A bill (H.R. 252) introduced by Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) would require all hospitals that are reimbursed under Medicare to follow security regulations set out by the government regarding infant abduction. The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) would be required to promulgate interim regulations within 12 months of the bill's passage. The security procedures would be designed to reduce the likelihood of infant abduction and infant switching.
As the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office audits government efforts. As the public-policy research arm of Congress, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) provides objective analysis and data. Both have been exploring homeland security issues with recently updated CRS reports investigating nuclear attacks on seaports and water infrastructure. The reports can be reached via SM Online.
Even the most thorough disaster plan can't contemplate every possible contingency. In some cases the victimized company will need to procure unanticipated services or products such as water-purification equipment, microfilm drying, or cots and bedding. The publishers of the Disaster Recovery Yellow Pages have been positioning themselves as a one-stop shop for everything related to business continuity and disaster recovery in the United States. The 2005 version, the directory's 14th edition, is now perfect-bound. More than 3,000 product manufacturers and service providers are listed in the resource, in 355 categories ranging from computer equipment and training materials to cleanup services and file- and data-recovery software. Published by Edwards Information, the hard-copy version of the directory is available through ASIS International
Are companies wising up about premises liability, or are more meritless claims being filed? Either way, plaintiffs are winning a smaller percentage of suits. In 1992, plaintiffs won in 44.4 percent of cases in which they reached a jury trial in state court in one of the 75 largest U.S. counties.
Prevention instead of response has seen only limited use on campuses. Fifty-six percent of the 90 college and university security directors surveyed by FJC Security Services Inc. characterize their campus security in regard to terrorism as "response mode." Yet 83 percent said that their security officers had received training "specific to preventing, deterring, and responding" to acts of terrorism.
If you're wearing clothing by Armani or Burberry, carrying a bag by Coach or Louis Vuitton, or wearing a watch by Cartier or Rolex, you might want to take a closer look. These are a few of the most frequently knocked-off brands based on incidents compiled by counterfeit-intelligence analysts Gieschen Consultancy of Canada.
Could investment in the fight against AIDS help reduce terrorism? That's the provocative thesis of a paper written by Trevor Neilson, executive director of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS. The paper is on SM Online.
The Supreme Court of Montana has ruled that an employer must pay workers' compensation benefits for an intoxicated employer who fell from a balcony during a conference. Overturning a lower court's ruling, the state supreme court held that the employee's after-hours drinking did not negate his widow's workers' compensation claim (Mindy Van Fleet v. Montana Association of Counties Workers' Compensation Trust, Montana Supreme Court, No. 04-206, 2004)
A federal court of appeals has ruled that an employee's arrest for the possession of drug paraphernalia, an abuse of sick leave policy, and his refusal to submit to a drug test are sufficient grounds for requiring the employee to undergo ongoing, random drug screening. (Robert Relford v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 03-5600, 2004)
On the authority of a 2000 law that amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, the Department of Energy (DOE) has issued regulations that will allow the department to impose civil penalties on contractors for breaches of information security.
Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm has signed 11 new identity theft bills into law. The bills contain a number of provisions including making identity theft a felony in Michigan and prohibiting businesses or public utilities from denying service to identity theft victims. The bills also prohibit any company from requiring a Social Security number as a condition for doing business. The bills also prohibit photographing, recording, or electronically transmitting personal information taken without consent from credit, debit, and ATM cards.
A law (formerly S.B. 67) approved in Ohio makes it illegal for anyone to use an agricultural product or equipment to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policy of any government through intimidation or coercion, affect the conduct of any government, or interfere with agricultural processes to diminish consumer confidence or agricultural production. Raising or providing funds for such a venture is a felony, as is concealing a plan or planning an escape after committing such an act.
