2010: Topics for homeland security discussion
doing cargo security. The alternative is to have security checkpoints at or near the airport, manned by government employees. TSA mentioned this option in a 2007 report, and the agency’s estimate was that it would take 4,000 additional screeners to do cargo screening. Pilots have been done that show that this can be done.
Goodchild notes that there is also an unresolved technical issue even with this approach: the so-called built up cargo is very hard to inspect. At all small airports today, if one walks up to a counter with a small package, it is put through screening machine just as passengers’ baggage is. One technical problem, however, is that if one has cookie sheet or pallet that has been built up at a facility before it reaches the airport, there is no technology today that can look through that kind of built up dense cargo. For that, you would need to have some kind of certified shipper program with effective custody over that shipment between the dock and the airplane.
TSA concluded that until this technical issue is resolved, a combination of government inspection and private sector certified shippers would be the best solution for the foreseeable future. Look for more discussion in 2010 of the 100 percent air-cargo mandate.
Cybersecurity
Sites such as Twitter and Facebook have changed the way we communicate, interact, and share on the Web. As user bases for the top online social destinations reach record highs, cybercriminals are building out their criminal toolkits, taking advantage of new technologies, third-party applications, and hotspots of activity to exploit users.
What does this mean for the average surfer? Cybersecurity company McAfee says that in 2010, users of social Web sites are going to be more vulnerable to attacks that blindly distribute fake apps across their networks. The same goes for bit.ly’s and TinyURLs. As abbreviated URLs become more ubiquitous, it will be even easier for cybercriminals to mask and direct users to malicious sites.
McAfee Labs also predicts that Adobe will overtake Microsoft as the No. 1 target for cybercriminals in 2010. Adobe products — in particular Acrobat Reader and Flash — have become two of the most widely used apps in the world, and cybercriminals go where the masses go. Cybercriminals will have a field day preying on people using Adobe software.
McAfee also believes the following will play a critical role in 2010:
— Banking Trojans will
