OSC Guardian - Safety Advice

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 04:39:00 +0000

Before your laptop is stolen, take preventive measures by adding tracking software. Visit these sites for information: www.sentryinc.com and www. computrace.com.

The Real Price of Virtual Kidnappings

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:46:00 +0000

This is very interesting and has the possibility of becoming a real threat herein the US.

By Matthew Harwood
A man travels to Mexico on business. During his trip, his wife receives a call from her husband’s cell phone. Upon answering, she hears screaming. Then the voice of a stranger comes onto the phone, saying the screams were those of her husband, whom he has kidnapped. He demands a money transfer of $1,000 within five hours, adding that if he doesn’t get the payment, he will kill her husband. A few expletives are thrown in for emphasis.

Read More

There are ways to avoid being the victim of a virtual kidnapping scheme, say experts. One of the first and most important steps is to practice good cell-phone hygiene. Jaime Garcia, security manager for Mexico and Texas for the automotive parts maker Delphi, advises employees to go through their cell phones and eliminate any generic names.

“There should be no ‘home,’ ‘office,’ ‘babe,’ ‘honey,’ whatever,” he says. That way, a virtual kidnapper can’t just steal a phone and hit one of those contacts to make the ransom call. Garcia suggests that travelers clear their calling history daily so that a thief won’t be able to guess by the frequency of calls that a particular number is a loved one or an employer.

He also advises employees with the ability to password protect their cell phone or smartphone to do so. Virtual kidnappers can’t access phone numbers or personal information if they can’t get at it. And they need that type of information to carry out their scheme.

GAO Assesses Physical Security at General Aviation Airports

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:09:00 +0000

By Matthew Harwood

06/21/2011 -
Lack of standardized physical security measures at general aviation airports across the country could allow intruders to commandeer planes, presenting a terrorism risk, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released yesterday (.pdf).
The GAO visited 13 general aviation airports--three of which also serviced commercial flights--and assessed how the airports' security measures prevent unauthorized access to the airport and its planes. Unlike commercial airports, general aviation airports are not required to implement a broad range of standardized physical security measures by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Rather TSA has provided general aviation airport operators voluntary security guidelines, but many operators have not bolstered physical security because of scarce resources.
During the GAO's assessment, its investigators did find that 12 of the 13 airports had perimeter protection. But half of those with some type of perimeter protection had fencing too close to impediments like greenery. "[A]t 6 of the airports fencing was partially bordered by bushes or trees or located next to a parking lot, which can obstruct surveillance or allow someone to scale or topple the fence," the GAO reports.
None of the ten exclusively general aviation airports had perimeter lighting, which the report says provides a real and psychological deterrent to intruders. Officials at some of those airports told the GAO that they didn't need perimeter lighting because street lights provided enough illumination. All 13 airports visited, however, did have lighting around hangars.
The ten general aviation airports also monitored for intrusions differently, generally preferring CCTV and on-site law enforcement or private security guards to integrated intrusion detection systems. (For a breakdown of the security measures at the airports, see the chart on the next page.)
"The results of our assessment are meant to illustrate the variation in physical security conditions at the selected airports," the GAO report explains. "Since TSA does not require the implementation of security measures for airports with only general aviation operations, our assessments are not meant to imply that any of the 13 airports we visited have failed to implement required security measures."
Three general aviation airports admitted that they have had instances of intruders gaining access to the airport. One airport reported that it had two planes removed or stolen from the airport without approval. The stolen airplane was recovered in Mexico.

The GAO letter to Congress accompanying the report notes that small airplanes taking off from general aviation airports do present a homeland security threat. The report points to Joseph Stack's February 2010 terrorist attack, in which he crashed a single-engine plane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas. Stack's suicide attack killed one IRS employee and injured many others.
Congress's watchdog also reminds members of Congress that larger airplanes taking off from general aviation airports present a 9-11-style threat as well. "Larger aircraft, such as midsized and larger business jets, could cause catastrophic damage to structures and pose a greater risk if they are located near major metropolitan areas."
More than 200,000 aircraft--both large and small--operate at more than 19,000 general aviation facilities within the United States. General aviation is any aircraft that does not have a commercial, such as cargo and passenger planes, or military purpose. Most aircraft are owned by private individuals or businesses and operate "on demand," meaning their flights are rarely scheduled.
In response to the report, the Department of Homeland Security agreed with the GAO report but stressed that general aviation operators do not have the money to improve their security posture.
"TSA would also like to note that while most airports would readily implement the security measures recommended by TSA, they are unable to put additional security measures in place primarily because of a lack of funding," wrote DHS's Jim H. Crumpacker, director of the Departmental GAO/OIG Liaison Office.

