• Safeguarding Infrastructure // by Christopher Doyle

    The key to protecting national infrastructure and facilitating lifesaving responses in the event of an incident is preparedness; the Infrastructure and Geophysical Division (IGD) of the Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate at DHS is working to find methods and technologies to improve the ability to protect buildings, facilities, and other kinds of physical structures

  • Business praises proposed foreign investment rules

    The U.S. Treausry Department has proposed new rules to govern foreign investment in U.S. critical infrastructure assets; business and industry groups welcom new rules

  • Weather service offers Chicago HAZMAT support page

    The U.S. National Weather Service offers Chicago-area critical infrastructure plants area-specific information on weather patterns so that can better cope with accidents and disasters

  • ADT acquires FirstService Security for $187 million

    ADT, a division of Tyco, is acquiring FirstService Security, a commercial security systems integrator providing a full range of integrated security systems services

  • DHS launches massive effort to bolster cyber security

    Last week DHS secretary announced a Manhattan Project-like campaign to bolster federal cyber security; a key element of the project: Federal agencies will cut the number of communication points through which agencies connect to the Internet from 4,000 to less than 100

  • Forecast: The Big One is coming

    Geologists say that there is a 99.7 percent chance a magnitude 6.7 quake or larger will strike by 2037; California is one of the most seismically active regions in the world, where more than 300 faults crisscross the state

  • Fines for nuclear operator

    Security guards at a Florida nuclear power plant are found asleep on the job; other guards disable their weapons, making it impossible for them to protect the plant in the event of an incident; the NRC imposes fines

  • Unusual tremors measured off Oregon

    Tremors measured off the coast of Oregon typically precede volcanic eruptions, but there are no volcanoes in the area; quakes have also not followed the typical pattern of a major shock followed by a series of diminishing aftershocks

  • Unprepared: Canada lacks plan to protect critical infrastructure, II

    After the shock of the 9/11 attacks, Canada’s decentralized structure for protecting the country’s critical infrastructure was supposed to made tighter, more cohesive, and more effective; white papers were written, plans were unveiled, Web sites were designed — but not much else has happened; experts are worried

  • New way to estimate size and frequency of meteorite impacts

    How large was the meteorite which hit Earth 65 million years ago, leading to the extinction of the dinosaurs? Now we know: Four to six kilometers in diameter; scientists offer new methods to measure the size and frequency of meteorite impact

  • Unprepared: Canada lacks plan to protect critical infrastructure

    Seven years after 9/11, Canada lacks a coherent, coordinated plan to protect the nation’s critical infrastructure; in a recent report experts dismissed natural disasters, terrorism, cyber attacks, and pandemics as the major threats to Canada; rather, the greatest threat, they said, is a “lack of clarity around governance” during a disaster

  • Underwater ears offer information about hurricane strength

    MIT researchers find that hydrophones planted on the ocean floor can “listen” to hurricanes as they form; the sound hurricanes make varies with their intensity — so early listening to hurricanes would help first responders better prepare

  • SyTech Corporation and communication interoperability, I

    The lack of communication interoperability among first response, rescue teams, and law enforcement during the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina was only the most dramatic and poignant demonstration of a persistent and debilitating flaw in U.S. agencies’ planning for disaster — and performing during disaster; communication interoperability is essential not only in disasters, but for routine, every-day operations of law enforcement; SyTech’s comprehensive approach to interoperability offers a solution

  • Predicting earthquakes and volcanic eruptions

    New satellite will measure anomalies in the Earth’s gravitational field; such anomalies allow scientists to predict earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and allow communities to better prepare for them

  • Cannister containing iridium 192 stolen in Japan

    Worries about a dirty bomb increase as a container containing 48.4 pounds of iridium 192 is stolen from an inspection company in Japan