-----Original Message----- From: Nipcwatch [mailto:nipc.watch@private] Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 6:34 AM To: Nipcwatch Subject: NIPC Daily Report, 31 July 2002 NIPC Daily Report 31 July 2002 The NIPC Watch and Warning Unit compiles this report to inform recipients of issues impacting the integrity and capability of the nations critical infrastructures. Senate puts off vote on security. The Senate will not complete action on its bill to establish a Department of Homeland Security before leaving for the August recess, meaning a final compromise can not reach President Bush by 11 September. The schedule now calls for senators to take up the bill, which the Governmental Affairs Committee approved 12-5 last week, at the end of the week, and make it pending business when senators return after Labor Day. The House passed its version 295-132 on 26 July, just before members began their summer recess. The bill would transfer 170,000 employees from all or parts of 22 existing agencies to the department, which would have a budget of $38 billion. (Washington Times, 30 Jul) VA to check records of hires for sensitive jobs. All Virginia government employees who work in potential terrorism targets such as water treatment plants, tunnels and electrical facilities will undergo criminal background checks when they are hired, state officials said on 30 July. The panel, called Secure Virginia and headed by former lieutenant governor John H. Hager, wrote that the current patchwork of background check requirements "presents a possible vulnerability, in that personnel who are untrustworthy may be unknowingly hired and placed in positions that allow access to sensitive information or critical functions." Hager said local governments would be allowed to designate positions they consider sensitive. Virginia governor Mark Warner also will order the state's farm bureaus to offer new training on how to spot inconsistencies in immigration documents. Under the order, the state's Cooperative Extension Service will help employers check workers' legal status during the hiring process by applying information that already exists but is little used. (Washington Post, 30 Jul) Water risk sinks in. Colorado will spend an estimated $29 million to protect its drinking water supplies from potential terrorist attacks. The massive program is part of new federal security rules that affect about 8,000 water utilities nationwide at a cost of $2 billion, reflecting the government's concern over the susceptibility of water supplies. Roughly $6.9 million will be spent in the state doing vulnerability assessments, and another $22.1 million will go toward physical security upgrades: fencing, extra security guards and electronic surveillance equipment. Also, federal and state utilities groups are developing a national network that will allow water utilities to share information quickly as problems emerge. (Rocky Mountain News, 30 Jul) Customs may require cargo e-info. The US Customs Service may require shippers, carriers, or intermediaries to transmit information on cargo electronically, according to legislative language that was included in the final version of the omnibus trade bill (H.R. 3009) that the House approved on 26 July. The House approved the conference report for the bill before recessing for the summer and the Senate is expected to approve the report this week. The bill authorizes Customs to require electronic information, rather than relying on a cargo manifest; but must be limited to data gathering of information that is "reasonably necessary to ensure transportation safety and security." (Journal of Commerce, 30 Jul) The Klez virus has hit 12% of all user desktops. The Klez virus, first detected in October 2001, is a computer code that continues to infect by spreading its payload via e-mail and vulnerabilities in Microsoft products. Nine months after its discovery, Klez remains number 2 on McAfee's virus threat list, and is being reported by 12% of McAfee users as having been detected or infected with the virus. At its peak, 3,000 customers a day sought help in stopping Klez. The virus still ranks first in terms of number of user submissions, and is reported as generating 10 times the number of submissions as even the next closest virus. (USAToday, 29 Jul) Garbagemen find missing pellet of iridium in Mexican municipal dump. On 30 July, a missing pellet of radioactive Iridium was found by two garbagemen at a municipal trash dump in the border city of Tecate. Soldiers and firefighters cordoned off the trash dump as a precaution after the undamaged container holding the pellet was found there, according to Baja California state civil defense director Gabriel Gomez. The pellet was used to look for cracks in a Baja California pipeline project and was lost from the back of a truck near Tecate a few days earlier. It is not known how the container was brought to the dump. The container encloses an inch-long pellet of iridium 192, which emits potentially hazardous gamma rays and is commonly used to check welded joints. Although not harmful if used properly, iridium and other commonplace radioactive materials have sparked concern that, in the wrong hands, they could be used to create a radiological "dirty bomb'' that could create widespread panic. (Associated Press, 31 Jul) FAA tightens rules for giving licenses to foreign pilots. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is tightening rules that allow pilots from such countries as Libya, North Korea and Iraq to obtain licenses to fly private planes in the US. The FAA will conduct background checks, verify the identity of the applicant, and make sure the foreign license is valid, officials said. The new rules are designed to make it harder for pilots from other countries to obtain certificates to fly planes in the US simply by showing their overseas license. However, foreign pilots will not need a US certificate to fly into the US. That means a private pilot from Canada or Mexico still can land at a US airport without a US certificate. FAA spokesman Les Dorr said the agency changed the rules in response to concerns that private planes could be used in much the same manner as the four hijacked jets on 11 September. (Associated Press, 31 Jul)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Wed Jul 31 2002 - 17:13:59 PDT