NYC Hotel to Buy 'Panic Buttons' for Housekeepers

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:43:00 +0000

Associated Press (06/01/11)

New York City's Pierre Hotel is promising to purchase "panic buttons" for its staff and begin sexual harassment training for all employees following the alleged sexual assault of a housekeeper on May 29. According to authorities, Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar, a businessman and the former chairman of a large Egyptian bank, locked the housekeeper in a room at the hotel and sexually assaulted her. Omar has denied the charges against him. As a result of the alleged attack, housekeepers at The Pierre Hotel will now be given wireless devices to alert hotel management if they are assaulted. New York City's Sofitel Hotel, which was the scene of last month's alleged sexual assault of a housekeeper by former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has also promised to issue the devices to its housekeepers. In addition, the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council has said that it will push for the devices in its contract negotiations with 150 hotels in 2012. However, hotel security expert Anthony Roman said that panic buttons are not a panacea and that they come with their own set of complications. Roman said the devices must be small and inconspicuous so the attacker cannot remove them easily. They must also have a locating feature that works indoors so that security can find an employee in distress.

Cyber Attacks Deemed an Act of War

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 14:24:00 +0000

The Pentagon for the first time has declared that cyber attacks originating in other countries are an act of war, which clears the path for a military response, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In part, the Pentagon intends its plan as a warning to potential adversaries of the consequences of attacking the U.S. in this way. "If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks," said a military official.
Recent attacks on the Pentagon's own systems—as well as the sabotaging of Iran's nuclear program via the Stuxnet computer worm—have given new urgency to U.S. efforts to develop a more formalized approach to cyber attacks. A key moment occurred in 2008, when at least one U.S. military computer system was penetrated. This weekend Lockheed Martin, a major military contractor, acknowledged that it had been the victim of an infiltration, while playing down its impact.

The categorization will come as a part of the Pentagon's first formal cyber strategy. The Journal reports that the unclassified segments of this document will become available next month.
There are some questions that the article brings up, such as the difficulties of determining the origin of a cyber attack, and how it will be determined that an attack is extensive enough to warrant action.
According to the Journal, "The move to formalize the Pentagon's thinking was borne of the military's realization the U.S. has been slow to build up defenses against these kinds of attacks, even as civilian and military infrastructure has grown more dependent on the Internet."
The United States is not merely a victim of computer attacks; there is also speculation the the U.S. assisted in developing Stuxnet, which attacked some of Iran's nuclear facilities.

The thin Blue Line suffered more losses in 2010 than 2009.

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:07:00 +0000

The FBI releases its statistics for police officers feloniously killed in the line of duty last year. "According to preliminary statistics released today by the FBI, 56 of our nation’s law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty during 2010," according to the press release. "By region, 22 victims were killed in the South, 18 in the West, 10 in the Midwest, three in the Northeast, and three in Puerto Rico. The total number of officers feloniously killed in 2010 was eight more than the 48 officers slain in 2009."

Are we getting our moneys worth from Homeland Security?

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:04:00 +0000

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security spend too much of their time answering to too many congressional committees. "The department, cobbled together quickly out of 22 other agencies after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, answers to 108 congressional committees, subcommittees, caucuses and the like, about four times as many as the departments of State and Justice combined," reports the Associated Press. "Officials and staff spent about 66 work years responding to questions from Congress in 2009 alone. That same year, Homeland Security officials say they answered 11,680 letters, gave 2,058 briefings and sent 232 witnesses to 166 hearings. All this at a cost to taxpayers of about $10 million."

New Security Enhancements at Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Mon, 16 May 2011 20:05:00 +0000

