Cyber Attacks On Government Networks On The Rise

Cyber Attacks On Government Networks On The Rise

Experts say cyber-attacks will continue to increase as new technologies and access to mobile devices and social networking sites expands. According to the annual report on federal cyber security efforts by the Office of Management Budget, indicates that cyber attacks against the federal government increased almost 40 % last year.

Points to Consider:
The Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), which is tasked with defending the dot-Gov domain and sharing information with industry and local governments noted that, federal agencies suffered 41,776 cyber attacks in 2010, up from 30,000 the previous year.  Of the attacks reported last year, 12,864 (31 %) were classified as malicious code. Another 11,336 (27 %) are under investigation or labeled as "other," and unauthorized access, denial of service, improper usage or Scans probes and attempted access made up the remaining incidents. Be aware that Nation-states are increasingly employing cyber warfare to attack other states or entities, either solely in the cyber domain or as part of a full-spectrum military maneuver. Consider the potential that entities that may be inferior to the U.S. militarily may have identified America's cyber vulnerabilities and exploit them t o attack high value targets for example: shutting down the country’s power stations, telecommunications and aviation systems, or freeze the financial markets. Additionally officials theorize that terrorist groups and organized crime syndicates are increasingly resorting to cybercrime to finance their activities. According to counter terrorism experts various up to date manuals have been found on radical jihadist websites, explaining how to launch cyber attacks including making e-bombs, creating viruses, and how to use encryption techniques.

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First Cameras on I-95 Spark Controversy

RIDGELAND, S.C. --

As Interstate 95 sweeps past this small town along South Carolina's coastal plain, motorists encounter cameras that catch speeding cars, the only such devices on the open interstate for almost 2,000 miles from Canada to Miami.

The cameras have nabbed thousands of motorists, won accolades from highway safety advocates, attracted heated opposition from state lawmakers and sparked a federal court challenge.

Ridgeland Mayor Gary Hodges said the cameras in his town about 20 miles north of the Georgia line do what they are designed to do: slow people down, reduce accidents and, most importantly, save lives.

But lawmakers who want to unplug them argue the system is just a money-maker and amounts to unconstitutional selective law enforcement.

"We're absolutely shutting it down," said state Sen. Larry Grooms, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.

Earlier this month, Ridgeland Police Officer David Swinehamer sat in a van beneath an overpass as a radar gun in a thicket of electronic equipment outside clocked passing vehicles: 60, 72, 73, 67.

Then a Mercedes with South Carolina tags sped by going 83 - 13 mph over the speed limit. A camera fired and pictures of the tag and driver appeared on a monitor in the van. The unaware motorist continued north, but could expect a $133 ticket in the mail in a couple of weeks.

"I just don't think it's right," said James Gain of Kissimmee, Fla., one of the lawsuit plaintiffs who got a ticket last year while driving between his home and Greensboro, N.C. "If you get a ticket you should be stopped by an officer, know you have been stopped and have an opportunity to state your case."

Gain paid the fine, saying it was less expensive than driving six hours back to Ridgeland for court.

Motorists do get a warning. As they enter town, a blue and white sign says they are entering an area with "Photo-Radar Assisted Speed Enforcement."

Speed cameras are used in 14 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The only other place with a camera on I-95 is in a Maryland work zone.

The cameras have sparked controversy in other places around the nation as well.

Last year, Arizona ended a two-year program with cameras on Phoenix-area expressways and other roads, in part because of perceptions they were being used to raise revenue.

But Cedar Rapids, Iowa, began using cameras last summer on busy I-380. Police there said during the first month of operation, violations dropped 62 percent.

Hodges said since Ridgeland, working with iTraffic Safety, became the first community in South Carolina to deploy cameras in August, motorists are also driving slower along the 7 miles of I-95 passing through the town limits.

From January to July of 2010, there were 55 crashes and four fatalities. From August through the end of last month, there were 38 crashes and no deaths. And since the cameras started operating until last month, there has been almost a 50 percent drop in the number of motorists driving 81 or more.

"You can't argue with the results and the only reason you would be upset is because you are speeding," said Tom Crosby, a spokesman for AAA Carolinas. "All it's doing is enforcing the law and even then you have to be doing over 80 to get a ticket."

Police use driver's license photos or physical descriptions from licenses such as a driver's hair, eye color and weight to identify the motorist. No ticket is issued if there is any question about the driver's identity.

