware, and we all know what that means: China. It’s a fair bet that the Mother of All Reviews will call for the military to keep or increase its focus on the Western Pacific, even as it dials back the U.S. forces positioned elsewhere around the world.

Here’s one vision for how this movie plays out:  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

Southeast Asia: Crouching Tiger or Hidden Dragon? [a must read]

Vikram Nehru, Thursday, July 7, 2011

Mention Asia and many people immediately think of China and India—giants that are powering the world economy. But Southeast Asia, a sub-region of ten countries that lives in the shadow of its two large neighbors, is also a thriving trade and economic hub.

At first glance, the countries of Southeast Asia—bound by many regional trade and political agreements—seem to make no sense together. After all, the region includes a small, rich, oil kingdom (Brunei); a post-conflict society (Cambodia); and a wealthy entrepôt economy (Singapore). In addition, there is an autarkic country that has been under military rule since 1962 (Myanmar); a poor, landlocked economy blessed with hydropower and minerals (Laos); and a populous nation whose growth rates rival China’s (Vietnam), not to mention four diverse middle-income economies that aspire to join the ranks of advanced countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand).¹

Nevertheless, the countries share a strategic location and access to plentiful natural resources. Furthermore, their diversity and increasing integration lie at the heart of the region’s rapid and resilient economic growth. Politically, the region provides stability in a part of the world that is rapidly reshaping the global balance of power. As a result, its continued development—which depends on investments in infrastructure and education, as well as improvements in business climate—is important for the rest of the world.  Read more

DoD > US Department of Defense Strategy for Operating in Cyberspace

[Excellent document for dealing with all things cyber...find below the outline of contents]

INTRODUCTION 
STRATEGIC CONTEXT 
FIVE STRATEGIC INITIATIVES       
     Strategic Initiative 1: Treat cyberspace as an operational domain to organize, train, and equip so that DoD can take full advantage of cyberspace’ potential    
     Strategic Initiative 2: Employ new defense operating concepts to protect DoD 
networks and systems 
     Strategic Initiative 3: Partner with other U.S. government departments and agencies and the private sector to enable a whole-of-government cybersecurity strategy  
     Strategic Initiative 4: Build robust relationships with U.S. allies  
and international partners to strengthen collective cybersecurity 
     Strategic Initiative 5: Leverage the nation’s ingenuity through  
an exceptional cyber workforce and rapid technological innovation  
CONCLUSION

FBI > Establishes Graduate Degree in WMD Studies

image courtesy of:  topsecretwriters.com

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

The FBI has established a graduate program at a Pennsylvania university for its agents to study counterterrorism and weapons of mass destruction, thePittsburgh Tribune-Review reported on Tuesday (see GSN, Feb. 17).

The multiple year program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania is currently only open to FBI personnel. Other departments ultimately might be able to have students study for the master of science in strategic studies in weapons of mass destruction.

"It's not going to be open enrollment (or) traditional students," university criminologist Dennis Giever said.

"You worry about whether you might be teaching the wrong person this stuff," he said.

The degree program includes studies of of radiological "dirty bombs," strikes on the energy infrastructure and food-based bioterrorism.

The FBI three years ago began talks with the university on establishing the WMD studies program, according to bureau Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate countermeasures and preparedness chief Doug Purdue.

While several universities were approached, only Indiana University of Pennsylvania had existing programs specializing in anti-WMD efforts, Purdue said.

Thirty-four FBI agents have to date taken specialized WMD classes through the university. The bureau and other government branches anticipate spending $300,000 annually to send 15 to 20 personnel to enroll in the graduate program.

Some analysts who believe there is a low risk of a WMD strike on the United States have said such efforts are an unproductive use of government funds.

"It seemed ridiculous to some people," Federation of American Scientists Terrorism Analysis Project Director Charles Blair said. "But even if the risk is really low, it's still good to have some people looking at it in an academic sense" (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review/Pennlive.com, July 12).