Facebook announced several security enhancements last week including a new two-factor authentication system and a partnership with a service that can help users avoid clicking on risky or malicious links.
With the optional new Login Approvals service, users will be required to enter an additional code, sent to them via text message, when logging in from a new or unrecognized computer or device. Once the code is entered, users then have the option to save the device to their account so that it no longer requires additional authentication, according to a Facebook blog announcing the new measures.
Users will also see when attempts have been made to access their account from an unrecognized device, but no code was entered, according to the post. If users don’t recognize the login attempt, they’ll be able to change their password “with the knowledge that while someone else may have known [the] login credentials, he or she was unable to access your account.” Login Approvals can be enabled through the “Account Security” section of the account settings page, according to the post.
One aim of the new service was to balance security and usability, according to a separate Facebook blog post. Two-factor authentication sometimes requires users to download applications or to purchase physical tokens, it states. “These are good approaches, and we're considering incorporating them in the future, but they require a lot from the user before being able to turn on the feature. To have the biggest impact and provide this added security to the most people, we decided on SMS.”
Facebook also announced a partnership with Web of Trust (WOT), which ranks Web sites based on feedback provided by WOT community members. The tool, which contains rankings of millions of sites, can help reduce the risk of phishing, spam, scams, and other threats, according to the Facebook post announcing the security enhancements.
Facebook already has a system that automatically scans links to determine whether the Web sites associated with the links are “spammy” or contain malware, according to the post. In the coming months, the company will “increase [its] coverage even more by working with other industry leaders.”

Lone Wold Terrorists threat to US.

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Wed, 11 May 2011 15:25:00 +0000

♦ A joint U.S. Department of Homeland Security/FBI bulletin sent to state and local law enforcement agencies says that lone individuals who favor al-Qaida's extremest ideology are most likely to attack inside the United states in the short-term. The bulletin warns that these individuals are "unburdened by organizational constraints that can slow operational decisions by established terrorist groups," says CNN. The bulletin asks local law enforcement to be especially watchful for suspicious activity.
♦ A new report from the Institute for Homeland Security Solutions at RTI International reveals that while it may be the lone wolves who are most likely to attack, it's the average Joes who are most likely to stop them. Researchers from the Institute for Homeland Security Solutions and the RAND Corporation analyzed 68 potential cases of terrorism in the United States from 1999 to 2009.The findings included that "the general public helped foil nearly a third of those attacks, largely by tipping off law enforcement officers. The tips were of a substantial nature; people noticed genuinely threatening actions that many citizens would not see."

Americans’ security concerns rose again this year.

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Mon, 09 May 2011 13:40:00 +0000

Americans’ security concerns rose again this year with fears over terrorism and identity theft topping the list. In the U.S. Unisys Security Index, anxiety over security was at its highest level since the survey began in 2007. National security is the main worry with two-thirds of Americans seriously concerned over war and terrorism. However, the safety of infrastructure is also an issue. Approximately 59 percent of those surveyed were seriously concerned about the bridges, power plants, and pipelines.

Possible Implications Regarding the Death of Usama Bin Ladin

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Mon, 02 May 2011 19:10:00 +0000

The following information is being provided to you by the Department of Homeland Security in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Intelligence Community (IC) assesses the death of al-Qa‘ida leader Usama Bin Ladin could result in retaliatory attacks in the Homeland and against US and Western interests overseas. Attacks might originate with al-Qa‘ida Core elements in the tribal areas of Pakistan, with one of their affiliates overseas, and/or with individuals in the homeland sympathetic to the cause but lacking a formal group association. We have no indications of advanced al-Qa‘ida Core plotting efforts in the Homeland, but the case of now-detained al-
Qa‘ida operative Najibullah Zazi—who, along with two associates, planned to attack the New York City subway in 2009 using homemade explosives—demonstrates that unidentified operatives could advance plotting in the homeland.

We have no indications of advanced al-Qa‘ida Core plotting efforts in the Homeland, but the case of now-detained al-Qa‘ida operative Najibullah Zazi—who, along with two associates, planned to attack the New York City subway in 2009 using homemade explosives— demonstrates that unidentified operatives could advance plotting in the homeland. Bin Ladin’s death may provide justification for radicalized individuals in the United States to rapidly mobilize for attacks here. Although soft targets will—as they have in the past—remain attractive to homegrown extremist, official targets such as government installations, military personnel and facilities, and senior government officials may gain greater prominence.

Overseas, the strongest reaction is expected to be in South Asia but will likely occur to differing degrees worldwide, including Europe. Other high-risk regions include those where al-Qa‘ida’s affiliates and allies have operational strongholds, including the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Bin Laden dead, but attacks may increase.

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:41:00 +0000

Osama Bin Laden’s death will not signal the end of al Qaeda attacks and might create tensions between the United States and Pakistan. These are just two of the predictions surfacing after Bin Laden’s death at the hand of U.S. troops in Pakistan. Reuters journalists suggest that al Qaeda members are vowing retaliation for Bin Laden’s death on Internet forums—a main way that radical Islamists communicate, according to the article. A story in the New York Times suggests that U.S.-Pakistani relations may deteriorate in light of the fact that Bin Laden was discovered in Pakistan in a city that also houses Pakistani troops.

