StormWarning’s Counterterrorism

In a previous life, I used to enjoy vacationing in Mexico.  Places like Mexico City (it wasn’t the hotbed of kidnapping back then that it is today, or was it?), Acapulco (3 Mexican Police Officers Killed, 1 Decapitated Near Acapulco), Puerto Vallarta (although I remember being there in 1973 and seeing machinegun-armed military types patrolling the beaches early in the morning - I believe, today it is quite nice, Puerto Vallarta Hosts Bikini Week) and Cancun (you can read about the drug wars being waged in places like Cancun by following this link to the Stratfor article, Mexico’s Cartel Wars: The Threat Beyond the US Border - as usual, the Google link will bring you to the actual article.)

Today I live within a few hours drive of Northern Mexico…perhaps a five hour drive to Monterrey in Nuevo Leon, but my most likely crossing would be in Laredo/Nuevo Laredo (and I’ve covered enough of that here over the months).

Too harsh about travel to Mexico?  I don’t think so.  I maintain that social and economic pressures are continuing to create "stress" in the southern states of Mexico…Chiapas and now Oaxaca.  The recent uprisings in the south in Oaxaca underscore this I believe.

Dane Schiller: American’s death prompts U.S. to extend warning regarding Oaxaca travel
Hours after an American was shot and killed in Oaxaca, the U.S. government announced it would extend its warning to U.S. citizens to strongly consider the potential for violence there before deciding to visit the region…[more]

State Department Alert

September 15, 2006 Announcement

This Public Announcement alerts U.S. citizens to the rising level of brutal violence in areas of Mexico.  This violence has occurred throughout Mexico, but has been particularly persistent in the city of Nuevo Laredo within the state of Tamaulipas.  This Public Announcement expires on March 15, 2007.                              

U.S. citizens residing and traveling in Mexico should exercise extreme caution when in unfamiliar areas and be aware of their surroundings at all times.  Public sources suggest that narcotics-related violence has claimed 1,500 lives in Mexico this year.  In recent months there have been execution-style murders of Mexican and U.S. citizens in Tamaulipas (particularly Nuevo Laredo), Michoacan, Baja California, Guerrero, and other states…[more]

Mexico sends troops to violent Oaxaca
President Vicente Fox announced Saturday he was sending federal police into the violence-wracked southern state capital of Oaxaca after a U.S. journalist and two Mexican men were shot to death. The clashes occurred Friday as leftist protesters barricaded streets as part of a five-month-old campaign to oust the governor.

The president earlier had refused to send such forces to the city, insisting that the dispute should be resolve through negotiations. The conflict has been one of the biggest challenges for Fox, whose six-year term ends Dec 1…[more]

N.Y. journo slain in Mex is mourned
Friends and colleagues of a New York journalist killed in Mexico remembered him yesterday as a longtime advocate for social causes who gave his life to report on the injustices he found.

Bradley Will, 36, of the East Village, was shot in the chest Friday during a gun battle at a street barricade in the southern Mexican city of Oaxaca, where strikers have for months called for the regional governor to resign.

"He was a real true believer, and a very courageous person," said New York friend Brenda Coultas. "He knew the risks, but he really believed that he had to tell this story." [more]

With Beheadings and Attacks, Drug Gangs Terrorize Mexico
Alternate link to the above article

Fox’s office issued a declaration saying that the federal forces would concentrate in Oaxaca on Saturday. His office later clarified that he was referring to federal police, not troops, but did not specify how many were being sent.

Even if it wasn’t just to protest Mexico’s continuing policies that seem to encourage illegal border crossings, I simply wouldn’t vacation in Mexico.  Why should I spend my hard earned money there?  And risk my life at the same time.  Atleast not until the Mexican government gets its act together.

No gracias!

Current Affairs, International Issues, Opinions

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Steven Flynn of the Council on Foreign Relations has offered a report card on the performance of the Department of Homeland Security.

