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CSC wins contract extensions in Australia
CSC wins extensions on key Australian critical infracture projects which may total to be more than $80 million
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Report: Nuclear warheads could explode, release radiation while in transit
Nuclear warheads have to be inspected and refurbished regularly; to this, they are taken off the missiles and submarines where they are deployed and trucked to secure labs; the U.S. and British defense ministries insist that these warheads cannot explode as a result of accident to or terrorist attack on the convoys transporting them back and forth; a new U.K. Ministry of Defense study says this is not the case, and that a partial explosion (fizzle yield) and lethal release of radiation are possible during transit
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Unisys awarded Prime Contractor Status for two categories of EAGLE contract
EAGLE is a multi-billion DHS program aiming to consolidate the department’s IT operations; UNISYS has just been awarded important contracts in two categories of the program
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House committee offers chemical plant safety bill: Qualified pre-emption, no IST
The march toward a chemical plant safety bill continues; a House committee put forth its version of the law, giving a nod to industry’s preferences by including a (qualified) federal preemption of state safety regulations and no mandatory IST
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HSPD-12 interoperability and compliance coalition formed
We’re only a few months from the mandatory compliance date with the IT security standard; large IT security providers create an organization to promote HSPD-12 compliance and interoperability
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NPRA nervous about impending chemical plant safety regulation
Even as the debate continues, it is clear that some legislation to regulate safety measures at chemical plants will emerge from Congress; the chemical industry, which until last December, opposed any such legislation, is now in its fall-back position, trying to make sure that such legislation has federal preemption of state safety rules; has no mandatory IST; and that safety information companies provide the government is exempt from FOIA
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Chemical plant safety: Another view
Philip Crowley of the Center for American Progress offers his views on chemical plant safety
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RSA stops trading amid acquisition rumors
Trading of shares for Massachusetts company was halted during morning trading in New York after a story in New York Times regarding possible acquisition
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URS to design container inspection facility at Port of L.A.
San Francisco company is heading down the PCH to build a container inspection facility on site of the former United States Customs Building on Terminal Island at the Port of Los Angeles; the project may cost upwards of $90 million
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Better protection against wireless leaks of information
With more and more sensitive government and corporate information being transmitted wirelessly, there is a growing need to thwart and mitigate the unauthorized wireless leaking of information; A California company has something to offer
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Arizona enlists university students to test emergency networks
Forget what you heard about Generation X: Technology-savvy university students and their instructors help the state pin-point problems with a wireless emergency network along a stretch of lonely highway
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Verizon to offer business continuity & disaster recovery solutions
Telecom giant partners with a consulting company as it makes its way into the business continuity field
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EMC acquires Kashya for $153 million
Pandemics are but one reason why more and more companies now pay attention to business continuity issues; a leading data management and storage company buys an innovative Israeli company specializing in network-based data replication and data protection
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Los Angeles invests in water testing equipment
Water treatemtn facilities are large and their water collection systems sprawling; they are inviting targets for terrorists, and DHS offers municiaplities funds to strengthen their wter montiroing capabilities
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UL to study fire-related materials, human behavior
Fire fighting is an essential part of rescue efforts following terrorist or natrural disasters; the materials now being used in buildings, and changing patterns of human behavior, have changed the fire fighting landscape, and DHS wants to know more about these changes
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The long view
FCC Bans Use of Federal Funds in Purchases of Chinese Telecom
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on 22 November blocked U.S. telecommunications providers from using an $8.5 billion subsidy fund – the FCC’s Universal Service Fund (USF) — to buy Chinese-made telecommunications gear deemed a national security threat to critical infrastructure. The U.S. said that given Huawei and ZTE’s close relationship and legal obligations to the Chinese government, their gear poses a threat to telecommunications critical infrastructure, as well as to national security.
The Sea Wanted to Take This California Lighthouse. Now, It’s Part of a Conflict Between a Town and Two Tribes
For decades, the Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse stood like atop the coastal bluff overlooking the rocky outcrops of Trinidad Bay in northern California. But then, climate change began to take its toll: “the ground began to crumble. Rain moved the earth. The bluff cracked, a sidewalk warped, and thus ended the charmed life of the Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse, which suddenly threatened to slide into the Pacific,” Hailey Branson-Potts writes.
The Drums of Cyberwar
A recent study found that if hackers were to take down the electric grid in just fifteen states and Washington, D.C., 93 million people would be without power, quickly leading to a “rise in mortality rates as health and safety systems fail; a decline in trade as ports shut down; disruption to water supplies as electric pumps fail and chaos to transport networks as infrastructure collapses.” The cost to the economy, the study reported, would be astronomical: anywhere from $243 billion to $1 trillion. “Sabotaging critical infrastructure may not be as great an existential threat as climate change or nuclear war, but it has imperiled entire populations already and remains a persistent probability,” Sue Halperin writes.
The Earth Needs Multiple Methods for Removing CO2 from the Air to Avert Worst of Climate Change
Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are higher than at any time in human history, and nine of the warmest years have occurred since 2005. “Avoiding catastrophic impacts on our coastal infrastructure, biodiversity, food, energy and water resources will require more. In particular, many climate researchers like myself believe government needs to advance technology that will actually suck carbon dioxide out of the air and put it away for very long periods,” David Goldberg writes.
U.S. Military Precariously Unprepared for Climate Threats, War College & Retired Brass Warn
A series of climate-related disasters has paralyzed the strategic capabilities of several U.S military bases in recent years. David Hasemyer writes that it has exposed the military’s vulnerability to extreme weather, shining light on its failure to prepare adequately and on the consequences this lack of preparation could have for U.S. national security.
5. The Ransomware Menace
Experts say that 2019 should be declared the Year of Ransomware Escalation. The increasing number of attacks and the move by perpetrators to target large companies and public institutions in the United States and abroad is a turning point in the evolution of this digital form of blackmail.