High Death Toll for Americans in Mexico

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 17:56:00 +0000

By Laura Spadanuta

04/28/2011 -
A record number of United States citizens were killed in Mexico last year, according to the State Department.
There were 111 American murders in Mexico last year, and many of them were on or along the Texas border. A reported 80 percent of the murders took place in border states with high narcotics violence. There were 39 murders in notorious Ciudad Juarez alone. The travel warning states that there is no indication that American tourists are being targeted.
According to The Houston Chronicle:

The number of U.S. victims last year was more than triple the toll in 2007. Over a four-year period, 283 Americans were reported murdered, according to State Department figures.

In the same lapse, more than 35,000 Mexicans have been killed, including about 15,000 last year. The Mexican government says most were gangsters. But hundreds of innocent civilians also have been killed.

"Bystanders, including U.S. citizens, have been injured or killed in violent incidents in various parts of the country, especially, but not exclusively in the northern border region, demonstrating the heightened risk of violence throughout Mexico," the latest State Department travel warning observes.

The travel warning expands on prior warnings and advises U.S. citizens to avoid non-essential travel to numerous Mexican states as well as Northern Baja, California. The advisory emphasizes threats in border states and also spotlights some other regions that may be unsafe.

Homicides are 3rd leading cause of death in workplace.

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:05:00 +0000

The recently-released 2011 Workplace Violence Fact Sheet shows that workplace homicides are the third leading cause of death at workplaces. The fact sheet noted that there are an average of 590 workplace homicides each year, meaning that more than 5,900 people have been killed while at work over the past 10 years. Those numbers do not include attempted workplace murders or suicides that happen at work, said Barry Nixon, the founder and executive director of the National Institute for the Prevention of Workplace Violence. Nixon added that the number of incidents of workplace violence appears to be on the decline, thanks in part to decisions by the government and a number of organizations to boost funding for security. In addition, Nixon noted that companies seem to be learning that preventing acts of workplace violence is better than simply reacting to such incidents, as more companies are asking his organization with help in developing preventative and proactive programs. Nixon said that there is more that companies can do to prevent acts of workplace violence, including engaging in regular and direct communications with employees about their role in preventing workplace violence, and training supervisors to properly handle employee concerns about the potential for violence.

Possible Domestic Terrorism in Colorado.

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:12:00 +0000

Federal and local law enforcement are looking for a male "person of interest" caught on surveillance video inside a Littleton, Colorado, mall after two bombs were discovered Wednesday, the anniversary of the Columbine massacre. "The surveillance video shows a white man with gray hair and a mustache, wearing a dark cap with a light-colored logo on the front. His shirt was horizontally striped gray and white, and he wore a dark jacket with silver buttons, jeans and dark shoes, the FBI said," reports The Denver Post. "The FBI earlier characterized the incident as possible domestic terrorism and said a suspect could face federal charges."

New Homeland Security Threat System starts!

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 18:26:00 +0000

Today the Department of Homeland Security retires the old color-coded terrorism threat system and replaces it with the National Terrorism Advisory System. "The new alerts will include a clear statement that there is an 'Imminent Threat' or 'Elevated Threat' along with clear and concise information about the threat," reports ABC News. "Imminent warns of a credible, specific and impending terrorist threat against the United States. Elevated is defined as a credible terrorist threat against the United States. The public will be informed of what the government is doing to mitigate the threat and what it can do deal with the threat.

Practice your family's fire escape plan every few months - it can save your child's life if a home fire occurs:

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 16:39:00 +0000

Make an escape plan with your family and agree on a common meeting place outside; practice a home fire drill on a regular basis. Test your smoke alarm batteries every month and change them at least once a year.

Be Prepared

Keep your family safe, by installing a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm on every level of your home and inside and outside sleeping areas. In at least 23 percent of all fatal residential fires, no smoke alarms were present.
Test smoke alarm batteries every month and change them at least once a year.
Make an escape plan with your family and agree on a common meeting place outside; practice a home fire drill on a regular basis.
If there is a fire, call 911 once you are safely outside.
Families can further reduce their risk of injury or death by also installing residential sprinkler systems.
Practice safe fire behaviors and know what to do in an emergency to give your family extra seconds to escape.

Lable Mexican Cartels as Terrorist Organizations?