The following is brought to us by my Homeland Security Daily Newswire.  More details are available in Flynn’s report:

A new report card published by the Washington, D.C.-based
Council on Foreign Relations says that the agency is doing well in air defense
and nuclear plant security, but gives it near failing marks for port security,
chemical plant security, and — horror of horrors — public relations. The
final report card is as follows:

• Port Security: D+
• Nuclear Plant Security: B/B+
• Air Defense: B
• Airport Security: C+
• Border Control and Immigration: C
• Chemical Plant Security: D-/F
• Disaster Response: C-
• Bridges, Tunnels, and Other Infrastructure: C
• Public Relations: D

Lets translate that to how we used to look at grade point averages in college:

• Nuclear Plant Security: B/B+ = 3.15
• Air Defense: B = 3.0
• Airport Security: C+ - 2.7
• Border Control and Immigration: C = 2.0
• Chemical Plant Security: D-/F = .35
• Disaster Response: C- = 1.7
• Bridges, Tunnels, and Other Infrastructure: C = 2.0
• Public Relations: D = 1.0

Now, assuming that each entry (course) is of equal credits (weighting), DHS has earned a GPA of a "C."  That simply isn’t good enough!

The CFR report found DHS’s chemical plant security planning to
be totally inadequate and in need of remedial training.  Flynn noted that DHS has allocated only $10 million to inspect and police the nation’s
some-odd 15,000 chemical facilities, which all told have the potential to
injure or kill up to 100,000 citizens living nearby. "This is totally
unsatisfactory in light of the threat that some very deadly chemicals can
pose," wrote Flynn.

Air defense received the best grade, in large part due to
post-9/11 NORAD procedures so well demonstrated earlier this month with the
small craft incident in Manhattan. "There still remains a real challenge
in our airspace if it’s a homegrown developed issue," Flynn explained,
"though our ability to monitor what’s flying from outside the United
States into U.S. soil has improved, and the ability for the Department of
Defense under its northern command to muster fighter pilots and so forth to
meet planes is quite good."

Satisfied?  I know that I’m not!  In a conference call the other day, I asked someone why no company has leapt to the forefront of one of the key areas of homeland security of interest to me.  The answer was, "the government can’t get out of its own way."  I care about homeland security.  I think that CFR and Flynn have an objective view.  I wonder what it will take for DHS to figure it out.  They’ve already had five years.

Current Affairs, Domestic Terrorism, National Security, Opinions

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Seems like we’re moving more and more toward warp drive and "war in space."  So reports an article in Technology Review, a great resource IMO.

A Dangerous Step toward Space Warfare
Experts say the new U.S. National Space Policy will push the world closer to a space arms race.
The release of the U.S. National Space Policy (NSP) on October 6 has worried many experts, who say the policy marks a strategic shift toward a more military-oriented, unilateral approach to space for the United States. They fear that the policy, if followed, could begin an arms race leading to catastrophic space warfare…

("The President authorized a new national space policy on August 31, 2006 that establishes overarching national policy that governs the conduct of U.S. space activities. This policy supersedes Presidential Decision Directive/NSC-49/NSTC-8, National Space Policy, dated September 14, 1996.")

…This is not the first time the United States has asserted what it terms an "unhindered" right to act in space. The 1996 NSP, drafted by the Clinton administration, had the same central theme. The difference, according to Theresa Hitchens, an analyst with the Center for Defense Information, is that the new policy not only dismisses the rights of other space-faring powers but is actively hostile to the concept of collective security. It signals that the United States no longer regards space as a cooperative environment, she says, undercutting 40 years of tradition that has kept competition and conflict in space at a minimum…

…In September, DefenseNews.com, a reliable source of military news, reported that China had fired high-powered lasers at U.S. spy satellites flying over its territory. What the Chinese military’s intentions were, and what effect the lasers had, is not known. Publicly, U.S. officials appeared unalarmed…(as stated in this article, "the combination of China’s efforts and advances in Russian satellite-jamming capabilities that illustrate vulnerabilities to the U.S. space network are driving U.S. Air Force plans to develop new space architectures and highly classified systems, according to sources.")

…The new space policy does more than just re-assert America’s freedom of action in space. It also calls on NASA and other agencies to gear up for technological innovation and "human and robotic space exploration programs." [more]

OPINION: It seems to me that while on the surface, this may be upsetting to some people, that the United States has limited options here.  Our satellite system is integral to our communications capability and is tied to our national security.  At this point, and that is a current statement, the U.S. is the only country really capable of deploying offensive, or more likely, defensive weapons into space.  The Chinese are not that far behind.  It has been posed that the Chinese would likely show the World its abilities to become a serious player in space travel and exploration (and perhaps militarization).  How far into the future are we really able to see or project?  We cannot really predict that far into the future, now can we?

