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Religious leaders discuss body scanners with DHS
Muslim, Jewish, and Christian leaders met with DHS officials to discuss the privacy aspects of whole-body scanning; Muslim religious organizations, the Pope, and Orthodox Jewish authorities declared body scanners to be in violation of their respective religions' modesty strictures, especially for women, and urged their followers to opt for pat-downs instead
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Smiths Detection's mid-sized X-ray system added to TSA's Air Cargo Screening Qualified List
By August 2010, all cargo carried on passenger planes will have to be screened; Smiths Detection's latest addition to its list of cargo screening machines -- a pallet-sized scanner -- is the company's sixth technology approved to help shippers meet TSA August 2010 100 percent air cargo screening deadline
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Theater of the absurdTSA: Alleged child molester did not train or use new full-body scanners at Logan
A Boston man charged with multiple child sex crimes was a certified luggage and passengers screener at Logan Airport; TSA says the man was already missing from work for several days when full-body scanners were deployed at Logan on 1 March, and thus had no access to the machines; the man's arrest adds fuel to the opposition to body scanners
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Shoes will have to be taken off at U.S. air ports for a while yet
DHS secretary Janet Napolitano said that technology currently available does not allow screeners adequately to examine what is in someone's shoes while the person is wearing them
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Proposed bill calls for ID card for U.S. workers to curb illegal immigration
Advocates of immigration reform are pushing for a bill in the Senate which would create a national biometric identification card all American workers would eventually be required to obtain; the biometric data would likely be either fingerprints or a scan of the veins in the top of the hand; employers will not be able to hire applicants who do not present a valid ID
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The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex uses a variety of means to detect WMD
The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex uses the latest -- together with the simplest -- technology in trying to prevent weapons of mass destruction from being smuggled through the port; among these means used: a $3 million high-tech screening ship, a radiation-detecting helicopter and a badge-carrying black Labrador retriever that can sniff out chemical and biological weapons
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Passive millimeter-wave technology promoted as solving privacy, health concerns
There are three leading technologies in whole-body scanning: backscatter X-ray, active millimeter wave, and passive millimeter wave; the first raises privacy issue; the second raises health concerns; Florida-based Brijot, a champion of passive millimeter wave, says its technology addresses both sets of concerns
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More U.S. airports deploy body scanners; new scanners -- and 40 existing ones -- used for primary screening
The U.S Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said whole-body scanners will be deployed to nine more U.S. airports; the machines are among 150 units bought with money from the federal stimulus package; they join 40 machines already in use at 19 U.S. airports; both the new and existing machines will be used for primary screening
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Airport security by the numbers
In its 2011 budget request, DHS has asked for $214.7 million to buy and install 500 whole-body scanners; 75 percent of high-risk airports and 60 percent of second-tier airports will have body scanners deployed by the end of 2011
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Canada to use DHS's Secure Flight rules
Starting in December, passengers on Canadian airlines flying to, from, or even over the United States without ever landing there, will only be allowed to board the aircraft once the U.S. DHS has determined they are not terrorists
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Fired O'Hare Airport security chief sues city over firing
James Maurer, former security chief at O"Hare, seeks more than $2 million in damages from the city for his dismissal last September; he says the reason for his dismissal were his repeated pleas to put correction of serious security lapses ahead of moving forward on costly plans to modernize the airport
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Russia brings back armored trains to fight terrorists
The war in Chechnya is officially over, but attacks on the railway system in neighboring Dagestan have become a major problem; the Russian military brings back the armored train to protect the region's railway system
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FAA investigating reports that young child was allowed to direct flights into JFK
The FAA is looking into reports of a child directing air traffic at New York's JFK airport; a child's voice is heard giving instructions to at least three pilots
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U.K. shipper complies with "known shipper" requirements by installing Avigilon surveillance system
Avigilon helps Airberg conform with government-regulated security requirements, saving more than £700,000 each year; additional benefits include protecting the shipper's facility from theft and vandalism and minimizing the loss and damage of goods
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How accurate is E-Verify?
Many news reports about a DHS-sponsored evaluation of the effectiveness of the E-Verify project said that the study found that the program was accurate in only 54 percent of the cases submitted to it for verification; the heavily statistical analysis is not easily penetrated, but what the report said was that due primarily to identity fraud, the inaccuracy rate of E-Verify for unauthorized workers is approximately 54 percent
More Headlines
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As he looked at the radar screen Captain Andrey Nozhkin immediately feared the worst. A small vessel was closing fast from the stern
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Draper Laboratory, along with other companies, are working together to implement the program which will better detect irregular physiological and behavioral biometrics an individual being screened. The technology will focus on behaviors such as an individual’s heart rate, blink rate, and even fidgeting. This technology will allow officials, especialy at airports determine which individuals would be warrant a secondary screening.
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Biometrics technology, helpful in determing a person is who they say they are, is at the center of a debate in the New Zealand parliament. The government is planning to use biometric information to prevent identity fraud to prevent illegal border crossings. However, there is concern that this effort may extend beyond the realm of immigration control
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The Long View
U.S. intelligence chief: Mexico not on brink of collapse
There is a debate among different U.S. intelligent services about how close to a collapse Mexico is; Dennis Blair, director of national intelligence, says the drug cartels' escalating violence is a product of their weakening state not their strength
Country watch: Moribund MexicoMexican drug cartels employ more foot soldiers than Mexican army
Mexico is spinning out of control; narco-terrorists have infiltrated the Mexican government, creating a shadow regime that complicates efforts to contain and destroy the drug cartels; Mexico ranks behind only Pakistan and Iran as a top U.S. national security concern -- but above Afghanistan and Iraq
Not yet ready for prime time: RFID technology
RFID technology is incorporated into more and more documents (e-passports, enhanced driver's licenses); trouble is, the technology still suffers from privacy and security vulnerabilities
Immigration Alert: Employing immigrants during economic slowdown
There are important employer obligations to consider when employing immigrants during an economic downturn
Grappling with the pirate problem
The Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia, and the Gulf of Aden, are among the most sensitive choke points in global commerce; trouble is, the stable, the comparatively wealthy Southeast Asian countries that line the Malacca Strait have committed their naval and coastal forces to stamping out hijackings and piracy, but the Gulf of Aden is bordered by poor or dysfunctional countries like Djibouti, Yemen, and particularly Somalia
Immigration matters / David B. PalinskyAlternatives to the H-1B visa, pt. 1: O-1 "Extraordinary ability"
The U.S. immigration services received more than 163,000 petitions for the 65,000 regular H-1B visas allocated for FY2009; the homeland security, hi-tech, and services sectors, as well as academic and research institutions, need another way to bring to the United States qualified foreign workers and researchers; one such way is the O-1 "Extraordinary Ability" visa
Stimulus packageInitial $50 million of stimulus package for airport security awarded
DHS announced the award of the first $50 million out of a total of $1 billion made available by the stimulus package for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA); money will fund explosive detection systems and advanced technology X-ray units that will streamline baggage screening at U.S. airports