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 16:07:00 +0000

The Dallas Morning News heaps praise on U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul's (R-TX) call to label Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations. "It’s time to take the gloves off and stop treating these cartels as Mexican versions of the neighbourhood pusher. These gangs have murdered 35,000 people since 2006 — more than 10 times the number killed in the 9/11 attacks. That’s terrorism," the paper's editorial page declares. "By labeling cartel members as the terrorists they are, American law enforcers gain significant extra powers, and penalties are boosted for anyone who directly aids and abets the criminals. Money launderers and gun smugglers, for example, could face life terms in prison and fines of up to $50,000 per violation."

What Employers Need To Know About Workplace Bullying

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 16:03:00 +0000

National Underwriter P&C April 11, 2011 By Susanne Sclafane, PropertyCasualty360.com“Status-blind harassment”—more commonly known as workplace bullying—is a growing concern to employers and their employment practices liability insurers. But while the costs of having bullies in the workplace are clear, appropriate steps to recognize and rein in the problem aren’t always obvious.
Experts use the term “status-blind” or “equal-opportunity harassment” to distinguish workplace bullying from harassment targeted at classes of workers protected under federal and state statutes.
“It’s the boss who abuses his or her power not because someone is a woman over the age of 40 or Hispanic, but rather because the boss wants to bully and is a bully—and anyone who gets in the way is going to be a victim of that bullying, says Gerald Maatman Jr., a partner of Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago.
While there are currently no statutes outlawing bullying, lawyers and EPLI experts note that at least 10 states are considering legislative proposals to do just that. Even in the absence of anti-bullying statutes, however, the experts say there are other consequences to consider, such as employee turnover and sick days.
Highlighting serious ramifications, Adeola Adele, EPLI product leader for Marsh’s FINPRO group in New York, says, “Workplace violence starts with bullying.” She cites a case where an individual shot his co-workers. “The back-story was that he was bullied at work, and no one listened.”
Aon Hewitt’s Adler says training managers “to be good at mitigating the risk of bullying does not just involve focusing on the bully’s behavior, but really [means] carefully gauging the emotional state of all their employees to get a sense of whether they are victims.”
More generally, he explains that risk mitigation in this area really involves two components: pre-hire assessment and performance management.
“There are things that can be done to assess perspective employees for the tendency to express anger, to be aggressive, to show excitability—all factors that can lead to bullying.”
What if bullying tendencies are revealed during the hiring process?
“It would be perfectly legitimate in my view not to hire somebody who poses a reasonable risk,” Adler says, noting that he speaks from the perspective of an organizational psychologist, not a lawyer. “Bullying can result in lawsuits, loss of talent, creating a hostile environment for employees that would cause them to leave,” he says.
What do you do if somebody is a reasonable risk and they’re already on board, or because of their talents you want to hire them?
• First, companies need to have clear policy statements, conveying clear expectations that bullying is not tolerated and there will be consequences.
• Second, managers need to be trained to recognize signs of bullying and to be responsive in taking action so they’re not contributing inadvertently to creating a hostile work environment.
Recognizing behaviors related to bullying has two sides to it—recognizing the behavior of the bully, and paying attention to the emotional states and behaviors of potential or actual victims, Adler says. He cites findings of a Canadian research study published last year in a leading psychology journal showing that bullying is more likely to impact a victim’s work performance than sexual harassment.
David Carlson, Midwest Zone Leader of Marsh Risk Consulting’s Workforce Strategies Practice, agrees there needs to be education around workplace bullying. Right now, he says, only “the progressive companies are going to go out and have bullying policies and training.”
“For the less progressive ones, where it may be more pervasive, it’s a command-and-control issue. They’re going to wait until they’re told by state and local authorities and regulators that they have to do this,” he says.
Carlson says that suspected occurrences of bullying need to be fully and carefully investigated, and like Adler, believes that once it is identified, “progressive disciplinary is typical for most organizations.” But depending on the severity of the activity, “it could be grounds for immediate termination,” he adds.
“That has to come down to the policies and culture of the workplace. Companies need to have a zero-tolerance policy for anything like workplace violence, workplace bullying or sexual harassment,” he says. “There needs to be swift and immediate action.

Stopping Priates with burning eyes and vomit!

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:04:00 +0000

Wired.com reports that “two companies are offering new solutions to keep pirates at bay: blinding them with pepper spray and incapacitating them by making them hurl.” The first company, Shipboard Defense Systems, has partnered with the makers of Mace to offer an industrial strength version. The second company, company, Maritime Security Company, LLC, offers a package of defensive tools, including something like Mace and an unnamed substance that makes them vomit, reports Wired. These are the latest twists in the range of defenses being mustered to fend off pirates per guidance on best practices for the industry, notes the report

How to Help Those With Special Needs Prepare Before a Disaster Strikes

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:06:00 +0000

This something that unfortunately we do not spend enough time thinking about.