For a closer look at China’s space strategy…Full text: China’s Space Activities in 2006.

Current Affairs, Federal Policy, International Issues, National Security

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Although this audio roundtable occurred back in March ‘06 (I think), this should be listened to by anyone who is following the emergence of the homeland security industry, or anyone who is trying to compete in the field.

HomelandDefenseStocks.com Presents a Roundtable Discussion with Homeland Security Industry Experts on Global Security Issues and Opportunities
Brian Ruttenbur, Equity Research Analyst with Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc covering Homeland Security Technology, Lou Kelly, President & CEO of The Security Network and Chairman for the Center for Commercialization of Advanced Technologies (CCAT), and Jack Mallon, Founder and Senior Managing Director of Mallon Associates, an investment bank focused on the security industry, discuss global security issues and opportunities covering issues of global protectionism, border and port security, industry consolidation, technology and the continued evolution of the security and defense market.

Current Affairs, National Security, Technology

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This one has little to do with counterterrorism, but it does serve as a resource that I want to post here for future reference (it’ll be bookmarked on my computer as well).  Thanks to the Washington Post on this.

Updates to the Congressional Votes Database

Launched last December, the Congressional Votes Database includes overall roll call vote totals and the individual voting records for all members of Congress dating back to 1991.

Official members biographies
PDF version of each member’s annual financial disclosure statement
Disclosure statements on an index page listing each member of Congress who has filed a statement.

Links to recent Washington Post and washingtonpost.com articles articles on each member

"Key Race" profile page. 
Full demographic profile for each lawmaker’s state or district.
"Key Votes" cast during the 109th Congress.
Individual Key Votes pages

These might also come in handy:

Congressional Schedule
For those interested in following daily business at the U.S. Capitol, we have created a daily schedule for both houses of Congress. This schedule includes floor action and committee meetings and hearings — along with meeting times and room numbers.

Key Race Pages
2006 Key Race pages
Full campaign finance data for each candidate
Demographic profiles of each candidate’s district or state.

I can already see how this will be easier than searching the Library of Congress for information.

Current Affairs, Federal Policy, International Issues, National Security, Opinions

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Why border security is important.  If you think that it can’t happen here, think again!

Israel intercepts shipment of explosives
Israeli forces intercepted a shipment of high explosives smuggled through a vital Gaza-Israel crossing and headed for the West Bank, the military said Wednesday.

Attempt to smuggle TNT from Gaza thwarted
Gaza resident tries to sneak 6 kg of explosives into Israel through Karni Crossing, to Palestinian resident of Tulkarm. Police: ‘We have no doubt we prevented terror attack in Israel’ [more}

Current Affairs, International Issues, Opinions

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A new report has just been published titled, "A Line in the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border."  Its probably not much more news than what I’ve been highlighting here for atleast 9 months.

Texas Border Vulnerable To Terrorists ( View Video here )
A Congressional Homeland Security report accuses Venezuela of providing support that could help terrorists infiltrate the United States through Texas’ porous border with Mexico…

…Representative Michael McCaul, a first term Republican from Austin, chaired the subcommittee that produced the findings, “The potential is certainly there for terrorists to infiltrate the U.S. through Mexico. We apprehended five Pakistanis on the U.S. Mexico border with fraudulent Venezuelan documents…”

Conclusions of the report:
The Federal government has taken positive steps to secure its borders, but much more is needed to combat an increasingly powerful, sophisticated, and violent criminal network which has been successful in smuggling illegal contraband, human or otherwise, into our country. The growth of these criminal groups, along the Southwest border, and the potential for terrorists to exploit the vulnerabilities which they create, represents a real threat to America’s national security.

