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Terror alert
New York City and the District of Columbia respond to “specific, credible but unconfirmed” intelligence of an impending attack; information obtained indicates a vehicle-borne bomb; NYPD deploys boats, armored vehicles and a 1,000-member counter-terror force
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Corey Hinderstein, Nuclear Threat Initiative
Corey Hinderstein, the vice president of the International Program at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, looks back on the progress made in securing loose nuclear material in the ten years since 9/11; more specifically, Hinderstein discusses the likelihood of al Qaeda obtaining a nuclear bomb or nuclear material, bolstering security at medical and industrial facilities that have stockpiles of low-grade nuclear material, and the dangers of apathy
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Anup Ghosh, founder and CEO of Invincea
Anup Ghosh, the founder and CEO of Invincea, a firm that specializes in developing cybersecurity solutions, discusses the failures of the U.S. government in cybersecurity, emerging technologies that can help keep networks safe, and the havoc that terrorists can wreak via a cyberattack
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Calvin Dooley, the American Chemistry Council
Calvin Dooley, president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council and a former U.S. Congressman, discusses the efforts to date of the chemical industry to secure its facilities, the need for Congress permanently to authorize a regulatory regime, and the fallacies of a one-size fits all approach to chemical security
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David Schanzer, Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security
David Schanzer, the director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security and an associate professor in Public Policy at Duke University, discusses the over inflation of the threat from domestic radicalization, ways to prevent young Muslim Americans from becoming radicalized, and the opportunity that the Arab Spring has presented the United States
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Law enforcement
In the ten years since 9/11, the New York City police department (NYPD) has worked to forge closer ties with local police departments in an effort to stop terrorist attacks; “The idea is to add rings of security,” explained chief inspector John Hodges of the Westchester County police; “What’s changed since 9/11 is New York City has learned that people who might want to bring something into New York City will have to infiltrate from somewhere outside,” he said
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About 80 percent of the U.S. population lives in the thirty largest cities in the United States; the government has deployed a secret system of biosensors to detect bioterror attacks; the location of the sensors, and the pathogens they search for, are kept secret so terrorists would not be able to tamper with the sensors or evade them (officially, even the list of cities where the system is deployed is kept secret)
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Securing non-profits
On Tuesday DHS announced that it had awarded nearly $19 million to nonprofit organizations around the country that are considered to be at high risk of terrorist attack.
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HSNW conversation with Mark V. Michel
Mark V. Michel, the U.S and Canada business development manager of PowderSafe, a firm which specializes in developing mail processing security systems, recently spoke with Homeland Security NewsWire’s executive editor Eugene K. Chow; in the interview, Michel discusses the continued threats from mail-born substances, why even a hoax letter can still be damaging, and methods to mitigate the threat
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Terrorism
It is nearly ten years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and U.S. intelligence agencies are still struggling to strengthen the information sharing networks that proved broken that September day; according to the latest CRS report, “there remain many institutional and procedural issues that complicate cooperation between the two sets of agencies”
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Aviation security
On a typical summer day, about 700 small private planes land on Martha’s Vineyard, bringing rich vacationers — mostly from New York City — to what locals call The Rock; not while the president is on the island vacationing, though: The FAA Temporary Flight Restriction is in place over the island for the duration of the president’s vacation
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Terrorism
DHS secretary Janet Napolitano unveiled new television ads Wednesday for the public awareness campaign “If you see something, say something”; Napolitano said the videos are not intended to be alarmist, nor do they suggest only a vague threat, as did the security alert “color code” of years past
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Infrastructure protection
Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York) will introduce new legislation that would require all major utility plants to run background checks on its employees; the bill would require FBI background checks on all employees of all major utility plants, strengthening the current requirement which mandates such checks only at nuclear power plants
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Terrorist watch list
A new DHS plan to create its own version of the FBI’s terrorist watch list that is exempt from the Privacy Act has privacy groups concerned; under the proposed plan, DHS would create the Watchlist Service which would bring the FBI’s suspected terrorist list in-house and expand on it
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Domestic terrorism
Indian government officials have focused on domestic terror, indicating that last month’s triple-bombing in Mumbai was the work of a homegrown group, the Indian Mujahideen; the same explosive formulation was used in these attacks as was used in other attacks where responsibility was claimed by The Indian Mujahideen
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Explosives
U.S. lawmakers are becoming frustrated with DHS for its slow implementation of regulations on ammonium nitrate fertilizer, a key ingredient in dangerous homemade explosives like the one used in the deadly 1995 Oklahoma City bombing; Congress initially passed legislation tightening control on the sale of the fertilizer in 2008, but DHS has yet to implement such regulations and three years later is only now publishing a set of “proposed” rule
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Transportation security
A new report by the DHS Inspector General warns that Amtrak is vulnerable to terrorist attacks, despite the $1 billion that has already been spent to bolster security; the inspector general found that DHS officials did not ensure that the money was being spent efficiently securing Amtrak’s most vulnerable stations resulting in security gaps
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Political conventions
In preparation for next year’s Republican National Convention in Tampa Bay Florida, nearly every local police department employee is required to attend a three-day training course; the mandatory training is designed to teach officers how to control large crowds
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Bioterror
Researchers have developed a portable device can detect the presence of the anthrax bacterium in about one hour from a sample containing as few as forty microscopic spores; the basic design, which is small enough to fit in the overhead compartment of an airplane, potentially could be tailored to detect countless other pathogens, such as salmonella, or be used in the field for DNA forensics
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Aviation security
A recent DHS inspector general report revealed that the Federal Aviation Administration FAA) had issued pilot and aircraft mechanic licenses to at least twenty-seven individuals with terrorist connections; the report also found that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) still cannot determine the identities of thousands of people who currently hold FAA licenses.
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The long view
How Male Grievance Fuels Radicalization and Extremist Violence
Social extremism is evolving in reach and form. While traditional racial supremacy ideologies remain, contemporary movements are now often fueled by something more personal and emotionally resonant: male grievance.