By Joseph Straw

04/01/2011 - For the disabled and their advocates, the story of emergency management begins with a woman named Benilda Caixeta. An immigrant from Brazil paralyzed by muscular dystrophy, Caixeta was a prolific volunteer and leader among disability advocates in her adopted hometown of New Orleans. Her efforts were well known and resulted in a citation for her work from then-Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco in 2004.

As Hurricane Katrina bore down on the U.S. Gulf Coast late in August 2005, Caixeta, 51, contacted an accessible transportation provider and made arrangements for a ride to a shelter. That ride never arrived. When the storm hit the city on August 29, Caixeta called various government agencies and friends seeking help. Soon, the levee containing the Industrial Canal running alongside her Ninth Ward neighborhood failed. A week later, Caixeta’s wheelchair and her dead body were found floating inside her home.

Not spillover violence but spillover effects of hostilities in Mexico, that is the real threat to the US.

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 14:36:00 +0000

Very interesting. Shows a new angle to how the violence in Mexico can effect both the US and its citizens.

A Texas sheriff goes online at the Washington Post to discuss the consequences of Mexico's drug war on poor U.S. border communities. "It is not spillover violence but spillover effects of hostilities in Mexico that pose the real threat to the United States," writes Sheriff Clint McDonald, a past president of the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition. "Spillover effects are the direct results of Mexican violence that influence U.S. citizens living in communities along the border. For example, Mexican gangs fighting to control territory around the frontier village of El Porvenir, in Chihuahua, have threatened for almost a year to kill its residents. To escape the violence, nearly the entire village eventually relocated to Texas border communities — without, of course, being screened or processed." According to McDonald, "The results include schoolchildren fearing for their safety as their Mexican schoolmates talk of violence and murder, school buses 'tailed' by armed private security guards and criminals relocating to the United States with their families and conducting their operations from this country. The single greatest spillover effect: U.S. citizens living in fear."

Maranda rights don't apply to domestic terrorists?

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 16:08:00 +0000

Miranda rights no longer immediately apply to domestic terrorism suspects, even when there's no threat to public safety. "That exception was seen as a limited device to be used only in cases of an imminent safety threat, but the new rules give interrogators more latitude and flexibility to define what counts as an appropriate circumstance to waive Miranda rights," reports The Wall Street Journal. "A Federal Bureau of Investigation memorandum reviewed by The Wall Street Journal says the policy applies to 'exceptional cases' where investigators 'conclude that continued unwarned interrogation is necessary to collect valuable and timely intelligence not related to any immediate threat.' Such action would need prior approval from FBI supervisors and Justice Department lawyers, according to the memo, which was issued in December but not made public."

Suspicious Package or Lost and Found?

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:20:00 +0000

The bomb found at a Detroit federal building last week had actually been there for three weeks, according to ABC News. "A contract guard apparently saw this package outside on Feb. 26th," said David Wright, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 918, which represents employees of the Federal Protective Service. "Against all security protocols -- an unattended package should be treated with extreme caution -- he picked up that package and took it inside basically on the premise of 'lost and found' property. And apparently stored it. That was on Feb. 26. On March 18th, last Friday, someone got the idea to x-ray the package. At that point wires were seen... and it turned out to be a bomb."

Playing dead: The sickening video that shows children recreating suicide bomber attacks as a playground game

noreply@blogger.com (Oram Security Consultants, LLC) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 03:45:00 +0000

I can understand kids playing games.... I remember playing "War" and other games like that when I was a kid, but to have children playing games such as a suicide bomber and then post a video of it? What message is this sending? That their children are willing to die for their (the parents) beliefs or that the next generation of religious warriors are being trained........ I would like to think was just kids playing, but as a Security Professional I cannot.

Playing dead: The sickening video that shows children recreating suicide bomber attacks as a playground game

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:13 PM on 1st March 2011

A shocking video has emerged from Pakistan depicting children role-playing a Taliban suicide bombing.

The 84-second clip shows Pashtun children recreating a terrorist attack, with one boy dressed in black - the 'bomber' - being embraced and wished well by his friends before setting off on his deadly mission.
In the single-take video, the 'bomber' then approaches another boy, dressed in white, who appears to be mimicking a member of the security forces and tries to stop him.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1361725/Video-children-playing-suicide-bomb-game-circulates-Pakistan.html#ixzz1FVIKrRC7