Friday, May 9th, 2008

The Federal Communications Commissions intends to ask about 25 operators of approximately 50 different submarine telecommunications cable systems to provide the Commission with information about the status of their cable systems and landing stations and any restoration plans they may have in place.
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Customer:
Brookline, MA; Boston; and surrounding suburbs

Companies:
Galaxy Internet Services Inc.
Newton, MA

Connectronics
Cedar Rapids, IA

Strix Systems, Inc.
Calabasas, CA

The Problem:
The Boston Marathon, one of the oldest and most prestigious sporting events in the U.S., follows a 26-mile course through the City of Boston and several surrounding suburbs. This year’s race, which took place on April 21, attracted more than 20,000 registered runners and more than one million spectators, an enormous crowd which required a dramatic improvement in the security measures undertaken by the local public safety agencies.

Jeff Nigriny

Defense agencies have long understood the inherent insecurity of trusting supply partners without really knowing who’s at the other end of a transaction. More importantly, they understand that this problem is also pervasive within the agency. Now, with federal mandates like HSPD-12 and FIPS 201, civilian agencies are chartered to overcome the same challenges.

The Department of Justice has formally launched the Office of Intelligence within its National Security Division (NSD), replacing the department's Office of Intelligence Policy and Review (OIPR). The reorganization move creates three new sections within the Office of Intelligence dedicated to the NSD's three primary intelligence-related functions: operations, oversight and litigation. It reflects the surge in intelligence and security-related matters now requiring Justice Department review or approval. Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, OIPR has grown dramatically because of the steady increase in the number of applications it has handled under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The creation of NSD in September 2006 brought OIPR under the umbrella of NSD and presented an opportunity to review the office's structure and expanding mission. Based on this review, the NSD decided to modify the structure of the office, given that its intelligence staff has grown from fewer than 20 lawyers in 2000 to almost 100 today, and that its intelligence operations have increased with the rise in FISA caseload.

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.

For years, it was illogical that DHS went to extraordinary lengths to capture the fingerprints (first two fingers, then 10 fingers) and the facial photos of foreign travelers who entered the U.S., but did precious little to determine whether and where those same foreign travelers actually exited the U.S.

Bosch Security Systems, Inc., announced the addition of a new line of high performance and general purpose color liquid crystal display (LCD) flat panel monitors to its extensive portfolio of security components and solutions. Designed for professional CCTV installations, Bosch’s high resolution VGA and UXGA monitors provide exceptional image quality along with other innovative surveillance features, such as picture-in-picture, split screen viewing and digital HDMI input. The new monitors range in size from 15-inch to 42-inch models with wall, rack and pole mounting options available. The company’s new UML-172-90 17-inch and UML-192-90 19-inch high performance monitors include a color thin film transistor (TFT) active matrix LCD panel for high resolution imaging.
SecureWorks, AIC and more...

Lockheed Martin is partnering with the SANS Institute to reduce cyber security vulnerabilities that may be introduced during software development. Through a new certification program and training initiatives, Lockheed Martin developers will be given new skills to further enhance the security of the code they write. Initially, the SANS Lockheed Martin project will allow Lockheed Martin to assess the secure coding skills of 75 programmers, provide training to improve their skills, and certify its developers through a rigorous certification exam. Based on the results of the assessment and training, the program may be expanded to train a broader workforce of developers. Developers will be tested by SANS’ new Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) Secure Software Programmer (GSSP) examinations. The examinations use questions with real code examples, are currently available for Java, C and .NET developers, and are offered through SANS Institute.
ObjectVideo, Brijot and more...

Immigration & Customs Enforcement signed a contract with Value Added Communications, Inc., (VACI), of Plano, TX, to ensure that detainees in the custody of various U.S. Government agencies have free telephone access, as mandated by ICE’s National Detention Standards. ICE identified entities including foreign embassies, consulates, immigration courts and approved pro bono and community-based free immigration legal service providers. Under this contract, which has no stated dollar value, VACI will host a "pro-bono network," allowing all ICE detainees access to identified entities.
VirTra Systems, Mobilisa and more...

The U.S. Army needs canine and handler training for six off-lead explosive detection teams, six dual-purpose explosive detection and patrol teams and training for one master trainer by June 30, 2008. The training will need to commence no later than May 12, 2008. Two contracted Master Trainers will also need to be supplied by the contractor to deploy in theater with the teams. Each contracted Master Trainer shall deploy for a maximum of 90 days, for a total maximum deployment time of 180 days. The objective of this effort is to provide a canine/handler team capability to counter the increased threat of enemy and terrorist forces using Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), direct and indirect fire and sniper attacks. The contractor shall provide a total of six trained explosive detector dogs and six explosive detector/patrol dogs of which all 12 dogs shall become property of the U.S. Government upon completion of training. An option of four dogs shall be held in reserve at the contractor’s facility. Contact at 410-278-0710.
NOAA, USAF and more...

Much has been written about the migration from conventional analog video surveillance systems to an IP networked based platform. Depending upon specific system requirements, both analog and IP systems have advantages, and in-between there is the alternative of a hybrid system which can deliver the best of both worlds, while providing the flexibility to enhance or expand your system as the need arises. But, there are many additional criteria to consider before a decision can be made when designing and building a new system or upgrading an existing system.

The Defense Intelligence Agency plans to hire a security services firm that can watch the construction crews working at a construction site in Charlottesville, VA, to prevent the implantation of clandestine surveillance devices into the structure being built.

Government IT managers must take precautions to ensure federal workers are afforded sufficient access to the right resources during a heightened and continuing emphasis on the elimination of silos and promotion of secure collaboration across and within agencies.

Customer:
Phoenix Police Department Phoenix, AZ

Company:
Firetide
Los Gatos, CA

The Problem:
The greater Phoenix area played host to the NFL’s championship game in early February. And with hundreds of thousands of fans pouring into Phoenix, the Department of Homeland Security declared the football game a Level 1 National Security Event. In years past, the Phoenix Police Department handled event security with police officers manning doorways and intersections, or on rooftops with binoculars. Now, it was time to better leverage available resources by taking advantage of wireless video surveillance.

The Department of Homeland Security has been collecting fingerprints and facial photos of foreign travelers arriving at air, sea and land ports as they enter the U.S. for years, and has recently decided it is time to collect -- and match -- similar biometric data obtained from foreign travelers as they exit the U.S.

Customer
Dorset Police
Dorset, United Kingdom

Company
Thermo Fisher Scientific – Radiation Measurement & Security Instruments
Franklin, MA

The Problem
The 2007 Labour Party Conference, held in Bournemouth, Dorset (UK), attracted more than 12,000 participants. Responsible for the meeting’s security, the Dorset Police were faced with their largest ever security operation. The event required a flexible but dependable system that could provide precise radiological detection in real time at multiple sites throughout the venue. Equally important was that every detector be connected into a central hub where radiation warnings could be immediately assessed and located.

If Congress provides the necessary funds, the Department of Homeland Security plans to run a side-by-side test of various advanced types of automated pathogen detectors in FY2009, which could shorten by 24 hours the time it takes to determine that a biological attack by terrorists is underway.
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In recent months, there has been a significant increase in the number and ferocity of Web attacks perpetrated by hackers in China. This up-tick in malicious Internet activity involves sophisticated new techniques originating from a centralized group of activities based in China, with one of the malicious Web sites actually belonging to a Chinese government office.

Howard Schmidt

(ISC)2, a non-profit organization that educates and certifies information security professionals, has named Howard Schmidt, a former White House special adviser for cyberspace security, as its new Security Strategist. In that capacity, Schmidt will represent the organization at events and conferences around the world. During a career that has spanned nearly 40 years, Schmidt has also served as chief information security officer for eBay and chief security officer for Microsoft. "Howard Schmidt is one of the most respected information security professionals in the world today," said Patricia Myers, chairperson of the (ISC)2 board of directors.