It is imperative that immediate action be taken to enhance security along our nation’s Southwest border. Greater control of the border can be achieved by:

• enhancing Border Patrol resources, including expanding agent training capacity, and technical surveillance abilities;
• constructing physical barriers in vulnerable and high-threat areas;
• implementing state-of-the-art technology, cameras, sensors, radar, satellite, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to ensure maximum coverage of the Nation’s Southwest border;
• making permanent the “catch and return” policy;
• expanding the use of the expedited removal policy;
• establishing additional detention bed space;
• improving partnerships and information sharing among Federal, State, and local law enforcement;
• building a secure interoperable communications network for Border Patrol and state and local law enforcement;
• mandating a comprehensive risk assessment of all Southwest border Ports of Entry and international land borders to prevent the entry of terrorist and weapons of mass destruction and
• promoting both international and domestic policies that will deter further illegal entry into the United States.
• Enhancing intelligence capabilities and information sharing with our Mexican counterparts and improving cooperation with the Mexican government to eradicate the Cartels.

Beyond all of this there is the indication that sponsors of terrorism, like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela is using the porous border to help move OTM’s into the U.S.

Back door to terror?
By Oliver North
October 22, 2006
…Our border is a sieve, not a barrier, for radical Islamic terrorists transiting into the United States. The Investigations Subcommittee charges that from September 11, 2001, to the present, hundreds of illegal aliens from countries "such as Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Pakistan… and Afghanistan" were apprehended crossing into the United States…

… In June 2006, seven Iraqis were caught in Brownsville, Texas.  In August, an Afghan man was caught crossing the Rio Grande into Texas.

FBI Director Mueller has testified that a Hezbollah cell had been "dismantled" after discovering that the terror organization was smuggling operatives across the U.S.-Mexico border to carry out terror attacks inside the United States.

Individuals from countries with known al Qaeda connections have changed their Islamic surnames and adopted false Hispanic identities to escape detection and blend into American society.

Radical Islamic groups that support Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamiya Al Gamat are all active in Latin America…

… According to the congressional report, "Venezuela is providing support — including identity documents — that could prove useful to radical Islamic groups…. The Venezuelan government has issued thousands of cedulas, the equivalent of Social Security cards, to people from places such as Cuba, Colombia, and Middle Eastern nations that host foreign terrorist organizations." These documents can be used to obtain Venezuelan passports and American visas, which in turn allow the holder to elude immigration checks and enter the United States…

Need any more reasons to build barriers and increase military presence on the border?  Illegal still means illegal…and don’t give me this "stuff" about needing illegals to do jobs that Americans won’t do!

Current Affairs, Federal Policy, International Issues, National Security, Opinions

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As written in an email received from Stratfor, "A congressional oversight panel has recently issued a report stating that U.S. Border Patrol agents are outmanned and outgunned by Mexican drug cartels, which - officials say - are now effectively controlling human trafficking across the border. If the House subcommittee is correct in its assessment, the drug cartels have now become the strongest forces operating in the U.S. border area, raising the issue to a matter of real concern for all those who live, work and travel through the region. "

This follows on a previous post here, Border Security -  BORTAC and the "Zetas"

Through training and recruiting, Zetas growing in strength
For all the beefed-up enforcement along the border, the militialike group of drug cartel enforcers known as the Zetas appears stronger than ever, a result of better training, successful recruiting in Central America and continued desertions from the Mexican military, U.S. intelligence officials say.

The Zetas have again become entrenched in Nuevo Laredo, and they practically control the movement of people through an intricate web of spies, checkpoints and skillful use of technology, provoking an extraordinary cross-border human exodus, U.S. and Mexican authorities say…

…The organization is recruiting former Guatemalan special forces military personnel known as Kaibiles and members of the notorious cross border gangs known as Maras, including the violent Mara Salvatruchas with ties to El Salvador…

…The Zetas are now getting "bigger and bigger," with a growing presence not just in their base of Tamaulipas, along the Texas-Mexico border, but also in the states of Nuevo Leon, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Guerrero, Veracruz, Michoacan and Jalisco, the U.S. intelligence official said.

The Zetas even have a Cuban spiritual leader who performs Santeria rituals, U.S. authorities said, and they invest about 50 percent of their earnings in training, recruiting, intelligence-gathering and computer software.

"They have the Texas-Mexico border wired," the U.S. intelligence official said, and they use Web logs as tools for recruiting - "although there’s nothing more effective than personal recommendations…" [more]

Cartel forces pose threat on U.S.-Mexican border.  Through training and recruiting, the Zetas drug cartel enforcers are growing in strength and extending their Texas ties.

