From: NIPC Watch To: Daily Distribution Sent: 3/18/02 4:37 AM Subject: NIPC DAILY REPORT FOR 18 MARCH 2002 NIPC Daily Report 18 March 2002 The NIPC Watch and Warning Unit compiles this report to inform recipients of issues impacting the integrity and capability of the nation's critical infrastructures. New security systems to be tested at Orlando airport. The National Safe Skies Alliance, a nonprofit organization that evaluates new security devices and reports its findings to the federal Transportation Security Administration, has begun testing the advanced Technology Checkpoint Project at Orlando International Airport. The checkpoint will feature six security systems: three for passengers and three for carry-on baggage. The prototype security system scanners can see through clothes, and the bomb sniffer also can test for drugs. Security officials said the scanner would only be used when a passenger shows an "anomaly." Also, the security worker examining the scan would be the same sex as the person being searched. (Associated Press, 15 Mar) Homeland Security Director Ridge: Link driver's license to immigration visa. The Office of Homeland Security is urging states to take steps to improve the security and authenticity of drivers' licenses. Specifically, Gov. Ridge has asked that state motor vehicle departments be electronically linked to databases maintained by INS to enable workers to check the visa status of foreign nationals. Although the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators supports this verification procedure, a recent survey conducted by a research firm determined that 41 percent of US citizens oppose the creation of a national identity database, while 26 percent support such a database. A separate survey of 3,400 frequent travelers found that 76 percent support a "Trusted Traveler" ID card that stores an individual's photo, fingerprints, personal history, facial and retinal scans and travel history. (Reuters, 14 Mar) WWU Comment: The debate over developing and implementing a national identification system is fraught over the scope of the system's use. Some privacy advocates believe linking DMV records to INS databases could be the first step in driver's licenses becoming a national identification card. Others might support a national identification system if it is limited for purposes of monitoring immigration status and airport security. Curious employees are biggest security risk. A survey of United Kingdom IT managers concludes that most firms are prepared for the threats posed by viruses and hackers, but are struggling to secure data on their own networks. Around half (51 percent) of the respondents to the Oracle / Institute of Directors-sponsored survey, said that internal security breaches were a bigger threat to business than those originating outside their companies. (The Register, 4 Mar) California governor postpones ban on MTBE fuel additive. In a bid to keep consumer gasoline prices in check, Governor Gray Davis has delayed by one year the deadline to phase out the use of the controversial fuel additive MTBE. Davis said delaying the ban on methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) will also protect the nation's most populous state and biggest gasoline market from the sort of crippling energy crisis it faced last year. The decision came after the General Accounting Office said earlier this month that California residents could face higher gasoline prices and supply problems if the state has to rely on ethanol after dropping MTBE. Davis added he would not take any chances that California would experience an energy crisis like the electricity mess last year, which brought days of rolling blackouts and cost billions of dollars. (Reuters, 15 Mar) Homeland security a boon for tech? Paul Kurtz, the Senior Director for National Security under President Bush's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, said information technology (IT) now connects "practically everything" in the country, and that systems are now so interdependent that an attack on one infrastructure can have a cascading effect on others. According to Kurtz, critical information systems in both the government and private sectors must be identified, then the vulnerabilities in those systems -- especially in the Internet -- need to be understood to be fixed. When it comes to protecting against terrorism, companies may have to choose to guard only certain systems, because walling all of them off would be difficult. (Internet News, 15 Mar) Analysts: Security flaws won't undermine Linux. Although two potential security vulnerabilities affecting the Linux operating system have surfaced in the past three weeks, analysts say the incidents won't erode confidence in Linux as a secure and economical alternative to Windows and Unix. (IDG Net, 15 Mar)
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