Morning Security Brief: Cyber Security Testimony, Flashmobs, Florida Rollback on Port Security Regulations, CCTV Checked Out

♦ On Monday, White House officials testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs about a plan released by the Obama administration to create legislation that protects U.S. critical infrastructure and networks. InformationWeek Government reports that "The Obama administration's cybersecurity legislative proposal gives the Department of Homeland Security more power than ever to protect federal networks against cyberthreats and breaks down the department's communication barriers with the Department of Defense to do so, officials told a Senate panel this week."

♦ Flashmobs of shoplifting juveniles have been terrorizing Chicago. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, "They get their Marching order and lists of items to steal via text message, swoop into stores on Chicago's Magnificent Mile in groups, then grab as much loot as they can before scattering to the winds." Many store owners are choosing not to press charges because they fear that a surge of arrests will scare away customers. Acting Police Superintendent Gary McCarthy discussed the flashmobs as part of a press conference on Tuesday.

♦ Florida Governor Rick Scott yesterday signed into a legislation that rolls back state security regulations on port security. Calling the security measures "burdensome, job-killing regulation," Scott's pen strokes lifted a requirement that truck drivers and other port workers pass a state criminal records check in addition to a Federal check, reports the St. Petersburg Times. Scott claims that this will save Florida businesses $3 million per year. State standards for physical security, such as fences, lighting, and CCTV were also eliminated. U.S. Coast Guard standards remain in place.

♦ The Seattle Times reports that the King County Library System is removing security cameras from its libraries because it fears that supplying security video to law-enforcement agencies could compromise patron privacy. The director of the county's library system, Bill Ptacek, said. "We don't want to be in an adversarial  relationship. We believe intellectual freedom is the important part, so we got out of the camera business."