News: U.S. tackles Emergency Alert System insecurity
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The FCC acknowledges that the government-mandated network that lets officials interrupt radio and television broadcasts in an emergency  is vulnerable to electronic tampering.
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More money and modern technology is needed to help police, fire and other first responders better communicate when responding to terrorist attacks and natural disasters, two former U.S. government officials said on Thursday.
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The US is rushing to address security risks posed by airline hand luggage in the wake of the London arrests.
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After tragedies such as the Virginia Tech shootings and the Minneapolis bridge collapse, companies are paying more attention to emergency notification services.
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On Government Technology Magazine: Homeland Security
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A satellite-alert system launches in quake-prone Japan that will instantly trigger tsunami and volcanic activity warnings by siren and radio to help speed evacuations. By the Associated Press.
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(InfoWorld) - A consortium of security vendors is trying to make it easier for emergency personnel to identify themselves at the scene of a disaster. The group, called Tiers of Trust, will help groups like local police and fire departments develop smart-card identification systems based on a federal ID standard calledÂ FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) 201. The FIPS 201 standard defines how smart card identification credentials are to be used by federal employees, and an estimated 3 million local first responders must also comply with the standard in order to qualify for federal grant money, the Tiers of Trust Consortium said. But complying with the FIPS 201 standard can be expensive, and the consortium thinks that it can help local departments cut costs by offering them a helping hand with the process. "What we're trying to do is make it easier and more effective for first responders to be FIPS-compliant ... so they can go and do their jobs," said Howard Schmidt, the former cybersecurity advisor to the White House and a backer of the project. The consortium's ultimate goal is to help create a nationwide ID system that will prevent the logistical snafus that first responders experienced during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina, said Schmidt, who is president and CEO of R&H Security Consulting. In both disasters, there were problems identifying and keeping track of first responders. During Katrina, for example, many professionals who made it to the disaster area were unable to help. "First responders didn't have a compliant identification system, so they were turned away," he said. Tiers of Trust's program is available to many different types of U.S. first responder organization including fire, police, rescue and public health departments. Utilities, communications, and transportation companies can also participate. The group is sponsored by a number of security companies including PGP, HID Global, and Secure Network Systems. The consortium's Web site is set to go live on Tuesday. Participating organizations have until year's end to apply for the program.
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The warning system worked perfectly. From sensors far offshore, Japanese meteorologists detected a tsunami headed toward the southern island of Ishigaki in March 2002 and quickly warned residents of the possible danger.
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The &quot;critical&quot; alert status imposed Saturday across Britain is the maximum level of warning and is designed by authorities to show that the country faces the threat of an imminent attack.
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In a move to fix one of the most significant shortcomings in emergency response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, New York has hired Northrop Grumman Corp. to build a wireless broadband public safety communications network to allow the city's emergency personnel to communicate in real time.
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Fixing cybersecurity problems in the U.S. is a top priority at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said the agency's leader, but lawmakers didn't focus on the issue during a hearing in Congress Wednesday.
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Security vendors are trying to make it easier for emergency personnel to ID themselves at the scene of a disaster.
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WASHINGTON, Sept 23: Homeland Security official Asa Hutchinson on Thursday said the United States was on heightened alert for terrorist threats, particularly involving aircraft, ahead of the Nov 2 presidential elections.
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The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team released an alert yesterday saying that a flaw in the CryptoStor Tape 700 Series tape backup appliance could allow attackers to bypass one line of defense in a two-factor authentication system.
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HOUSTON, Sept. 20  /PRNewswire/ -- The following was released today by CellCast Technologies:  The Warnings, Alerts and Response Network, dubbed the WARN Act, passed by the U.S.
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The U.S. weather agency didn't have the phone numbers nor staff to alert all Indian Ocean coastal countries when it saw the first signs that tsunamis could be heading their way, its top official said Thursday. He cautioned that the Caribbean and Atlantic also lack an early-warning system.
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The US is to tighten airport security in the wake of an incident at Glasgow airport and a bomb alert in London.