With all of the posturing of the new (and old) Mexican government, the real question becomes how long the U.S. will tolerate the militaristic actions of the Zetas, before bringing in the fire power of the U.S. military to eradicate the threat to our national security…Zetas indeed!

And by the way, no matter whether Governor Rick Perry’s border security surveillance cameras work or do not work to curtail illegal immigration, IMO, it will do nothing to stop the violence on the border, and nothing to stop the Zetas.

Current Affairs, International Issues, National Security, Opinions

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Its been talked about for some time…and its been used to put an electronic "find me" on Fido, but once again, RFID (radio frequency identification chips) are showing their vulnerabilities.

Tag Implants May Be Dangerous for Security Apps, Says Group
Because VeriChip’s tag is easily copied, a technologist group claims it is a poor choice for authenticating the bearer’s identity. But VeriChip says its tags should be combined with other authenticators.

An implantable passive RFID tag made by the VeriChip Corp. can be cloned and is, therefore, not an appropriate device for use in building access control, says an article in an upcoming issue of the Journal for American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA). VeriChip’s tag, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for human implantation, consists of a low-frequency inlay enclosed in a rice-sized glass capsule. VeriChip sells it for two different applications: VeriMed, which uses the tag to identify patients and access their medical records in the event of an emergency, and VeriGuard, which utilizes the tags to identify people for the purposes of granting or denying access to buildings and offices.

"I’d suspected for some time that the VeriChip was susceptible to cloning attacks," says Ari Juels, manager and principal research scientist for RSA Laboratories, a provider of digital security products…[more]

Everyone is rushing to get onto the RFID bandwagon…you’ve got the DoD (for cargo seals), the Wal-Mart "consortium" (for consumer goods) and the FDA (for pharmaceuticals)…everyone seems to be wanting to use this, as yet, unrefined technology.  Cloning and vulnerability to computer viruses…what else?  The RF chip in the new e-passport was recently cloned by hackers.  While this does not permit changing my passport into Habib’s, the fact is that it allows Habib and his friends (a fictional character meant to represent a terrorist) to read your passport from a reasonable distance and ID you as an American.

Before the cloning issue, my associates and I were discussing the use of a Verichip to "tag" high value individuals (wealthy family members) who might be vulnerable to kidnapping.  Then we realized the obvious.  What would keep a kidnapper from forcibly (and painfully) removing the chip from the tagged individual?  Au contraire says Verichip…???

Don’t Implant That Chip!

Current Affairs, Opinions, Technology

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Much ballyhooed, but seemingly falling short…the new Transportation Worker Identification Credential (see TWICp FAQs - scroll down) apparently has reader and enrollment problems (oops!, I mean challenges to meet).

A new report published by the GAO highlights the issues, DHS Should Address Key Challenges before Implementing the Transportation Worker Identification Credential Program.

Why the study was done:
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is developing the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) to ensure that only workers that do not pose a terrorist threat are allowed to enter secure areas of transportation facilities. TSA completed TWIC program testing in June 2005 and is moving forward with implementing the program in the maritime sector by the end of this year. To evaluate the status of the TWIC program, GAO examined (1) what problems, if any, were identified during TWIC program testing and what key challenges, if any, do the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and industry stakeholders face in implementing the program; and (2) to what extent, if at all, did TSA experience problems in planning for and overseeing the contract to test the TWIC program. To address these issues, GAO interviewed DHS officials and industry stakeholders, reviewed documentation regarding TWIC testing, and conducted site visits to testing locations.

What GAO Recommends:
GAO recommends that, before implementing TWIC in the maritime sector, TSA develop and test solutions to problems identified during testing to ensure that key components of the program work effectively and strengthen contract planning and oversight practices before awarding the TWIC implementation contract. DHS reviewed a draft of this report and concurred with GAO’s recommendations.

What GAO found:
DHS and industry stakeholders face three major challenges in addressing problems identified during TWIC program testing and ensuring that key components of the TWIC program can work effectively in the maritime sector.

• Enrolling workers and issuing TWIC cards in a timely manner to a significantly larger population of workers than was done during testing of the TWIC program.
• Ensuring that the TWIC technology, such as biometric card readers, works effectively in the maritime sector. TSA has obtained limited information on the use of biometric readers in the maritime sector because most facilities that tested the TWIC program did not use these types of readers.
• Balancing the added security components of the TWIC program with the potential impact that the program could have on the flow of maritime commerce.

