Building a Culture of Security

The commander of national cybersecurity has issued a call to arms to both private-sector and government organizations in the battle against cunning adversaries bent on wreaking havoc on U.S. critical infrastructures. During the past year, many sector-specific government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, have been working hand-in-glove with their industry counterparts to draft specific battle plans. Among the top priorities in the telecommunications and information technology sectors is conducting a national vulnerability assessment of all infrastructure. Similar plans also were designed for the other 15 component sectors covered by the department’s National Infrastructure Protection Plan. (AFCEA Signal story; DHS Web site's NIPP homepage)

Lack of Real ID funding stymies states

Two years after enactment of the Real ID Act to create national driver’s license standards, the long ride toward implementation has been slow and bumpy, and the road ahead still has some potholes to dodge. Recent developments suggest that deployment of the controversial Real ID national identification program still faces significant obstacles related to its $11 billion cost and its privacy and security risks. Legislatures in 17 states have taken action opposing the act, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. What’s more, the Senate recently took a stand against funding it. An amendment submitted by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) to provide $300 million toward Real ID implementation costs failed July 26. (Washington Technology story)

Sounding the alarm

The tragic shooting at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in April was only the most recent, but perhaps most poignant, proof of the need to communicate emergency alerts and instructions to thousands of people simultaneously. In the aftermath, government agencies have been taking a hard look at emergency notification systems that automate the process. Mass notification and alerting has other critical uses. The Air Force Reserve Command, for example, will use AtHoc’s IWSAlerts to recall, within four hours, 30,000 reserve personnel when orders come down, using automated, text-to-speech voice mail. It replaces a phone-tree system that is a manual process. Other government and vendor sources say many agencies still use phone trees to alert first responders.
(Government Computer News special report: Emergency notification systems come in variety of forms; Emergency notification products and vendors; RFP checklist for emergency notification systems)

Justice advances identity tools

Law enforcement agencies are likely to see improved methods for sharing information and managing identity if new technology advances being shepherded by the Justice Department live up to expectations. The release of Version 2.0 of the National Information Exchange Model is “imminent — due out in a matter of weeks,” Jeremy Warren, DOJ chief technology officer, said last week at an AFCEA conference on law enforcement technology in Bethesda, Md. NIEM 2.0 will include a justice domain, which will be called the Global Justice Extensible Markup Language data model.
(Government Computer News story; NIEM Web site)

Chertoff vows to move forward with ID law

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told a group of state lawmakers gathered here on Wednesday that he would not retreat from a plan to impose nationwide standards for driver's licenses. Chertoff acknowledged at the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures that it will be a challenge for states to implement the so-called REAL ID Act, especially if they are not given more federal funding to do so. But he said he would not support legislative efforts to repeal the controversial law and insisted that insecure travel documents in the hands of terrorists are dangerous. The Homeland Security Department still has not issued final compliance regulations, but it has estimated that it will cost states about $23 billion to implement the mandate.
(Government Executive story; H.R.418 Bill via Library of Congress Web site)

DHS to require passenger info before takeoff

The Homeland Security Department on Aug. 9 released a proposed rule that will require that incoming and outgoing international flights send their passenger information list to the department before taking off. Current policy requires that airlines' data be sent afterward. "This information will better identify individuals who may pose a known or suspected threat to aviation or national security," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a statement. "These programs will improve the passenger experience by establishing a more consistent vetting process and better resolution for misidentified passengers."
(Government Executive story)

Managing Technology Spiraling Into Control

When firefighters rush into a burning building, their chief manages the incident from outside. Chiefs would love to have a tool pinpointing the precise location of their crews inside a building at any moment, in case the fire changes direction or part of the building collapses. But metal and steel can interfere with the signal from, say, a Global Positioning System. And most GPSs would not be able to distinguish between parallel spaces on different floors. The Homeland Security Department is working on a device to solve the problem as part of a new first responder technology development program called TechSolutions. Housed in the Science and Technology Directorate, DHS' research and development arm, the program aims to take capability gaps identified by police, firefighters, emergency medical teams and bomb squads and develop a prototype solution quickly and cheaply.
(Government Executive story)

Border Agents Tread Fine Line

I am standing in government offices about 30 feet above the dense northbound traffic at the Mexico border in San Ysidro, Calif., when word comes that officers have fingered a suspected smuggler and confiscated his vehicle for closer inspection. Together with ranking Customs and Border Protection officials in the San Diego sector, I rush downstairs to see an old gray car stripped down, its seats uprooted to reveal bales of marijuana carefully encased in transparent plastic wrapping. This small moment of drama unfolds just after I've arrived at the busiest border crossing in the world, where U.S. agents process 50,000 vehicles a day with an average of 2.5 passengers each, and 20,000 to 30,000 pedestrians. Smugglers routinely are part of the mix. Back upstairs a few minutes later, we're told there's another bust, probably a load of undocumented immigrants. We descend again to witness in quick succession no fewer than four nondescript cars - a Chevy Impala, a Chevy Malibu, an old Dodge sedan and a small Acura - as they're driven into CBP's secondary inspection facility.
(Government Executive story)

Additional $3B for border security funds

Senate Democrats and Republicans agreed on July 26 to add $3 billion in technology and resources to the fiscal 2008 Homeland Security spending bill for border security and to crack down on illegal immigrants. But the extra funding is also likely to complicate conference proceedings and put Congress on a path toward a showdown with the White House. President Bush had already threatened to veto the legislation over its total level of spending before the additional funding was added. In approving the extra funding, Democrats and Republicans declared that gaining control of the nation's borders and going after illegal immigrants constitutes a national emergency. "If there was ever a legitimate emergency in this country I think this would be one of those times because we've lost control of our border," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
(Government Executive story)