Morning Security Brief: Gun Rights Ruling, DHS Cybersecurity, Terrorism Conviction Appeals, Amputee Security Screening & More

♦ The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the 2nd Amendment cannot be infringed by state and local law. "Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., writing for the majority, said the right to self-defense protected by the Second Amendment was fundamental to the American conception of ordered liberty," The New York Times reports. "Like other provisions of the Bill of Rights setting out such fundamental protections, he said, it must be applied to limit not only federal power but also that of state and local governments."

♦ Larry Seltzer of PCMag.com asks a good question: "If you were looking for a company to take charge of the security on your own systems, would you trust one that was serving malware from its own Web site?" He asks the question because after wandering around the Department of Homeland Security's Web site he was alerted that the site was trying to deliver malware to his computer. The incident allows Seltzer to take a critical and skeptical look at the Senate's cybersecurity bill.
"At the heart of these proposals is the notion that, in an emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will know how to secure private networks and sites better than the private companies that own them," he writes. "Why would we assume this would be the case, especially when half the bill addresses serious shortcomings in the security of government systems, shortcomings which many previous laws have failed to fix?" Good question.

♦ The five Muslim-American men from Northern Virginia who were sentenced to 10 years in prison on terrorism charges in Pakistan last week have appealed the decision, reports Reuters. "We believe all evidence we produced in their defense were not considered by the court and it relied on prosecution witnesses," defense lawyer Hassan Katchela said. The men were each convicted of conspiracy to commit terrorism as well as raising funds for terrorism.

♦ Amputees are not happy with security screening they receive at airport checkpoints. "Three out of four people surveyed said they were unsatisfied with their most recent airport security experience," reports The Washington Post. "Respondents said that they were not screened by TSA agents of the same gender and that officers often did not let them have a caretaker accompany them into screening rooms. About half of the respondents said they had to lift their clothing during random checks for explosives, and the survey recounted reports of an amputee facing 15 X-rays to get through the screening process." TSA spokesman Greg Soule told the Post that "While TSA’s number one priority is security, we also strive to treat all passengers with dignity and respect."

♦ The United States has concluded North Korea's sinking of a South Korean warship does not constitute an act of terrorism, reports China's Xinhau. "It is our judgment that the sinking of the Cheonan is not an act of international terrorism and by itself would not trigger placing North Korea on the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list," said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley.