Silent Attack - Government Technology

Nov 21, 2007, By Jessica Jones
On April 25, skin-burning water flowed from the tap in Spencer, Mass., sending 100 people to the hospital and forcing everyone else to avoid their faucets and hoses.

One week after the incident, investigators discovered that two city workers accidentally released an excessive amount of sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, into the water system after they forgot to switch the feed system from manual to automatic.

Silent Attack - Government Technology

Ammonia pipeline incident paralyzes FL community

Ammonia pipeline incident paralyzes FL community: "It all started when a 16-year-old boy drilled into an ammonia pipeline at the river Monday night, unleashing a gas cloud that seriously burned him, caused emergency evacuations and closings and potentially harmed the environment. Damage to the pipeline itself, officials say, will be about $250,000. "

http://www.alliedaviation.com/locations/nyo/corpcontact.html

Jean Nouvel Tower Near MoMA - Architecture - New York Times

Jean Nouvel Tower Near MoMA - Architecture - New York Times: "Commissioned by Hines, an international real estate developer, the tower will house a hotel, luxury apartments and three floors that will be used by MoMA to expand its exhibition space. The melding of cultural and commercial worlds offers further proof, if any were needed, that Mr. Nouvel is a master at balancing conflicting urban forces."

Played for a Sucker - New York Times

Played for a Sucker - New York Times: .....
"But Mr. Obama’s Social Security mistake was, in fact, exactly what you’d expect from a candidate who promises to transcend partisanship in an age when that’s neither possible nor desirable."......
"As Peter Orszag, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, put it in a recent article co-authored with senior analyst Philip Ellis: “The long-term fiscal condition of the United States has been largely misdiagnosed. Despite all the attention paid to demographic challenges, such as the coming retirement of the baby-boom generation, our country’s financial health will in fact be determined primarily by the growth rate of per capita health care costs.”"

Texas Security Issues Survey Results

The survey found that while administrators consider video to be the single most important tool in securing school environments, budgets for investing in newer security technologies are tight, with only about a quarter of schools expecting a security budget increase in 2008. Distributed online to administrators from public K-12 schools across Texas, the survey asked participants to rank their most significant security issues and their level of preparedness in dealing with those issues. Results indicated that, while Texas schools are moving to address security in their schools, they are not yet adequately prepared to deal with the many types of threats they face in today's world. The high level findings of the survey revealed the following: * The majority of schools (62 percent) consider unauthorized and dangerous people entering the building to be an extremely important concern; however, 78 percent of schools reported being only "somewhat prepared" to deal with an armed intruder on campus. * Funding for security technologies is not currently met with school budgets: almost 75 percent of respondents expect their budgets for video surveillance technologies to either remain steady or decrease in 2008. * Eighty-four percent indicated that if they could select just one tool to help improve security on campus, they would invest in video surveillance; 81 percent of respondents said they are currently using some kind of video cameras in their schools. * Although the majority of schools (60 percent and 72 percent, respectively) feels "extremely prepared" to deal with student infractions such as fights and vandalism and major weather or fire events, only 13 percent feels extremely prepared to deal with an armed intruder on campus. Only 9 percent feels extremely prepared to deal with student abductions from campus. In their fight to protect students, 81 percent of survey respondents indicated they are currently using some kind of video, but only 42 percent are using video proactively to identify problems before they occur. When asked if they could invest in a single security tool, 84 percent of respondents said they would invest in video over intrusion alarms, metal detectors or identity badges. However, 72 percent said they expected security budgets to remain the same or decrease in 2008 and 69 percent said they would need to conduct fundraising to pay for new security equipment. According to the survey, 35 percent of Texas schools are still relying on VCRs and tapes -- a system known as legacy or analog, that is nearly impossible to use proactively. "This survey tells us that Texas schools recognize the power of video technologies to keep students safe on campus," says Andrew Wren, president of Wren. "However, a lot of education still needs to take place to help them learn not only how to use video surveillance in a more proactive manner, but also how to leverage their existing technologies when faced with budget limitations. Cost-effective network video solutions can help schools address both of these issues."

THERE'S NO HIDING FROM THE TRUTH - YOU'RE ON CAMERA!

