Critical Infrastructure & IT Security

Experts: Internet crime might cause global catastrophe

Damage caused by cyber crime is estimated at $100 billion annually; tech-savvy gangs from China, India, Eastern Europe, and Africa were coming up with ever more sophisticated ways of swindling money from vulnerable people

Security alliance calls financial incentives for cyber security

The Internet Security Alliance calls for the incoming Obama administration and Congress to give information technology companies financial incentives for improving cybersecurity defenses, including providing funding in research and development and shielding them from liability caused by cyberattacks

Can China's future earthquakes be predicted?

To predict earthquakes, China relied on GPS data, which showed movements of two millimeters per year in certain areas of Szechwan province where a May 2008 earthquake killed 70,000 people (20,000 are still missing) and destroyed more than eight million homes; scientists examine a better way to predict disasters

Searching for new Internet security standard

Cryptographers compete to define a new Internet security standard; this is necessary because the current standard -- the Secure Hash Algorithm 2 (SHA-2) -- is starting to show its age

Briefly noted

Obama administration looks to fill more than 300 IT positions... Larger inmate population is boon to private prisons... More attacks on critical infrastructure?

Gaping boarding-pass security hole about to close

With all the millions spent on air travel security, it is still possible to get though airport security using a fake boarding pass; this hole is being closed by an encrypted 2-D bar code that includes all the information from a boarding pass and is digitally signed to ensure the data has not been altered

Two former DHS leaders on DHS under a new administration

Amit Yoran and Dwight Williams held important positions at DHS; now in private industry, they offer their view and the challenges the department will face next year

Shape of things to come

Quantum calibration shows way for super-secure communication

Scientists at Imperial College London have used a new approach to calibrating quantum mechanical measurement directly to calibrate a detector that can sense the presence of multiple individual photons; the ability to sense the presence of individual photons is an important requirement for the development of future long-distance quantum communication devices and networks

Energy industry likely prime cyber attack target

Critical infrastructure insiders say the energy industry is also the most vulnerable to cyber attacks and would have the most detrimental breach

Land transportation & border security

China's transportation vulnerability, I

Remember the Daily Wire's unofficial motto: Where there is a security need, there is a business opportunity. The need: Securing land transportation in China. Here goes: What with the many problems China faces, an accident on a town bus may not rank very high. There is, however, more to the story than meets the eye: A fire aboard the number 842 bus in Shanghai's Yangpu district during morning rush hour of 5 May killed three people and injured a dozen more. The bus, operated by the Dazhong Transportation (Group) Co., caught fire around 9:15 a.m. local time near Huangxing Road and Guoshun Road. Publicly, security officials say the fire was an accident caused by a mechanical problem. Security officials, however, have privately said that an individual came on board the bus carrying flammable materials. There is strong suspicion that the fire was the result of an intentional act, perhaps related to someone frustrated with losses on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Roger Baker of RightSideNews writes that for several months China has been stepping up security for transportation infrastructure in anticipation of the Beijing Olympics in August.

Safeguarding Infrastructure // by Christopher Doyle

Our ability to protect America against terrorist threats and the natural hazards of tomorrow depends upon our ability to harness the ideas and innovations of today. For this reason, the U.S Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate is working to develop new technologies and integrate existing ones to create homeland security solutions.

A major focus of that effort centers on preparedness -- the key to protecting national infrastructure and facilitating lifesaving responses in the event of an incident. The Infrastructure and Geophysical Division (IGD) of the S&T Directorate is working to find methods and technologies which will improve our ability to protect buildings, facilities, and other kinds of physical structures. IGD is also considering various techniques which will prevent cascading effects of man-made and natural disasters that can lead to even more catastrophic consequences.

IGD serves a number of customers at the federal level, including the DHS Office of Infrastructure Protection (OIP) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).