An independent contractor’s assessment found deficiencies with TWIC program testing and recommended that additional testing be conducted to determine its effectiveness. TSA has acknowledged that there are challenges to implementing the TWIC program and has taken some actions to address these issues, including allowing more time to consider requirements for installing TWIC access control technologies. However, TSA plans no additional testing of the TWIC program. Rapidly moving forward with implementation of the TWIC program without developing and testing solutions to identified problems to ensure that they work effectively could lead to further problems, increased costs, and program delays without achieving the program’s intended goals.

TSA experienced problems in planning for and overseeing the contract to test the TWIC program. Specifically, TSA made a number of changes to contract requirements after the contract was awarded, contributing to a doubling of contract costs, and TSA did not ensure that all key components of the program were tested. TSA has acknowledged that problems with contractor oversight occurred because the agency did not have sufficient personnel to monitor contractor performance. TSA has taken some actions to address this problem. However, until TSA issues the contract for TWIC implementation and develops its plans for monitoring contractor performance, it is not clear to what extent these actions will ensure that the contract to implement the TWIC program will include comprehensive and clearly defined requirements and that contractor performance will be closely monitored to ensure that the program is implemented successfully and costs are controlled.

OPINION: Aside from the fact that alot of money has been spent on the TWIC program, it is also late in implementation.  Aside from that, there remain questions about the security afforded by the TWIC.  Want to really get confused?  Check out key words FIPS 201, HSPD 12, and Common Access Card (please note that each word of the CAC carries a different link to information) to name a few.  There are other related issues that I am not able to discuss.

Key components of TWIC Program:
According to TSA, the TWIC program, under the proposed rule issued in May 2006, is to consist of key components designed to enhance security (see fig. 1). These include:

• Enrollment: Transportation workers are to be enrolled in the TWIC program at enrollment centers by providing personal information, such as a social security number and address, digital photographs, and fingerprints. Workers who are unable to provide quality fingerprints are to provide an alternate authentication mechanism, such as a digital photograph.
• Background checks: TSA is to conduct background checks on each worker to ensure that individuals do not pose a threat. These are to include several components. First, TSA is to conduct a security threat assessment to make sure that the worker is not listed in any terrorism databases or on a terrorism watch list, such as TSA’s No-fly and selectee list. Second, a Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal history records check is to be conducted to identify if the worker has any disqualifying criminal offenses. Third, workers immigration status is to be checked by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. Workers are to have the opportunity to appeal the results of the background check or request a waiver if they do not pass the check.
• TWIC card production: After TSA determines that a worker has passed the background checks, the agency provides transportation worker information to a federal card production facility where the TWIC card is to be personalized for the worker, manufactured, and then sent back to the enrollment center.
• Card issuance: Transportation workers are to be informed when their cards are ready to be picked up at enrollment centers.
• Privilege granting: TWIC cards are to be activated at enrollment centers and workers will choose a personal identification number. Transportation facility security officials will then grant workers access to secure areas on an individual basis. Workers are to then use their TWIC cards to match the card to the card holder when accessing secure areas through biometric access control systems.
• Card Revocation: Local facilities can download or receive real-time lists of workers deemed to pose a threat or whose cards have been lost or stolen from TSA. Facilities can then remove these workers’ access privileges to secure areas. TWIC cards are to be renewed and background checks repeated every 5 years. Cards will be re-issued to workers if ever lost or stolen.

I won’t go chapter and verse on these issues since I’ve got an interest in the subject.  Here’s what GovExec.com had to say:

A Transportation Security Administration program for issuing port workers secure, biometric-based identification cards is susceptible to more cost overruns and delays, government auditors concluded in a new report…

…A study by an independent contractor last year concluded that the cost for nationwide implementation of TWIC could range from $1.1 billion to almost $2 billion…[more]

Also, in Government Computer News, there is this article:  TWIC pilot falls short in security, technology testing

In addition, GCN posted an article last month that highlighted security flaws in the TWIC:

The Homeland Security Department’s inspector general, Richard Skinner, recently highlighted security flaws in the Transportation Worker Identification Credential program.

