National security

International Conference on International Security, Strategies and Policies ICISSP

The International Research Conference is a federated organization dedicated to bringing together a significant number of diverse scholarly events for presentation within the conference program. Events will run over a span of time during the conference depending on the number and length of the presentations. With its high quality, it provides an exceptional value for […]

ASIS Announces Expansive Education Program for GSX 2019

ASIS International announced their education lineup for Global Security Exchange (GSX) 2019. The session lineup addresses a wide variety of topics vital to today’s security professional, delivered in immersive formats like small group workshops, simulations, deep dives, and more. The tracks range from Business Continuity, Managing Organizations, and Enterprise Security Risk Management to Crime Prevention, National Security, and Digital Transformation and beyond.

DHS Biometric Program Gets $250 Million From Senate

A Senate subcommittee recently approved a request from the United States Department of Homeland Security for nearly a quarter-of-a-billion dollars to be used on a state-of-the-art biometric system. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on DHS green-lighted more than $47 billion to go towards the agency as part of a request made for funding in fiscal year […]

Port Fourchon Deploys Milestone Integrated IP Video

Improved surveillance and national security for top hub in nation’s oil supply. Port Fourchon in Louisiana plays a strategic role in supplying the United States with nearly 18 percent of its oil supply, servicing over 90 percent of the Gulf of Mexico’s deep-water exploration and production. Securing this essential coast area requires a hands-on team […]

Axis To Demonstrate A ‘New World’ Of Video Surveillance At Counter Terror Expo

Axis Communications, the global leader in network video is all set to demonstrate how video surveillance helps to protect people, property, and assets as well as optimize processes and improve efficiency, when it exhibits at the Counter Terror Expo in April. As well as showcasing its latest network video innovations at the international security trade […]

Biometric Passports And Borders Essential To Prevent Use Of Stolen Passports

Janice Kephart, founder of the Secure Identity. (PRNewsFoto/Secure Identity & Biometrics Association) Secure Identity. (PRNewsFoto/Secure Identity & Biometrics Association) WASHINGTON, March 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — News reports that stolen Austrian and Italian passports were used to book two airline tickets on the disappeared Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 intensifies the need for full and immediate implementation of biometric passports and borders, including a biometric exit program in the United States. Biometrics assure that people are who they say they are, and makes it extremely difficult for identities to be stolen and travel documents to be used illegally. The 9/11 Commission recommended biometric borders when it was determined that al Qaeda relied heavily on counterfeit and stolen passports for clandestine travel. Photo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140310/PH79967-a Logo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140310/PH79967LOGO-b "Fully biometric passports and readers can prevent stolen passport holders from successfully bypassing immigration authorities," said Janice Kephart, founder of the Secure Identity & Biometrics Association (SIBA) and former 9/11 Commission border counsel. "Moreover, biometric borders are now cost-effective, extremely fast, and are currently enabling countries like New Zealand to incorporate airline check-in with immigration check-out, building seamless convenience for the traveler and safer skies." Identity assumption remains possible where passports do not meet the international standards requiring inclusion of a biometric, or a country fails to implement processes to read biometrics. Today, the United States and countries around the world, including Austria, Italy and Malaysia, issue e-passports that meet international security standards. However, where countries fail to embed biometric readers into border processes at […]

Judge Deals Blow To NSA Phone Data Program

HC-130J aircraft In May 2013, a P-3 Orion patrol aircraft of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) cued the CGC Bertholf to a target several hundred miles off Costa Rica in the eastern Pacific. The national security cutter (NSC) launched a ScanEagle unmanned aircraft that maintained streaming video surveillance on the target and followed up with an armed MH-65D Dolphin multi-mission cutter helicopter. The arrest ultimately made by the crew of a long range interceptor cutterboat netted 1,250 pounds of cocaine and a half-dozen smuggling suspects. It also illustrated the seamless integration of air and sea assets for homeland defense. Coast Guard Vice Commandant Vice Adm. John P. Currier subsequently told Congress, “This is exactly how the system should work, and we’re very gratified to see this. The level of interoperability was simply not available with our legacy assets. It demonstrates how we apply these updated capabilities to defeat the threats in the offshore environment – and I would underscore the offshore environment is our area of greatest risk.” The Coast Guard is the maritime arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) , and Coast Guard aviation is essential to the layered security measures meant to deter, detect, interdict, and neutralize maritime threats before they reach American shores. In June, the crew of an HC-144A Ocean Sentry , a medium range surveillance aircraft (MRSA) used their sensors to spot a go-fast smuggling boat south of Puerto Rico. U.S. and Dutch vessels seized the smuggler suspects, and Ocean […]

IHS: Electric Utilities And Oil Refineries To Increase Investment In Perimeter Security

Although most critical infrastructure sites are target applications for electronic perimeter security, electrical utilities and oil refineries are projected to have the most growth opportunity, according to a published note by Blake Kozak, senior analyst for access control, fire and security at IHS Inc.   The global market size for electronic perimeter security sensors and video in electrical utilities and oil refineries is forecast to top $160 million in 2014, says Kozak.   Electrical utilities have experienced strong growth despite the economic slowdown in 2011 and 2012. Part of this growth is resulting from the trend to use remote video and networked sensors in order to configure and maintain sensors from remote locations. For example, there has been demand to integrate video with detection sensors and network these back to a central monitoring station. This has helped increase demand for applications and locations where sensors couldn’t be monitored in the past.   Another driver is the updates to the NERC CIP standards which are mostly concerned with cyber security and classifying / identifying critical assets, which could lead to a change in the security requirements for transmission substations. For example, NERC CIP Version 4 states any substation that maintains transmission lines at a capacity of 500kv or higher are now considered a critical asset.   Solar power plants, oil refineries and LNG plants are also expected to be strong markets to sell perimeter security equipment, says Kozak’s note. The capacity of solar power is expected to increase dramatically, especially […]