Morning Security Brief: Domestic Drones, World Cup Security, Unlicensed Guards, Loggers Beheaded, & Full Body Scanners

♦ Numerous interest groups are pushing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to allow unmanned aerial vehicles, such as drones, into domestic airspace.  "Tornado researchers want to send them into storms to gather data," reports the Associated Press. "Energy companies want to use them to monitor pipelines. State police hope to send them up to capture images of speeding cars' license plates. Local police envision using them to track fleeing suspects.Like many robots, the planes have advantages over humans for jobs that are dirty, dangerous or dull. And the planes often cost less than piloted aircraft and can stay aloft far longer." The FAA, however, is fearful that drones could smash into high-altitude passenger and cargo aircraft as well as low-altitude hot-air balloons.

♦ With the World Cup underway, the Associated Press has observed lax security practices for credentialed visitors. "The laid-back security treatment at stadiums and the main media center appears to be reserved mostly for credentialed visitors such as journalists and VIPs," according to the AP. "Bag searches are often cursory or nonexistent, and credentials often are not closely examined. Horst Schmidt, a senior FIFA security expert who is an adviser to the World Cup organizers, expressed confidence that regular fans were being rigorously screened, but said it was possible that people with credentials were treated with more deference." So far, there have been no serious security problems at football's most important competition.

♦ A security firm used by The Dallas Cowboys and the State Fair of Texas has been fined for using unlicensed security guards, some of whom had criminal histories. "The Dallas-based company, Platinum Security and Consulting, has been warned that several guards shouldn't have been working because of their criminal histories," reports The Dallas Morning News. "Its hiring practices have come under scrutiny after authorities accused one of its guards of trying to steal two safes May 4 at The Sixth Floor Museum."

♦ Jihadist separatists from the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group abducted and beheaded three loggers over the weekend in the southern part of the Philippines, reports The New York Times. "An expert on Abu Sayyaf, Rommel Banlaoi, who is executive director of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research in Manila, said in an interview on Sunday that when it is under attack by the military, Abu Sayyaf often harms civilians, which he called 'a hallmark of terrorism,'" according to the Times. 

♦ Full body scanners come in for another critical look by security professionals. "I think it is a mistake to use this as a primary screening tool,"  Rich Roth, a former Secret Service official now with Maryland-based CTI Consulting, told the Los Angeles Times. "The things it can miss are more likely to be used as a weapon than the things it can catch."