HS Daily Wire - The Business of Homeland Security

Nuclear matters

On 16 July 1945 the first atomic bomb was successfully exploded at the Trinity Site in New Mexico

The ability to destroy a bunker buried deep under concrete may well one day mean the difference between nuclear war and a diplomatic row; think Iran

Biometrics

Stanley closes Oberon acquisition

Purchase puts integrator on the biometrics fast track, enabling it to compete with some of the largest systems integrators in the government market for opportunities with the Defense Department

Cyber cafes to be monitored in India

Indian police places biometric systems and CCTV in more than 150 cyber cafes in order to catch cyber criminals in the act

U.K. says country is a good place for scientific research

U.K. government body releases a reference work showing major research infrastructures, including light sources, research ships, innovative laboratories, and social data sets

Energy futures
Blackstone, Windland in North Sea wind farm project

U.S. investment group and German energy company forms partnership to construct one of the North Sea's largest wind farms

New round of mass Web attacks

Attack tool kit aliased as Asprox is still doing damage to Web sites; kit launches SQL injection attacks to append a reference to the malware file using the script tag, which makes it an efficient crimeware tool

WHO, IAEA is simulated nuclear accident drill

The World Health Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency collaborate in a nuclear accident drill at the Laguna Verde nuclear power plant in Mexico

Important deals in the chemical sector

Ashland acquires Hercules, and Dow announces its plans to acquire Rohm and Haas; Ashland values Hercules at $3.3 billion; Dow is willing to pay $18.8 billion for Rohm and Haas

Who should be treated first in case of pandemic outbreak?

Representatives from 35 states participate in an Indiana University-hosted discussion about how should limited, potentially life-saving resources like vaccines or ventilators be allocated during a pandemic

Criticism of delays in coordinating national emergency communication

Congress criticizes DHS for delays in coordinating a national emergency communications plan for first responders

New, quick method for identifying food-borne diseases

European researchers have developed a system which prepares samples and performs DNA tests on the salmonella and campylobacter bacteria in a portable and cost-effective chip

NASA's UAV helps fight California wild fires

Fire crews are fighting more than 1,700 blazes that have blackened 829,000 acres of California this fire season; they need all the help they can get -- and NASA extends such help by lending the state a modified Predator UAV

China mobilizes 100,000-member anti-terrorism force for Beijing Olympics
China has mobilized a 100,000-strong anti-terrorism force to guard the Beijing Olympics. The official Xinhua news agency says the force was activated earlier this month after completing a series of drills. It is comprised of police commandos, specialist units, and regular army troops. Xinhua says it also includes China's paramilitary Snow Wolf Commando Unit, which is specifically tasked with handling terrorist alerts and public unrest during or around the Aug. 8-24 Games

Battle looming over biometric airport credentials?
The TSA wants airports across the country to use and issue an interoperable credential. If a flight attendant at Chicago O’Hare International Airport was on a crew flying in and out of Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport the ID card and information stored on it would be able to be read at both locations while the attendant only had to register at one location

First Long Island case of salmonella linked to tomatoes
A West Babylon man has become the first Long Island case in a salmonella outbreak linked to uncooked tomatoes that has sickened 383 people in 30 states

Are we training effectively?
Helen Molyneux suggests that the current focus on strategic training can reduce the efficacy of a business continuity program and may actually reduce the output of a business during a response to an incident

U.S. cites big gains against al-Qaeda
Less than a year after his agency warned of new threats from a resurgent al-Qaeda, CIA director Michael Hayden now portrays the terrorist movement as essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and on the defensive throughout much of the rest of the world, including in its presumed haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border

Cyber-Spying for Dummies
Congressional experts fear that Defense intelligence agencies are not making wide enough—and smart enough—use of the vast pool of "open source" information now available in cyberspace

House-passed bill would ramp up IED office oversight
As roadside bombs continue to take a toll on the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan, the House approved legislation last week to boost congressional oversight of the Pentagon office charged with developing technologies to combat the threat

Director: Report can be used to secure ports
A report critical of a DHS program aimed to strengthen port security could help the nation's ports improve already stringent measures to ensure cargo is safe, the director of port security and emergency operations at the Virginia Port Authority said

In the spotlight

Safeguarding Infrastructure // by Christopher Doyle
Yes, perhaps NAIS does go too far in requiring people to tag their four or five egg hens in the backyard -- but quibbles aside, NAIS is essential: In an industrial-
ized, centralized food production system disease in one place can easily and rapidly spread; we should, therefore, avail ourselves of modern technology to keep track of animals more

SyTech Corporation and communication interoperability, I
The lack of communication interoperability among first response, rescue teams, and law enforcement during the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina was only the most dramatic and poignant demonstration of a persistent and debilitating flaw in U.S. agencies' planning for disaster -- and performing during disaster; communication interopera-
bility is essential not only in disasters, but for routine, every-day operations of law enforcement; SyTech's comprehensive approach to interoperability offers a solution more

BAE Systems and communication interoperability
BAE's First InterComm device, also called the Vehicle Communications Assembly (VCA), is small enough (8.625" x 8.625" x 2.5") to be easily mounted inside first responder vehicles; once installed, the VCA relies on vehicle power more

Talking cybersecurity with Unisys' Tim Kelleher // What Is Keeping Your COO Awake at Night?
An HSDW conversation on Cybersecurity with Tim Kelleher, vice president of enterprise security, Unisys more

Using emergency alerting systems to protect the U.S. critical infrastructure // by Simon Berman
Learning from the experiences of the U.S. Department of Defense more

The WiMax interoperability solution // By Daniel Zubairi, CISSP
Conversation with Mark Adams, chief architect of mobility at Northrop Grumman, on using WiMax for public safety and civil defense more

Homeland Security links

Official Media Partners

IDGA's 4th Annual Border Management Summit October 14 - 17, 2008 Bethesda, Maryland

7th Annual US Maritime Security Conference and Expo
November 18-19, 2008 Long Beach, California

Global Border Security Conference & Expo
May 21-22. 2008
Austin, Texas

Homeand Security Investor Conference
December 10-11, 2007
Washington, D.C.

Media Partnerships

IEEE International Conference on Technologies fo Homeland Security
May 12-13, 2007 Waltham, Massachusetts

U.S. Port & Maritime Security Expo
November 27-28, 2007 Javits Convention Center
New York, NY

DSEi 2007 Global Defence Conference
September 12-13, 2007 London, England

NDIA S&T Stakeholder's Conference & Exhibition
May 21-24, 2007
Washington, D.C.