Transportation

CSC replaces Unisys in a half-billion-dollar TSA account
A 2006 DHS IG review criticized Unisys for handling TAS’s Information Technology Infrastructure Program (ITIP) services contract; CSC has now won the five-year contract, potentially worth $493 million
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French may take intrusive measures to prevent inside-the-body bombers
Security experts are split over whether inside-the-body suicide bomb is a serious threat; the French say they may not take any chances, and warn that security measures at airports may become more intrusive
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U.S. cannot track foreign visitors who overstay their visas
Last year, 39 million foreign travelers were admitted into the United States on temporary visas; based on the paper stubs, homeland security officials said, they confirmed the departure of 92.5 percent of them; most of the remaining visitors did depart, officials said, but failed to check out because they did not know how to do so; more than 200,000 of them are believed to have overstayed intentionally
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Imagining new threats -- and countering them
DHS air transport security lab is in the business of imagining new threats — then developing the technologies to counter them; their dream? To build a “tunnel of truth” in each airport lined with hidden sensors, scanners, and rays; passengers would get zapped and sniffed as they passed, and would not need to take off their shoes, toss their liquids, or anything else
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Small business alliance enters homeland security arena
A group of companies formed the Strategic Security Alliance to increase the visibility of its member firms and make them more competitive in the homeland and maritime security markets
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TSA allows law enforcement personnel to carry fire-arms on board
TSA has created a secure registration facility which allows state, local, territorial, and tribal Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) to pre-register with the agency — and then fly armed
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"Absent individualized suspicion": DHS "search at will" policy violates the Fourth Amendment
Customs agents can now instruct you to log on to your laptop so they can read your e-mails and personal files and examine which Web sites you have visited; they can make a copy of your hard drive, and of any other storage device, so the government can comb through the contents more leisurely; this contents, without your knowledge, may be shared with any other government agency; it can be kept in perpetuity; the same applies to your BlackBerry, iPhone, and other digital devices; customs agents can do all that, according to DHS policy, “absent individualized suspicion”; a law professor says the government’s substitution of “search at will” for “reasonable suspicion” is a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment
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O'Hare gets grant for baggage screening system
DHS’s push for better baggage screening at U.S. airports continues; the latest recipient of baggage screening upgrade grants: Chicago’s O’Hare
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Port Manatee receives $1 million for security
Tampa Bay-area port receives stimulus package funds to improve port security
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Panelists call for more investment in anti-piracy technology
Experts on a panel at the International Maritime Museum of Hamburg call for more investment in anti-piracy technology, and for greater coordination among trading nations to address the threat of piracy
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Growth of Middle East ports means growth in demand for security
Rapid expansion of terminal capacity and new seaports to create growth opportunities in the Middle East maritime security market
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Raytheon delivers mobile radiation detection system
Raytheon delivers advanced SUV-based radiation detection system to Florida’s Department of Transportation
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Mexican drug cartels may target U.S. companies
The U.S. growing involvement in Mexico’s drug war could put more American interests at risk
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DHS emphasizes improved baggage screening
More than half of the stimulus package money TSA received — some $700 million — will go toward improving baggage screening at airports; in all, twenty-five airports would have their systems upgraded
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Des Moines International renovates baggage screening area -- and terminals
Iowa’s Des Moines International is renovating its baggage screening area — but uses the occasion for renovations to two terminals, bringing their style out of the 1980s and into this century
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