THERE'S NO HIDING FROM THE TRUTH - YOU'RE ON CAMERA!: " Mayor Bloomberg has said New Yorkers must face the fact that they're being watched by security cameras all the time. He isn't kidding. It's not just the Police Department and MTA watching them. Countless private security cameras eye the city at all times - and some are broadcast to the masses. "

Security Industry News

The Era of Searchable Surveillance Has Come
"The proliferation of security cameras, analytics and digital video recording devices has lead to the dilemma of data overload.Security professionals are tasked with protecting critical assets, but for decades they have been forced to struggle with grainy video, reduced manpower and financial resources, and technology shortcomings that have kept them in an unfavorable position of reactive threat assessment.The idea that installing more surveillance cameras provides more security is not a panacea. What if that video data cannot be searched in a useful way? The proliferation of security cameras, analytics and digital video recording devices has lead to the dilemma of data overload: numerous hours and security personnel are required to troll through raw video in the hope of pinpointing the exact time of a security violation. This is hardly conducive to rapid investigation and resolution.

With the advent of Intelligent Video Management Systems (IVMS), however, security personnel are finally being empowered to take a more proactive role in preempting incidents and rapidly resolving investigations. New IVMS advances can convert the unstructured video content captured by surveillance systems into a powerful base of structured information -- a central source of security information that can be readily accessed, analyzed and used to meet today’s security needs." ....Stephen Russell - 3VR

Security Industry News

Cameras would give police much-needed help, remind people they should behave properly

In response to “High-crime areas should have cameras” (Nov. 3),: This is an excellent idea. The police need all the help they can get. Cameras do not require sleep or overtime pay. They also catch things the human eye may miss. One may think that it is easy to misinterpret another’s actions; true, but some things are obvious.
http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=386114&Category=7&subCategoryID=

NY Investigates - Mike Filardi - Investigator

Mike Filardi, retired Sergeant for a prominent New York State Police Department is offering his expert investigative services. His website is http://www.nyinvestigates.com/ . Some of the services that he is offering include:

Identity Theft
Computer Crimes
Email Harassment
Protection of Intellectual Property
Personal Injury
Civil Liberty
Insurance Claims
Fraud
Child Custody & Protective Cases
Missing Persons
Parental Screening
Marital Infidelity

Metropolitan Police Department: CCTV - Neighborhood Locations

Metropolitan Police Department: CCTV - Neighborhood Locations: "CCTV – Locations of Neighborhood Cameras Following are the locations of the CCTV cameras designed to combat crime in DC neighborhoods"

Churches using security cameras to fight crime | WINK News - Southwest Florida | Local & Florida

Churches using security cameras to fight crime WINK News - Southwest Florida Local & Florida: "16 churches have been burglarized in Lee County just this year. While most of those churches are willing to forgive, some are now setting up security cameras that will never forget."

CrimeEye In Washington, DC

CrimeEye on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

National Infrastructure Advisory Council Members

The National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) shall provide the President through the Secretary of Homeland Security with advice on the security of the critical infrastructure sectors and their information systems. The council is composed of a maximum of 30 members, appointed by the President from private industry, academia, and state and local government.

http://www.dhs.gov/xprevprot/committees/biography_0082.shtm

Statement by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on the Release of the Import Safety Action Plan

This action plan represents the culmination of extensive research, information gathering, and thoughtful discussions among our federal interagency partners, private sector representatives within the importing community, as well as foreign producers, exporters and government officials. Federal partners supporting the Interagency Working Group traveled to more than two dozen cities across the country visiting ports-of-entry; key transportation modes of operation such as railroads, airports, and freight hubs; and major processing sites representing wholesalers, retailers, supermarkets, and meat and seafood processing facilities.
Protecting our country from dangerous cargo of every kind remains a top priority for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Through our own U.S. Customs & Border Protection, DHS is strengthening its mitigation guidelines and increasing maximum penalties against importers who repeatedly import products that violate U.S. law; has developed an implementation plan for the International Trade Data System (ITDS) which will provide all appropriate agencies a single point of access to consolidated import information through a secure web portal; and will continue to expand existing public-private partnerships in order to seek and share recommendations and best practices within the importing community.
http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1194449982712.shtm

"Blackwater Call for Cameras Denied"

Print Article
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Oct. 5 ordered that video cameras and recording equipment be installed in convoy vehicles guarded by Blackwater USA. But according to internal Blackwater documents, the security firm asked the Department of State in May 2005 to install cameras in official U.S. motorcades protected by its employees "in response to a false accusation against one of our teams in Baghdad." The company considered the fact that that footage could be used against it but decided in the end that the cameras and recording devices would work to its advantage and planned to use footage for training purposes. Following the request, a former official with the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, the Department of State's law-enforcement arm, contacted Blackwater and asked it to "stand down" due to unresolved legal issues. The matter was then dropped.