The IG released a redacted version of the report, DHS Must Address Significant Security Vulnerabilities Prior To TWIC Implementation [GCN.com, Quickfind 677]. The auditors left extensive blank spaces that obviously describe many TWIC security flaws.

However, the report did note some specific items:
TWIC program officials agreed with the report’s conclusions and described their plans to adopt them.

• TWIC program rules should assign specific duties to individuals with access to TWIC information.
• TWIC does not include a procedure for periodic reviews to assure that recipients haven’t been placed on a “hot list” after receiving the clearance.
• The program lacks a records retention policy. The program’s Privacy Impact Assessment does not include a plan for administrative, technical and physical control of TWIC records.
• The plan of action and milestones is incomplete, and contingency plans haven’t been approved or tested.
• System and database administrators haven’t received proper security awareness training.
• The Transportation Security Administration’s response to the report implied that the auditors had found problems with default security settings and patch management.

The auditors recommended that TWIC program officials work closely with security specialists so they fully understand how severe the security risks are and how to marshal the funds and resources to fix them.

OPINION: Port security anyone?  As with almost any identity card or credential, it all starts with the certainty of the identity at the issuance of the credential.  Consider the role that borth certificates, the ultimate breeder document, play in securing almost any other type of ID card.  Its not a whole lot different for these high security IDs.  And that doesn’t even begin the scratch the surface of whether the card itself is authentic.

Current Affairs, Federal Policy, National Security

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I’m not saying that its bad…but SAIC a very large government contractor just got alot larger.

SAIC Offering Raises $1 Billion - IPO Seen as Vital To Big Acquisitions
…The initial public offering ends a tradition of employee ownership dating to 1969, and for the first time gives the firm’s 43,000 employees — 16,000 of whom live in the Washington area — a public market for company stock. It also entitles them to an immediate windfall: The company said it would distribute a $2.45 billion dividend to all pre-IPO stockholders.

Dahlberg said in an interview yesterday that the decision to go public was made "in order for us to continue to grow…The industry will be consolidating, and we want to be a consolidator…"

They’ve been winning important contracts left and right recently, including one for detecting nuclear materials in our ports.  Now their going to be able to play with the "big boys" (not that they weren’t already).

Current Affairs, National Security, Opinions

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Whether its a physical wall or a virtual wall, a former contestant on The Apprentice made a mockery of border security…brought to us, once again, by my email from the Homeland Security Daily Newswire.

Elephant and mariachi band join forces to shame CBP
In an attempt to shame the federal government into concerted action against illegal immigrants, a Republican candidate for Congress named Raj Peter Bhakta (also known as a contestant on the show The Apprentice) earlier this week organized his own test of CBP’s procedures. Accompanied by a mariachi band, he escorted an elephant across the Rio Grande near Brownsville, Texas. "The elephant never made landfall into Mexico, but I tell you something, he could have made 15 laps back and forth, but no one showed up," Bhakta said. No one, that is, except the media.

The entire article, Running of the Elephants can be found here.

The candidate, Mr. Bhakta was also quoted as saying, “If I can get an elephant led by a mariachi band into this country, I think Osama bin Laden could get across with all the weapons of mass destruction he could get into this country,” Bhakta said.

The mariachi band was not immediately available for comment.

If this wasn’t so sad, it would be hilarious.

Current Affairs, National Security, Opinions

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A few months back I posted Virtual Border Watch Program that detailed Governor Rick Perry’s concept of a virtual border protection scheme.  Was it electioneering or real?  It looks like its a real plan, but its still not online.

Thanks (again) to my Homeland Security Daily Newswire email, we now have this:

Texas virtual surveillance plan is delayed
A much-touted plan — some had the audacity to call it a political ploy — by Texas Governor Rick Perry to install a virtual surveillance system along the Mexican border has yet to launch, but new details are available about the contracting process…When they spotted an illegal immigrant, they would call an 800 number and report the sighting. "I look at this as not different from the neighborhood watches we have had in our communities for years and years," Perry said, as he carved out $5 million for the project, with most of the money to go to purchase new night-vision cameras and networking technologies to connect them.

