Morning Security Brief: Color-Coded Terror Alert System to End, Gov't Fails Antiworm Partnership, CT Partnership, & Much More

♦The Department of Homeland Security will trash the color-coded terror alert system. "The nation's color-coded terror warning system will be phased out beginning this week, according to government officials familiar with the plan," reports the Associated Press. "The Homeland Security Department and other government agencies have been reviewing the Homeland Security Advisory System's usefulness for more than a year. One of the most notable changes to come: The public will no longer hear automated recordings at U.S. airports stating that the threat level is orange."

♦ An internal DHS report finds that the government did not fulfill its obligations in a public-private partnership formed to fight the Conficker worm. "One person interviewed for the report described the government’s participation as 'zero involvement, zero activity, zero knowledge,'" according to GCN.com. "Information sharing was described as one-way, with information going to the government and little returning. Any real information sharing between the working group and government generally was on a personal basis between individuals rather than at an organizational level."

♦ NATO and Russia vowed yesterday to "stand together" against terrorism in the aftermath of the Moscow airport suicide bombing. "The two sides agreed Wednesday on a work plan in six areas of cooperation including combating terrorism, countering sea piracy and renewing cooperation on a missile defence system to protect troops," reports Agence France Presse. "But the military powers remained apart on the missile shield project to defend European populations and territories."

♦ A community college instructor argues that federal antiterrorism funds and programs are undermining proven community policing techniques. "I've witnessed a growing fear and distrust of police as this philosophical change has become more evident," writes Shawn Westbrooks, a criminal justice instructor at Three Rivers Community College. "Proposed limitations on free speech, Internet monitoring and additional gun control will only further deteriorate the public's trust and confidence in law enforcement. We must return to a community-based, problem oriented approach where law enforcement works for our community's interest, not for the interests of federal bureaucrats."

♦ The Secret Service's training will finally enter the 21st century. "For the past 40 years, Secret Service agents have been using a miniature model environment called 'Tiny Town' to play out their response to suicide bombers, bio warfare attacks, and other serious situations," reports PCMag.com. "This spring, it will be replaced by 'Virtual Tiny Town' (more formally known as the Site Security Planning Tool), a video game-like environment with 3D models, smoke and chemical plume simulators, and in general, more interaction, as trainees will be able to see and move around the world in both first- and third-person perspectives."