The sophistication of computer hackers keeps amazing us, and providing warnings of the need for alertness about who may be visiting computer systems. You’d think, for instance, that The New York Times would be a pretty secure cyber scene. Yet Security Management reports that hackers apparently associated with the Chinese government took offense to a […]
Indeed, consider your locale. Why? Because if you’re in a violence-prone neighborhood, your entrance security needs are likely to be greater than in a more tranquil setting. This may simply make intuitive good sense. But there’s academic support for the notion that violence is like a contagious disease. Bruce Schneier writes: “Intuitively we understand that […]
For a sense of where entry security is heading, check out this Wired blog post on technologies that will be able to identify people by their physiology – from a distance, at that. Federal agencies are pumping tax dollars into biometric scanning that keys on various body parts, like the ears, odor or heartbeat, as […]
Two items on the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) blog caught our attention, one good news, the other less good. First, TSA is insuring that all of its airport scanners will give neutered, privacy-respecting views of the travellers being scanned. TSA is removing scanners of a vendor that couldn’t meet this requirement as a result, it […]
Perimeter security is important, gate guards, too, but screening of employees and recognition of visitors counts a lot, too. Such thoughts are prompted by a lengthy (Daily) Mail Online account of the attack on the BP natural gas plant in Algeria attacked by Al Qaeda. “Now there are claims,” says the report, “that some of […]
A report by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) indicates it’s becoming a lot more difficult for aliens to make illegal crossings of the U.S. border with Mexico. As an immigration reform debate nears in Congress, the GAO report will be providing timely information. “The GAO report,” Security Debrief advises, “for the first time pulls together […]
When you’re putting records in the trash, shred or otherwise destroy them first. You’d think that would be an elementary security rule. For most people, probably, it is. But then, there’s the former owners of a medical billing practice in Massachusetts, along with some doctors, who just agreed to pay $140,000 to settle a complaint […]
When you’re setting out to protect a site, make all the ramifications of security specific and explicit. That’s a reminder prompted by a big-picture item on Secrecy News – “Homeland Security Has Too Many Definitions, Says CRS,” the Congressional Research Service. “Ten years after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. government does not have […]
Feeling a need to read up on given aspects of security and other subjects relating to situational awareness? The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, CA, operated by the U.S. Navy, is at your service. Posted on Homeland Security Watch are the titles of 29 tmaster’s theses by the school’s December, 2012 graduates. They range […]
Government Technology (GT) magazine explains how social media channels like Twitter/TweetDeck and paid variations can spot happenings and trends as they emerge. Consider this approach to looking out for what’s happening in your industry or business of responsibility. Security has many variables these days. Here’s how social media scanning works for an emergency services agency […]