• Germany reports "sharp rise" in China-originated cyberattacks

    Germany detected a sharp rise in serious cyberattacks in 2010; in the first nine months of 2010 there were some 1,600 such attacks recorded, compared to around 900 for the whole of 2009, plus most likely a considerable number that went undetected; Interior Ministry spokesman: “Germany is a very high-tech country with considerable experience and know-how, so of course others will naturally try to get hold of this knowledge—- China is playing a large role in this”

  • Paraglider unit gives police an eye in the sky

    Palm Bay, Florida police has a 4-man paraglider unit which has been operating for a year and a half, taking to the air to provide a bird’s-eye view of crime scenes while aiding in the search for everything from marijuana fields to possible arsonists

  • White House: U.S. "in much better position" on terrorism

    The White House sought to reassure the traveling public that it has fixed security lapses that led to the foiled bomb attack aboard a U.S.-bound jetliner last Christmas; John Brennan, the president’s chief counterterrorism and homeland security adviser, said the country’s security infrastructure has improved since Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab smuggled explosives hidden in his underwear onto an airplane headed for Detroit; Brennan: “What we have seen recently is increased focus, I think, on the part of terrorist groups to try to carry out some of these smaller-scale attacks…. And so we are staying very focused on our ability to detect those types of attacks and stop them whether or not they’re by individuals or part of a larger, organizational effort”

  • Holder: threat of homegrown terrorism "keeps me up at night"

    U.S. attorney general Eric Holder says the danger of homegrown terror “keeps me up at night”: “The threat has changed from simply worrying about foreigners coming here, to worrying about people in the United States, American citizens — raised here, born here, and who for whatever reason, have decided that they are going to become radicalized and take up arms against the nation in which they were born”; the attorney general said that of 126 people who have been charged with allegations related to terrorism in the past 24 months, 50 had been American citizens; Holder dismissed criticism of recent FBI sting operations, which some have argued employed the use of illegal “entrapment,” offering that “options are always given all along the way for them to say, ‘You know what, I have changed my mind. I don’t want to do it’”

  • Terror plot a "wake-up call" -- but experts differ on lessons to be drawn

    Experts debate the significance of the terror attempt on Flight 253 last Christmas; Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University, called it a “daring” plan that was “as close to an aviation disaster as we’ve been since 9/11”; to Hoffman, Flight 253 was a “wake-up call”; Bruce Schneier, who is a critic of many of the security measures initiated by DHS, says the real lesson of Flight 253 is that “Two things have made us safer since 9/11: reinforcing cockpit doors and convincing passengers they can fight back”; Schneier says technology is not the answer: “We can’t continue to let terrorists spend $4,000 to change their tactics and we spend $100 million in airport security in response. That’s not sustainable”

  • Representative Peter King, incoming Homeland Security Committee chairman

    Representative Peter King (R-New York), the incoming chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, was interviewed by Homeland Security NewsWire’s editor-in-chief, Ben Frankel; King’s top three priorities as chairman: examine radicalization in the U.S. Muslim community; air cargo security; and measures to prevent the detonation of dirty bombs in American cities

  • King announces 112th Congress' Homeland Security subcommittees, chairmen

    Representative Peter T. King (R-New York), chairman-elect of the House Committee on Homeland Security, announced Monday the homeland security subcommittees for the 112th Congress and his appointments of subcommittee chairmen

  • Geologists develop way to monitor covert nuclear tests in the Middle East

    Not only is it difficult to identify exactly where an explosion takes place, but it is especially challenging to differentiate the seismic waves generated by nuclear explosions from those generated by earthquakes, volcanic activity, and mine collapses; geologists develop improved seismic model for monitoring nuclear explosions in Middle East

  • Software enables swifter justice

    A system from the Eagan, Minnesota, company Intertech speeds the process of filing criminal complaints, eliminating steps that used to require paper; this summer, it received approval for its eCharging Web-based system, which cuts down on the time to process the complaints because officials sign off electronically through a password or fingerprint reader

  • U.S. anxious over terror attacks during holidays

    Counterterrorism officials are tracking threats to the United States and Europe from al Qaeda and affiliated groups during the holiday season; the FBI and DHS have alerted state and local law enforcers to be wary of suspicious behavior and to change security measures regularly to interfere with any terrorist plans; the warning was sent in a bulletin Wednesday; there is specific intelligence of other attacks being planned against Europe during the holiday season, according to U.S. officials say

  • Experts: Iran's threat to kill U.S. generals is serious

    Iran’s anger at the massive blow the Stuxnet malware has inflicted on its nuclear weapons program boils over; the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Mohammad Reza Naghdi, threatened that American generals will be targeted and killed in revenge for last week’s attacks on two of Iran’s leading nuclear scientists; Iran and Middle East experts say that Iran often makes outlandish threats, but that this one has to be taken as a serious and credible threat because it came directly from Naghdi; the most likely place for an attack to occur would be Iraq, and any attack would most likely be carried out by surrogates working for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard; Bahrain, Qatar, and other Gulf states would also allow the Iranian general to carry out the threat

  • Stuxnet virus set back Iran's nuclear weapons program by two years: Langner

    Ralph Langner, top German computer security expert and the leading authority on Stuxnet, says Stuxnet was as effective in disrupting Iran’s nuclear weapons program as a direct military strike — but without any fatalities; the malware has set back the Iranian program by two years; expert says the Israeli military was the likely creator of the virus

  • ASIS International, BSI release Business Continuity Management ANSI standard

    ASIS International, BSI have released Joint Business Continuity Management ANSI Standard; the standard provides auditable criteria with accompanying guidance for developing and implementing a business continuity management system that improves an organization’s ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a disruptive event

  • U.K. prepares for pro-WikiLeaks attacks on government Web sites

    Britain’s national security adviser has warned that government Web sites are at risk of cyber attack from pro-WikiLeaks hackers; the office of Prime Minister David Cameron said security adviser Peter Ricketts has raised his concerns before an extradition hearing scheduled for today (Tuesday), when WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is to appear at a London court; Cameron’s spokesman Steve Field said the government’s priority is Web sites dealing with information that belongs to members of the public; he said the government has particular concerns about Web sites used to file tax returns or to claim benefits, which store sensitive personal information

  • WikiLeaks's Assange to be indicted for spying "soon"

    If charges against Assange are brought, it would reflect a watershed event in the United States, which has never successfully prosecuted a news organization for publishing classified information; a report released last week by the Congressional Research Service acknowledged that federal prosecutors would have a hard time making charges stick against the whistle-blower Web site, which operates almost entirely abroad; “There may be First Amendment implications that would make such a prosecution difficult, not to mention political ramifications based on concerns about government censorship,” the report states, adding that additional difficulties would arise from the fact “that the investigation implicates —- foreign nationals whose conduct occurred entirely overseas”