FREE FOG > National Interoperability Field Operations Guide

New content:

• VTAC Repeater Channels
• U.S. Department of Justice 25 Cities Project
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Regions - States and Territories
• U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Centers
• Cellular Telephone Emergency Response
• Text Messaging
• Line-of-sight Formulas

Updated content:

• VHF low-band interoperability repeaters and channel names
• All channel tables list frequencies in the same order as ICS-205 and ICS-217 forms
• An improved map showing where channel VTAC17 may be used, with county names
• 700 MHz Interoperability Channels – frequencies have been added to the table
• UHF MED channels – 12.5 and 6.25 channels added
• RJ-45 wiring – crossover wiring added
• VHF Marine Channel and Frequency tables
• Revised answer to the question "Don't I need a license for these channels before programming them into radios?"
• Revised "Ground to Air working channel" in the table "Federal/Non-Federal VHF SAR Operations Interoperability Plan"

DHS USCG > Drug smugglers in minisubs hunted by Seattle Coast Guard crews

Seattle-based Lauren Milici, assisted by fellow

Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Tenley Barna, peers into a

cocaine-packed minisub off Costa Rica.

Smugglers in a "narco sub" tried to sneak 6.6 tons of cocaine up the Central American coast in January, but a Seattle-based Coast Guard crew boarded the vessel, arrested the four-man crew and sank the sub and its cargo. It's an ongoing, multibillion-dollar game of cat-and-mouse that shows the Coast Guard is more than a search-and-rescue outfit. 

Read more

FORT HOOD SHOOTER > the accused faces court martial

• Associated Press
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday, 6JUL2011



Photo courtesy US Army

• Court could sentence Major Nidal Malik Hasan – charged over the killing of 13 people in military base rampage – to death

A US army psychiatrist charged over a 2009 killing rampage at a Texas military base will face a court martial where he could be sentenced to death, a military commander has ruled.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 40, who US officials have linked to a radical Muslim cleric in Yemen, has been charged over the Fort Hood shootings in which 13 people were killed and 32 wounded.

Lieutenant General Donald Campbell, Fort Hood's commander, referred Hasan's case to a general court martial which "is authorised to consider death as an authorised punishment", according to a statement issued by Fort Hood.

A date had not been set for the court martial, the statement said. The first likely step would be for a military judge to inform Hasan of his rights at an arraignment.

According to witnesses who testified at evidentiary hearings at Fort Hood in 2010, Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar" – Arabic for "God is Greatest" – just before opening fire on a group of soldiers undergoing health checks before being deployed to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hasan is confined to a wheelchair after he was paralysed from the chest down by bullet wounds inflicted by civilian police officers during the incident on 5 November 2009.

The attack raised concerns over the threat of "homegrown" militant attacks. US officials said Hasan had exchanged emails with Anwar al-Awlaki, an anti-American al Qaida figure based in Yemen.

Fort Hood is a major deployment point for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

NUCLEAR > Nuclear Safety Journal Launched

Published 7 July 2011

Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima: for the third time in twenty-five years a nuclear power plant suffered a serious accident, precipitating a global review of the way to govern nuclear safety and security; a publisher of scientific journal is launching a new journal -- International Journal of Nuclear Safety and Security (IJNSS) -- which will offer a forum for the serious discussion of nuclear power plants' safety

pThree Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima: for the third time in twenty-five years a nuclear power plant suffered a serious accident, precipitating a global review of the way to govern nuclear safety and security.

The 11 March Fukushima accident was especially poignant because it came during — and may well put an end to — what was correctly termed a Nuclear Renaissance: as worries about climate change and the volatility of oil prices grew, interest in nuclear power generation was rekindled.

InderScience Publishers is launching a new journal — teInternational Journal of Nuclear Safety and Security (IJNSS) — which aims to address the growing interest in, and concern about, nuclear safety.

The publisher says that the international community must learn from these accidents in order to improve international co-operation, both in terms of crisis management and prevention of risks. IJNSS will provide an opportunity to exchange information on the implications of safe and secure operation of nuclear power plants and approaches taken by countries worldwide.   Full article

Among the topics which will be covered by the new journal:

• Strategic, managerial, organizational issues; total quality management (TQM) and environmental management
• Macroeconomics, nuclear economics and business
• Technological advances, issues, innovation, hazards; role of information and communication technologies (ICTs)
• Analysis/assessment methodologies, performance measurement
• Governance, policy strategy, assessment, review
• National/international environmental protection policy; ecosystem research
• Ecological/environmental impacts; risk assessment/legal aspects of pollution
• Waste disposal strategies; clean technologies
• Energy security and risk assessment; policy, standards and regulations
• Critical infrastructures design, protection, management
• Risk assessment, control, characterization, perception, communications, models
• Integrated risk assessment and safety management
• Nuclear systems management, transport, resource development, power quality
• Public policy, regulations, governance and nuclear use; public attitudes
• Knowledge based policies and education; knowledge transfer