August 28, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

Release Date: August 28, 2008

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact:

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff will travel today to Baton Rouge where he will visit the Joint Field Office and meet with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal on Tropical Storm Gustav preparations. Yesterday, Secretary Chertoff spoke with Governor Jindal, U.S. Northern Command General Victor Renuart and American Red Cross President and CEO Gail McGovern on federal activity in support of local efforts as Tropic Storm Gustav approaches the Gulf Coast.

The Secretary will also travel this afternoon to New Orleans, where he and Governor Jindal will visit the emergency operations center and discuss coordination and preparations with Mayor Ray Nagin. FEMA Administrator David Paulison is already in the region and will join the Secretary and local officials in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Additional details on times and locations for media availabilities are forthcoming.

We continue to remind Gulf Coast residents about the importance of taking precautionary measures to prepare for an emergency situation or evacuation before Gustav approaches our shores. The department’s Ready Campaign encourages citizens to get an emergency supply kit, make an emergency plan, and to be informed about what to do if Tropical Storm Gustav gains strength, turns into a hurricane, and heads in their direction. Please visit www.ready.gov for resources and information on personal and business emergency preparedness.

http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1219937675312.shtm

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August 28, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

As we prepare for the expected Congressional battles over immigration numbers this fall, it’s a good time to take stock of the urgency of our cause and the tools we have available to help fight for lower immigration numbers.

This video captures the essence of NumbersUSA and is a must-see for anyone who wants to fully understand the basic information behind our work.

Or, you can cut and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.numbersusa.com/content/resources/video/recommended/immigration-numbers.html
 

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August 28, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

(ABC News, 8/20/08)

The case also involves a former University of Tennessee professor, Reece Roth, who was indicted in May 2008 for allegedly exporting sensitive military data to China. Roth’s 18-count indictment also alleged conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Air Force, wire fraud and violating the Arms Export Control Act. His trial is expected to begin this week in Knoxville, Tenn.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/print?id=5620939

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August 28, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

are fast becoming popular replacements for hard drives, especially in laptops, but experts caution that SSDs aren’t as secure as commonly thought. SSDs may offer better data security than traditional hard drives, but they do not completely erase data and are vulnerable to physical hacks from light sources like an ultraviolet laser, experts say.

Despite their relatively high cost and concerns about durability, SSDs are gaining popularity, particularly for use in laptops, because they consume less power and access data more quickly. Securing data on SSDs could become a larger issue when the technology becomes more widely used and reaches other portable devices like smart phones, experts said.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/08/22/SSDs_are_hot_but_not_without_security_risks_1.html

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August 28, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has paid nearly $3 billion in hotel bills and rental assistance for the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita — by far the costliest emergency housing effort in the nation’s history, according to government statistics. On the cusp of the storms’ three-year anniversaries more than 14,000 families remain in FEMA-funded apartments across the Gulf Coast and as far away as Alaska. The spending continues today because three years of labor and planning across the Gulf Coast has not replaced enough of the homes and apartments the storms destroyed. The price tag far outdistances housing costs after any other U.S. disaster, FEMA statistics show. The agency spent less than $250 million on housing for the previous six hurricanes combined, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-08-25-katrina_N.htm

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August 28, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg shut down its loading dock Tuesday and called the regional hazmat team after a package was found containing an unknown white powder. The box containing the powder came from the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem, Israel, and was in a “diplomatic pouch,” said the Consular director. From Jerusalem, the package arrived at Washington D.C. and was then shipped to the consular office in Williamsburg. Testing by the Kentucky Post 11 Hazardous Materials team did not determine the nature of the substance, but did rule out the possibility of it being harmful. Source: http://www.thetimestribune.com/local/local_story_240084731.html

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August 28, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

 A white powder spilled on a light rail car in Douglas County, Colorado, posed no risk to the commuters onboard, the Regional Transportation District (RTD) said. RTD shut down train service at the Lincoln Light Rail Station in Lone tree at 7 p.m., while local hazardous materials crews assessed the situation. The station was reopened at 10 p.m. An RTD spokesman said he did not know how much powder was spilled, or what the powder turned out to be, other than non-hazardous. He said an investigation is under way to determine if it was a hoax. Authorities across the metro region are moving quickly on suspicious packages and substances while the Democratic National Convention is going on in Denver. Earlier in the day, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security scooped up a bag left at the light rail park-N-Ride in Greenwood Village, which turned out to be just a forgotten bag that posed no risk, officials

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August 28, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

 By next year, about 40 percent of Orange County, California, buses will be equipped with cameras to monitor passengers and record onboard incidents. A pilot program to allow transit police to monitor the cameras in real time from patrol vehicles is being developed and should be in place later this year, said an Orange Country Transportation Authority (OCTA) spokesman. Cameras “help strengthen the nation’s transportation network against the risks associated with potential terrorist attacks,” he said. OCTA used about $2 million in homeland security money over the last two years to buy cameras. This week, OCTA accepted another grant for about $1.5 million, most of which will go toward putting cameras on 126 more buses. About $100,000 of the grant will be used to support an emergency preparedness exercise and training program. The money comes from $11.3 million in homeland security funds allotted to Orange and Los Angeles counties for increased bus and rail security, officials said. The security systems will be installed on new vehicles as they join OCTA’s fleet. Video is kept indefinitely, and the system is computerized so drivers can push a button and tag an incident if needed, the official said. In Los Angeles County, the Metropolitan Transit Authority has cameras on its entire fleet of more than 2,500 buses, many of which were funded with homeland security money, a spokesman said. Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cameras27-2008aug27,0,2939872.story

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August 28, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

Mass flight delays caused by an electronic communication failure at a Federal Aviation Administration facility drew new criticism. The Northeast was hardest hit by the delays prompted Tuesday by a glitch at a Hampton, Georgia, facility that processes flight plans for the eastern half of the U.S. By early evening, the FAA said that the situation around the country was returning to normal, with delays remaining in Atlanta and Chicago. At one point, an FAA Web site that tracks airport status showed delays at some three dozen major airports across the country. An FAA spokeswoman said there were no safety issues and officials were still able to speak to pilots on planes on the ground and in the air. She said she did not know exactly how many flights were affected, but she said it was in the hundreds. The FAA did not expect to have total figures until Wednesday. She said that in a 24-hour period the FAA processes more than 300,000 flight plans in the U.S. The official said the problem that occurred Tuesday afternoon involved a failure in a communication link that transmits flight plan data from the Georgia facility to a similar facility in Salt Lake City. As a result, the Salt Lake City facility had to process those flight plans, causing delays in planes taking off. She said the delays were primarily affecting departing flights. The official added that there was an unrelated hardware problem at the Hampton facility on Aug. 21 that resulted in issues processing flight plans. The FAA says on its Web site that a glitch that day involving the Hampton facility delayed the departure of at least 134 flights. Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jRgDahJp29m0syjpH485FiJuXktwD92QGASO0

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August 28, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

From January until August this year, 449 American businesses, government agencies and schools reported consumer data loss, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. In contrast, 446 data breaches were recorded by the center for 2007 covering 127 million consumer records. The bulk of the record breach incidents were traced to retail chain TJX, which runs T.J. Maxx outlets. The District of Columbia and 44 states have legislation requiring companies that were victims of data loss to inform their affected clients. But only Maryland, New Hampshire and Wisconsin regularly publish data breach cases in their states online, Foley said. The center said 13 percent of the data breach is done by hacking, 15.6 percent to information theft done by company employees, 21 percent to lost laptops and other digital gadgets, 14 percent accidental publishing of sensitive consumer information and 11 percent breaches done by subcontractors. Source: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7012070780

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