CRIME NIPC DAILY REPORT FOR 18 MARCH 2002

From: George Heuston (GeorgeH@private)
Date: Mon Mar 18 2002 - 07:04:49 PST

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    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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