Grooms, the legislator, said since not all speeders are ticketed, it's selective enforcement. He added that while the system may issue a ticket, it doesn't get violators off the road.

"You are driving down the road at 100 mph or you are driving down the road drunk. The camera takes your picture and three weeks later you get a ticket in the mail. There is no element of public safety," he said.

Grooms said the cameras are only a money-maker for the town. Hodges discounts that, saying the town just wants to recover the cost of police and ambulance service for millions of motorists passing through. Two-thirds of ticket money goes to the state, he said.

The town has about $20,000 invested in the van. The contractor, iTraffic Safety, pays the other costs in return for a share of ticket revenue.

While state law prohibits issuing tickets solely on photographic evidence, the mayor said that doesn't apply in Ridgeland because an officer is also there to see the speeder from the van.

But the state Senate, in a 40-0 vote, recently gave approval to changing that and banning speeding tickets from photographs whether the camera is attended or not. The law would also require tickets to be handed directly to a motorist.

The federal lawsuit contends it's unconstitutional to send motorists tickets by mail and to addresses outside town limits.

Ridgeland is one of almost 90 jurisdictions nationwide using cameras to nab speeders and "to our knowledge, every single one of them mails the tickets," Hodges said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration calls speed cameras "a very effective countermeasure" to crashes but said they should supplement, not replace, officers patrolling. Ridgeland still uses officers on the interstate.

Hodges is not surprised by opposition to the cameras, particularly with South Carolina's history of motorists' rights. South Carolina was one of the last states to enact a .08 blood-alcohol level for drunken driving and took a long time to pass a primary seatbelt law.

"We went through similar things when breathalyzers came out. We went through similar things when radar guns came out," Hodges said. "It's the same type of mentality."

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Earthquake Magnitude Facts

Earthquake Magnitude Facts

9.0 - Causes complete devastation and large-scale loss of life.
8.0 - Very few structures are able to withstand. Underground pipes burst. Large rocks move. Smaller objects are tossed into the air. The earth swallows up some objects.
7.0 – Severe shaking, the ground cracks. Roads shake. Weak buildings fall down. Other buildings are badly damaged.
6.0 - Pictures can fall off walls. Furniture moves. In some buildings, walls may crack.
5.0 - Cars may rock. Glasses and dishes may rattle. Windows may break.

There are about five hundred thousand detectable earthquakes globally every year. While a ten thousand of these can be felt, only a hundred can cause serious damage. These quakes are one of the most dangerous of natural calamities. An earthquake occurs due to the strain put on the ground by the tectonic plates when they get stuck. When this strain increases, the rocks give way and this results in an occurrence of fault lines. The earthquake results in the sudden release of the stored energy in the Earth's crust. This creates seismic waves and results in the shaking or a displacement of the ground. Earthquakes can cause shaking and ground rupture, fires, soil liquefaction, landslides and avalanches and tsunamis.

Further, earthquakes can also cause loss of life, disease, loss of basic amenities, property damage, as well as road and bridge damage, building collapses or the destabilization of the base of the building. Therefore, earthquakes result in personal as well as economic losses.  

Steps to consider for an effective emergency response:

• Gather relevant facts about the incident
• Make emergency management decisions (activate appropriate systems)
• Ascertain what resources are needed and available
• Determine security needs and measures
• Release public information

Source publically available information located on the internet. For more visit our website at www.cdpinfo.com

Thousands Of Guns Found Missing

According to a report by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), since 2008 more than 62,000 guns disappeared from U.S. firearm dealers without any record of being sold.


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Experts say, the weapons were likely stolen or sold under the table or on the black market, circumventing established registration procedures and background checks, which leaves no a record of purchase, making the weapons hard to trace.
 