The Texas Supreme Court has overturned a jury verdict in favor of a man who died from burns he received during an explosion at his company. A jury awarded the man's family $42.5 million in damages due to the company's gross negligence in permitting the explosion. The state supreme court, after reviewing the facts in the case, ruled that the company had implemented numerous safety measures to protect against such explosions and had a vested interest in keeping the workplace safe and operational. (Diamond Shamrock Refining Co. v. Donna Hall, Supreme Court of Texas, No. 02-0566. 2005)
A California appeals court has ruled that a government employer has violated an employee's rights by not letting the employee see the documents created and collected in the course of an investigation into the employee's conduct. The employer had a policy against sharing such documents with the subject of the investigation unless the punishment meted out was greater than a written reprimand. (Beverly Hinrichs v. County of Orange, California Court of Appeal, No. G028834, 2005
After being arrested for possession of child pornography and actively soliciting minors via e-mail, Jack Mni Leck filed a lawsuit claiming that the police violated his Fourth Amendment rights by searching a computer he had used. Because the computer Leck used was owned by a nonprofit organization for which Leck volunteered, and because the owner of the computer consented to a police search, the court found that Leck had no legal standing to contest the search. (State of Washington v. Jack Mni Leck, Washington Court of Appeals, No. 30714-6-II, 2004)
If you're planning to roll out a large-scale IT project, you might want to pay heed to some lessons learned from the FBI's troubled Virtual Case File (VCF) software project. @ The testimony before Congress by Fine, Mueller, and Punaro, and the IG's report on Trilogy, are at SM Online.
The art of phishing has become not only widespread but increasingly sophisticated as well. These scams can bring unwary surfers to identical versions of their online banks that at a casual glance are impossible to tell from the real thing. @ Find out how to get the Netcraft Toolbar at SM Online.
The U.S. Department of Justice has a division devoted to cybercrime issues. The Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS), in the Criminal Division of the department, provides manuals on searching, seizing, and preserving computer evidence. The site also details policies, cases, guidance, and laws related to hacking and intellectual-property crime, and provides information on teaching cyberethics to children. @ CCIPS is this month's A Site to See. Link to it via SM Online.
The IT Governance Institute (ITGI) has released a downloadable publication to help executives prevent data loss resulting from viruses, hacks, or theft. The paper, aimed at senior executives, offers a host of questions that senior executives need to ask about their company's IT .@ Get the documents at SM Online.
Local law enforcement agencies can address cybercrime more effectively by looking for help from local schools and businesses, according to an article in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin by Chief Tony Aeilts, who heads the California State University Police Department in San Luis Obispo, California. @ Link to "Defending Against Cybercrime and Terrorism: A New Role for Universities" at SM Online.
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies are evolving to meet a growing list of applications that range from tagging livestock to tracking pharmaceuticals to securing shipping containers. To understand the many aspects of RFID technologies, security professionals can turn to Radio Frequency Identification Technologies: A Workshop Summary. This 39-page document, from The National Academies Press, provides an overview of RFID technologies and applications, and it outlines common objections, such as privacy concerns, and responses--including strikes, boycotts, and protests against businesses such as Benetton that have decided to implement RFID. The book was written after a workshop held by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Research Council, which brought together industry, academic, government, and other organizations to explore RFID and the technological, social, and policy issues surrounding it. @ Read the book online or purchase PDF copies of it via SM Online.
A paper from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines technical acquisition and formatting requirements of biometric credentials for Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, which calls for identity credentials that are interoperable between agencies. @ Link to NIST Special Publication 800-76, Biometric Data Specification for Personal Identity Verification, at SM Online.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has submitted to the Department of the Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) "inaccurate and misleading" information about the state of its information-security programs, according to a report prepared by an assistant inspector general for audit with the Department of the Treasury, who undertook a review of the IRS's process for monitoring its program- and system-level security weaknesses. @ Go to SM Online for more on the report. .
Federal agencies are not consistently implementing the basics of information security, such as performing periodic risk assessments, developing and maintaining up-to-date security plans, creating and testing contingency plans, and evaluating and monitoring the effectiveness of security controls, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). @ Protecting the Federal Government's Information Systems and the Nation's Critical Infrastructures is at SM Online.
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