Although Perry had hoped to get the system up and running in July, the technical problems have proved more difficult than first imagined. Much of the border lies across open ranges, making it difficult to secure reliable radio signals, and the governor’s office now believes it will have to contract with at least four different companies to resolve the project’s technological and infrastructure requirements. The state is currently reviewing an ongoing demonstration period and expects to publish an official request for proposals shortly, perhaps as early as this week.

The complete article, Border cameras running, but not online adds:

"We have to make sure these things are secure and that they can handle the tremendous amount of hits we know we’ll have through the servers. You’re going to get millions of people on it," Perry’s campaign spokesman Robert Black said Monday.

"It’s better to be good than early," McCraw said. "Anybody can put up a camera, but can it be supported and sustained and does it work and does it meet technical requirements."

He said one of the stickiest challenges was how to provide the best signals in rural and open range areas.

McCraw said 15 surveillance cameras are operating, but the images are available only to law enforcement and landowners where cameras are located. He said the state is wrapping up a free demonstration period and could request proposals from technology companies as soon as this week...[more]

We’ll all be watching this one, even after the election.  Its likely that Governor Perry will win re-election next month, but I wonder what would happen to this plan if someone else defeats him.

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Now, I realize that some people will have trouble simply pronouncing the word, but…

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1) - Cite This Source
chutz‧pa  /ˈxʊtspə, ˈhʊt-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[khoot-spuh, hoot-]

Just who the hell do they think they are?  Did you miss it yesterday when it was announced that the Mexican government was considering appealing to the United Nations to protest the building of the Border Wall?  You’ve got it!  The Mexicans are thinking of going to the United Nations to get us to not protect our border!

Mexico hopes to take fence dispute to U.N.!
Mexico may take fence dispute to U.N.

This all comes under the heading of, "I cannot effin’ believe this!"

Current Affairs, International Issues, National Security, Opinions

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I have supported the creation of a wall along the border for national security reasons…to stem the tide of illegal aliens sneaking into this country and to help reduce the flow of narcotics…whether the wall was physical or virtual.  Some believe that a virtual wall, with sensors and cameras might well be more effective than the creation of the wall (or is it more appropriately called a metal fence as pictured in some reports recently?).   As I learn more about the application of existing technologies, my opinion begins to shift toward using sensors, laser detectors and cameras without actually erecting the metal fence.  But even that approach would not address the issue of this post.

This week I became aware of a problem created by the Border Wall as authorized by recent Senate action.

By treaty, Native American tribes are sovereign nations.   Many have lived and occupied lands since before there was a United States of America.

Border Fence to Divide Three Native American Nations

• Three Native American nations and 23 tribes live in the borderlands between the United States and Mexico.

• “The land is the place God put us from time immemorial. I can’t imagine that now it will be difficult to visit my family,” because of the construction of the fence, said Louis Gussac, chief of the Koumeyaay nation located on both sides of the California border.

• O’odham, Cocopah and Kickapoo are the three Native American nations that will see their culture and land divided by a fence that is at least five feet tall and, according to Congress, is expected to be completed in May 2008.

• “The territory of this reservation will be permanently divided by the hand of man,” said anthropologist and Kickapoo expert Rebeca Brush.

Throughout history, the Kickapoo have had to change their traditions. In the 17th century, they lived in the Great Lakes region.

A century later they were displaced to Kansas and Texas.

I don’t know how this issue will be resolved.  Its one thing for Mexico or Peru (why does Peru have an opinion on this?) to object to the "wall."  I believe that it is an entriely different subject when it comes to Native Americans.

An article in the Washington Post, New Wall Not Expected to Stop Migrants argues that with or without the fencing, "No amount of border security will stop illegal immigration; the reality is that roughly half the estimated 12 million undocumented foreigners in the United States entered on bona fide visas and stayed after they expired."

I agree.  And yet, the problem of border security is one that needs to be addressed.  One thing is important to remember though.  As John Cornyn, Senator from Texas said, “It’s one thing to authorize. It’s another thing to actually appropriate the money and do it.”

He also noted that while Congress approved 700 miles of fencing along the Mexican border, the $1.2 billion allocated for its construction is nowhere near the amount such a project actually needs. Cornyn promises the full fence probably will never be funded.

Current Affairs, Federal Policy, International Issues, National Security, Opinions

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