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Feds waste $15.4B annually looking for database info

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Most-wanted terrorist lists missing most wanted

Anwar Awlaki, the Yemen-based American Imam inciting Muslims to attack America, has been described by U.S. security officials as "terrorist number one" and as "the most significant risk to the U.S. homeland"; he is the first U.S. citizen ever placed on the CIA targeted killing list; yet, Awlaki remains inconspicuously omitted from federal most-wanted lists -- and in January 2010, customs agents had Awlaki in custody at JFK International Airport in New York on an arrest warrant for passport fraud; according to classified immigration records, JFK agents were advised to release the detainee because the warrant had mysteriously "been pulled back" the day before; inquiring minds want to know what gives

In custody, a warrant "pulled" // Source: sudanforum.net

Appearing before Congress last week, National Counterterrorism Center Director, Michael Leiter, warned that Anwar Awlaki, the Yemeni lecturer credited with turning the Web into a tool for extremist indoctrination, is America’s new top terrorist threat. Despite being the first U.S. citizen ever placed on the CIA targeted killing list, the al Qaeda cleric has managed to elude the State Department’s Reward for Justice and FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists lists. No reward is being offered for his capture, either.

Born in New Mexico in 1971, and having served as an imam in California and Virginia, Awlaki has been linked to Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the U.S. Army psychiatrist accused of killing thirteen people at Fort Hood, Texas, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man who attempted to detonate a bomb on a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas, two of the 9/11 hijackers, and Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American man accused of rigging a car parked in Times Square with explosives.

Shahzad claimed that he had been inspired by the rhetoric of Awlaki’s sermons which encouraged every able Muslim to take arms against America, and to do so “without hesitation.”

In April 2010, the U.S. National Security Council (NSC) gave their consent to making Awlaki the first U.S. citizen ever placed on the CIA’s target list. Despite being called “terrorist number one” by Representative Jane Harman, (D-California) and National Counterterrorism Center Director, Michael Leiter, who said “”I actually consider al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, with Awlaki as a leader within that organization, probably the most significant risk to the U.S. homeland,” Awlaki remains inconspicuously omitted from federal most wanted lists.

The U.S. Department of State’s Counter-Terrorism Rewards for Justice program (RFJ) was established by the 1984 Act to Combat International Terrorism. Administered by the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, the RFJ aims to bring international terrorists to justice by encouraging the reporting of key information to prevent acts of terrorism, find their location, or disrupts their mode of financing.

Rewards range from under $1 million to $25 million, the current price on Osama bin Laden’s head, although the program also pays rewards “in cases where there is no prior reward offer, in appropriate circumstances.” The Web site contains the profiles of forty-three terrorists, while the FBI’s most wanted terrorist list features twenty-nine alleged terrorists that have been indicted by sitting Federal Grand Juries, yet neither mentions Awlaki.

In an effort during the Bush administration to obstruct terrorist funding, the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) was used by the Treasury to freeze Awlaki’s assets. Progress made by Washington on disrupting Awlaki is being stymied by the reluctance of the FBI and State to advertise how at one point following 9/11, agents released him despite his private meeting with the hijackers, who followed him from a mosque in San Diego to a mosque outside Washington, not far from the Pentagon they attacked.

A year later, January 2010, customs agents had Awlaki in custody at JFK International Airport in New York on an arrest warrant for passport fraud. According to classified immigration records, JFK agents were advised to release the detainee because the warrant had mysteriously “been pulled back” the day before.

“We were stunned” that he was let go, said Ray Fournier, a federal agent who has been tracking Awlaki as part of a joint terrorism task force. “He was a high-value target. Everybody was excited about the prospect of hooking this guy up under a [criminal] charge to motivate a conversation with him regarding his relationship with the [9/11] hijackers.”

When asked to comment on the CIA’s secretive targeted killing list, CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said that it is “remarkably foolish in a war of this kind to discuss publicly procedures used to identify the enemy, an enemy who wears no uniform and relies heavily on stealth and deception.”

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Officials Warn Of Chemical Purchases

 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Denver field office recently appealed to the region’s farm supply stores, asking employees to be aware of anyone who might be acting in a way that could indicate potential terrorist activity, saying “Current trends in terrorist bombings show that fertilizer-based explosives are continuing as a threat throughout the world.”

Points to Consider:

The FBI’s stated that: “Ammonium nitrate and urea-based fertilizers pose an explosive threat if prepared and initiated properly, and that certain pesticides can be used to cause widespread harm to people.” Consider that ammonium nitrate-fuel oil (ANFO) mixtures are a favorite of car and truck bombers, and was the explosive used in the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, and the 2005 bombing of rush-hour London buses and trains. Additionally, in 2006 Canadian authorities arrested 17 terror suspects, charging them with a plot to use ammonium nitrate in a bombing campaign in Toronto.

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