Note Senator Wyden's legislation. Again, this dovetails with our efforts on the Hillsboro Police Reserve Specialist program--though the PRS takes this beyond an emergency/first responder concept (though that's included) to integrate a private technical resourse infrastructure directly into the day-to-day mission of enforcement, community outreach, and investigations. Geo ______________________________________ Cyber bills find support. On 24 April, a Senate panel endorsed two pieces of security legislation; one bill that would boost cyber-security research and development, and another that would create a volunteer corps of computer experts who would respond swiftly in the event of a computer emergency, like a cyber-attack. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) introduced the Science and Technology Emergency Mobilization Act to create a National Emergency Technology Guard (NET Guard). The NET Guard would be composed of experts and companies who agree to respond immediately with technological information and equipment to counter an attack. (Federal Computer Week , 29 Apr) Bush administration nixes water security request. The Bush administration has decided not to take action on a request for $150 million for increased security at reservoirs, locks and dams from coast to coast. According the Associated Press (AP), the US Army Corps of Engineers asked for the money to make it tougher for terrorists to attack up to 200 water projects the agency operates in 43 states. Currently, there are 14 projects not currently funded for protection, including the Upper Saint Anthony Falls lock and dam on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, which helps create a water supply with an annual economic benefit of $32.9 billion and the aqueduct serving Washington, DC. White House officials said the corps has spent only half the $139 million it received in last fall's $40 billion anti-terrorism package, passed in the wake of the 11 September attacks. That leaves enough for the corps for the rest of this fiscal year, which runs through 30 September, said Amy Call, spokeswoman for the White House budget office. (Watertech Online, 30 Apr) Federal screeners take up posts at BWI checkpoints. Over 200 federal workers took their posts for the first time at the Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI) checkpoints yesterday. BWI is the first airport in the nation to get federal screeners. Transportation Security Administration officials said all of the 500 to 600 private-sector screeners at BWI will be replaced by federal employees within six weeks. After the Sept. 11 hijackings, Congress passed a law requiring that all 429 U.S. airports have federal screeners to tighten security. (Washington Post, 1 May) Security agency to passengers: leave knives and scissors at home. Airport security screeners at Baltimore-Washington International Airport confiscated more than 200 knives and pairs of scissors in less than a week, a discovery that prompted new calls for passengers to leave sharp objects behind. Transportation Security Administration officials said passengers could avoid long waits at security checkpoints if they left sharp objects at home and said they're considering public service announcements to drive that point home. (Associated Press, 30 Apr) Movement afoot to beef-up industrial cybersecurity. Senior officials from the president's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the US Department of Commerce have asked the private sector for detailed advice on how to improve cybersecurity for the nation's most critical industrial-control systems. The power industry's demand for remote access encouraged many utility companies to establish network connections between corporate systems and the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems that manage and control the flow of electricity and perform various other critical functions throughout the energy sector. The movement to Web-based connections has made these systems increasingly vulnerable to disruptions and attacks in cyberspace, especially because of the lack of standards to help the private sector to design security hardware and software that can be used in SCADA and other industrial systems. ( Computerworld, 26 Apr) Rethinking plan B. Government agencies like never before are expanding on their existing and often limited disaster recovery efforts. The idea now is to plan for scenarios in which key personnel are unavailable and to shield underlying infrastructures and key programs, rather than focus on protecting data and computers. Although the Sept. 11 attacks drove home the grim importance of developing plans, even before the attacks disaster recovery was beginning to give way to more comprehensive business continuity concepts. The importance of continuity was underscored during the past several years by the onslaught of computer viruses and some high-profile hackings, of major e-commerce Web sites. (Federal Computer Week, 29 Apr) Four Atlanta federal buildings fail security test. According to a report obtained by the Associated Press, Lax security at four Atlanta federal buildings allowed undercover congressional investigators to bypass X-ray machines and sneak in briefcases and packages that could have contained explosives. The test by the General Accounting Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, took place earlier this year, said Ronald Malfi, acting director for the GAO's Special Investigations. "They were able to move freely and extensively throughout these facilities during both day and evening hours and were not challenged by anyone," Malfi said in testimony prepared for a congressional field hearing on security. GAO investigators alerted federal authorities to the weaknesses found at the buildings, and the Federal Protective Service issued a bulletin addressing them. (Associated Press, 30 Apr)
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