The keys to a more secure future. "Red Teams", friendly teams of security analysts hired to find holes in security, are just one element in an urgent campaign to shore up the security of US infrastructures to safeguard the homeland from terrorist attacks -- both virtual and physical. Government agencies such as the Federal Aviation Administration have begun using friendly hackers to test networks. In April 2001, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission created a rapid-response team to counter terrorist attacks, something it can now afford, thanks to a $35 million emergency bump in its budget. Likewise in the private sector, Northwest Airlines announced on 26 June that it would begin using facial-recognition equipment to expedite check-ins and verify the identities of so-called "trusted passengers". Further, bills in Congress would boost spending in fiscal 2003 for everything from shoring up water-plant security to supporting academic and federal cybersecurity research to the tune of $1 billion. Gaps remain in federal policy, including how Washington plans to help the private sector shore up nuclear power plants, water plants, chemical factories, oil pipelines, and other critical elements of the US infrastructure. High technology devices enhancing physical security, new cyber-security layers, advanced fleet-tracking capabilities, and an increased emphasis on inter-agency cooperation are all contributing to improved security, with the human factor remaining a critical element. (Business Week Online, 2 Jul) EPA gives more grants for vulnerability assessments. Officials in Bellevue, WA have received a $115,000 grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assess whether the city's drinking water supply is vulnerable to terrorist attack. Bellevue is one of many US cities with more than 100,000 in population that have received the grants, which are part of $53 million given to cities around the country to conduct water security planning. Another $23 million has been set aside for small and medium-size utilities, according to an article in the East Side Journal. Other cities receiving grants include Seattle; Portland, WA; Tacoma, WA; Vancouver, British Columbia; Everett, WA; Eugene, OR; Salem; OR, and Clackamas, OR. According to Alan King, Bellevue's water and wastewater operations manager, Bellevue finished its vulnerability assessment in December 2001, and will use some of the new grant money to rework the document to meet new standards. Bellevue has 26 water reservoirs and 560 miles of water main pipe, the East Side Journal reported. The rest of the money will be used to teach employees to look for clues that might indicate the water system has been tampered with, and, if they see something suspicious, what actions to take, according to the newspaper. (Water Tech Online, 2 Jul) Cargo security on agency hit lists. A top US Customs Service official told Congress that the government must push back the borders of the US by using technology to check high-risk cargo containers before they leave a foreign port. Customs Deputy Commissioner Douglas Browning said that technology and information are essential for a successful container security strategy - one of the biggest security holes facing the US. Customs is now checking at least 15 percent of all cargo, according to Browning, and by January 2003, every customs inspector will have a pocket-sized device that can detect radiation. Customs officials have also worked out deals with major shippers who will provide their own security systems and guarantee them in exchange for swift passage across the borders. "As the primary agency for cargo security, US Customs should know everything there is to know about a container headed for this country before it leaves Rotterdam or Singapore for America's ports," Browning said. The Department of Transportation recently finished testing electronic seals, or e-seals, designed to help secure cargo containers at US ports and border crossings. An e-seal is a radio frequency device that transmits shipment data as it passes a reader device and indicates whether the container it is attached to has been tampered with. (Federal Computer Week, 24 Jun) Los Angeles unveils $9.6 billion airport plan. On 2 July, Los Angeles officials proposed spending $9.6 billion in a radical reconstruction of Los Angeles International Airport aimed at beefing up security and capping passenger traffic at the world's third-busiest airport. Although not an expansion, the plan would allow airport traffic to grow from about 61 million to a maximum of 78 million passengers annually, an increase of 22 percent. The plan would force commuter flights to use outlying regional airports. Further, private vehicles would be banned on roads leading to the terminals and passengers would check in and park at new satellite facilities and ride elevated trams to the new terminals. The new terminals would feature concrete-reinforced basements equipped to handle bomb threats. The airport's two sets of parallel runways would be moved farther apart to prevent the increasingly frequent runway incursions, or near misses. (Reuters, 2 Jul) Exploit already hijacking systems in the wild. The recently discovered worm that hijacks Apache systems has appeared in the wild. The unnamed worm scans for Apache servers that have not yet been patched for the vulnerability discovered two weeks ago, then attempts to set up an army of zombie machines that could possibly be used for a distributed denial-of-service attack. To date, the worm is only known to affect the OpenBSD operating system, but is believed to expand to other operating systems, by utilizing the Gobbles security teams proof of concept exploit code recently release. In a number of cases, Apache administrators have reported that, while their machines have not been infiltrated, a failed exploit has resulted in resources being consumed until it locks up, effectively causing a denial of service anyway. There are thought to be around 50 million Apache servers on the Web. Those that have been upgraded to either 1.3.26 or 2.0.39 should now be secure. (vnunet.com, 1 Jul) _______________________________________________ Infragard_unsecured mailing list Infragard_unsecured@private http://listserv.leo.gov/mailman/listinfo/infragard_unsecured
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