N T P A C

N T P A C
Northern Technology and Product Assessment Committee secured funding from the NIJ in November. NETPAC has long range plans to expand its membership beyond the NorthEast
2 Day sessions are held 4x per year allowing vendors to introduce products to DOC administrators giving them a chance to hear in advance about development and manufacturing of products for the correctional market.
Chairman - Alexander Fox, Superintendent of Correctional Facilities in MA DOC, & NETPAC's Chairmain.
https://www.ntpac.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=newsdetail&id=5

Bloomberg calls surveillance-camera critics 'ridiculous'

LONDON - Mayor Bloomberg has a message for New Yorkers who don't like surveillance cameras: Get real.
"It's just ridiculous people who object to using technology," the mayor said, adding that he had not talked with anyone in London who wasn't "thrilled" at the presence of security cameras in their capital.
The Daily News reported yesterday that a camera in lower Manhattan has been secretly recording license plates in a test of the planned "Ring of Steel" surveillance system.
The plates are compared against a database so the NYPD can immediately know when a suspicious car or truck is in the area. London has such a system in place in its financial district.
Bloomberg, appearing with London Mayor Ken Livingstone at a news conference, said New Yorkers are "very naïve" if they don't realize they are already being watched.
"We are under surveillance all the time," he said, pointing out that cops grab video from private closed-circuit cameras when crimes are committed.
As for privacy concerns, he said, "You've already given that away when you buy a car and register it and put a license plate on the back, which is basically putting your name on the back of the car."
Livingstone agreed that Londoners feel safer because of the cameras, saying he couldn't recall a single letter of complaint.
The mayor called his visit a "busman's holiday." He rode a double-decker bus with Livingstone, viewed a hybrid taxi and visited a police control room, where he saw the original "Ring of Steel" in action.
City of London Police Superintendent Alex Robertson said the surveillance system to monitor every vehicle that enters the square-mile financial district - known as the City of London - was pioneered to combat IRA terrorism.
As a demonstration, he displayed a screen image of the car Bloomberg arrived in. "I'm the handsome one in the back," Bloomberg quipped.
Noting that London has a camera in every bus and subway car, Bloomberg said, "We are way behind and we really do have to catch up."
Bloomberg also talked about another London innovation he admires - congestion pricing, introduced by Livingstone in 2003. Londoners pay $16 to drive into the center of town. Bloomberg said he believed the New York State Legislature would pass his plan to introduce pricing on a pilot basis in the city.
The mayor, who has a home in London's posh Chelsea neighborhood, said he expected to spend more time here once he leaves office.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10/02/2007-10-02_bloomberg_calls_surveillancecamera_criti.html?ref=rss

Keyloggers proposed to fight terrorism in cybercafes

Terrorists are increasingly using the Internet to communicate with one another, as they are aware that telephone and mobile phones connections are under Indian government surveillance, according to Mukhi.
FIST, a nonprofit organization in Mumbai, is focused on cybersecurity and has worked with the police on related issues. It aims to get keyloggers on computers in cybercafes throughout India, Mukhi said.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/091207-keyloggers-proposed-to-fight-terrorism.html?fsrc=rss-security

Storm Worm the largest BotNet in the World w/over 1 million infected

“Storm is a very aggressive worm,” says John Levine, president of consulting firm Taughannock Networks and co-chair of the Internet Research Task Force's Anti-Spam Research Group. “It’s interesting because it uses a [peer-to-peer] control structure that makes it hard to kill.”
Most threat watchers say no one knows who is behind Storm, but Finnish antivirus maker F-Secure, which takes credit for giving Storm its name, says a group called the Zhelatin Gang is responsible and whom the company believes is operating out of Russia. F-Secure also says that Storm is the largest botnet in the world with just more than 1 million infected PCs; however, other researchers say there’s no way to know how many PCs have been infected.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/09/18/bombtest_tec.html?category=technology&guid=20070918133030&dcitc=w19-506-ak-0009

A Bomb Sniffing Briefcase?

Their system is about the size of a briefcase, and can analyze the components of a bomb residue within 10 minutes, Haddad and colleagues report in the latest issue of the journal Analytical Chemistry.
The device is smaller, faster and more comprehensive than other similar tools, Haddad said. http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/09/18/bombtest_tec.html?category=technology&guid=20070918133030&dcitc=w19-506-ak-0009