Morning Security Brief: European Terror Plot Disrupted, Senate Passes Intel Sharing Bill, Ohio's Security Camera Network, & More

♦ A reported drone strike in Pakistan's tribal area has reportedly disrupted a large, coordinated terrorist attack against the European capital cities of London, Paris, and Berlin. "The plot was foiled after Western intelligence agencies, including MI6 and GCHQ, uncovered the plans by senior al-Qaeda operatives in the lawless tribal areas," reports the Telegraph. "The CIA launched a series of attacks against militants in the area using unmanned Predator drones armed with Hellfire missiles. A senior al-Qaeda commander from Egypt, was killed in North Waziristan, disrupting the planned attacks." MSNBC.com reports there was no U.S. dimension to the plot, which would have looked similar to the commando-style 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack.

♦ The Senate yesterday passed a bill to make it easier to share homeland security intelligence information across all levels of government. "The Reducing Over-Classification Act (HR 553), sponsored by Rep. Jane Harman (R-Calif.), would require the secretary of Homeland Security to produce policies and programs to prevent the over-classification of terrorism information to allow more sharing of threat information between federal, state, local, and tribal levels of government as well as the general public," reports Homeland Security Today. Harman praised the Senate's passage of her bill. "Over-classification of information impedes our effort to give first responders real-time intelligence so they can prevent and disrupt terror plots. This bill provides tools to reduce over-classification--and is a big step forward in keeping our communities safe," she said.

♦ Security camera feeds across Ohio will now flow to a centralized hub. "A new camera integration project, approved by the Ohio Controlling Board, will link security cameras across the state to a central site," reports central Ohio's Channel 10 News. "The Ohio Homeland Security project cost about $2 million, and security officials say it will increase safety, but others raised concerns over who will be watching.... Ohio officials will have access to real-time video from security cameras. The cameras will be monitored as part of a new information hub, which opened in Columbus."

♦ The U.S. government kicked off its annual cyberdefense exercise Monday. "Sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security, Cyber Storm III kicked off yesterday for a three-day series of simulated events designed to exploit holes in the nation's cybersecurity system," reports CNET.com. "Specifically, the exercise will 'inject' more than 1,500 different types of threats to examine the ability of the people involved to prepare for cyberattacks, make the correct decisions to respond to them, and share sensitive information with the right parties." The goal of some attack scenarios is to undermine trust in the Internet itself. "At a certain point, the operation of the Internet is reliant on trust--knowing where you're going is where you're supposed to be. We're going to try to compromise that chain of trust by attacking something that's fundamental to the operation of the Internet," said Brett Lambo, director of DHS's Cyber Exercise Program.

♦ A Santa Barbara, California-based company is helping employers check up on job candidates by screening social networking sites. "The brains behind Social Intelligence Corp. say 'Googling' candidates can be a legal minefield for businesses. So they set up a company to help monitor and search for negative and positive information about employees and job applicants," reports keyt.com. "Negative findings are usually a sign of poor judgment. Social Intelligence creators say their company can a also protect a candidate from discrimination."