INFORMATION
Beyond Print: Legal Issues
03/30/2011 - Police do not need a warrant to search the text messages on the cell phone of a suspect, the California Supreme Court has ruled. In the case, law enforcement officers arrested Gregory Diaz on suspicion of purchasing Ecstasy. Once Diaz was in custody, officers seized his cell phone and found evidence to support charges of drug dealing.
Beyond Print: Integrated Systems
03/30/2011 - A new set of guidelines, from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, aims to strengthen smart grid security (.pdf).
Beyond Print: Contingency Planning \ Disaster Management
03/30/2011 - FEMA recently updated its comprehensive preparedness guide (.pdf) for developing and maintaining emergency operations plans.
Beyond Print: Privacy
03/30/2011 - An employee’s e-mails to her attorney are not privileged because she sent them over the company’s e-mail system, a California appellate court has ruled (.pdf). The employee had no expectation of privacy, ruled the court, because the company had clearly noted that e-mails were not private and could be inspected at any time.
Beyond Print: Privacy
02/28/2011 - The Supreme Court of Texas has ruled that the state may withhold the birth dates of employees. In the case, reporters from The Dallas Morning News sued the state when it refused to release employee birth dates, citing a rise in identity theft and a need to protect employee privacy. The newspaper argued that other courts have ruled that the birth dates of state employees are public records.
Beyond Print: Investigations
02/28/2011 - Schools are not doing a good job of screening employees to avoid hiring those with records of sexual abuse of children (.pdf), says a report from the Government Accountability Office.
Beyond Print: IT Security
02/28/2011 - Depending on the industry they work in, employees have a 5 to 10 percent chance of losing their laptop or having it stolen over a three-year period, according to a new study. Most missing devices do not use basic security measures such as encryption.
Beyond Print: Legal Issues
02/28/2011 - A driver who was fired after refusing to drive a truck that he considered unsafe is not protected under Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations. OSHA rules make it illegal to fire a commercial truck driver for refusing to operate an unsafe vehicle. The driver, ruled the court, was not fired for his safety concerns but for his volatile and hostile attitude when he complained.
Beyond Print: Web-based Threats
02/28/2011 - Small businesses are not immune to cybercrime. Visa and the National Cyber Security Alliance offer resources to help small businesses secure their online activities. More guidance is available from the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council’s small business site.
Beyond Print: Maritime Security
02/28/2011 - A new Government Accountability Office report assesses how ferries, a vital transportation system in certain regions, are vulnerable to terrorist attack.
Beyond Print: Legal Issues
02/28/2011 - The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that a company retaliated against an employee when it fired her for taking confidential documents to bolster her lawsuit. The court ruled that the employee was protected in taking the documents without authorization because she was giving them to her attorney.
Beyond Print: Intelligence
02/28/2011 - Director of National Intelligence James Clapper recently told a Washington think tank that the WikiLeaks episode raises a “big yellow flag” for fledgling post-9-11 government information-sharing efforts. Watch the rest of his remarks online.
Beyond Print: Research & Studies
02/28/2011 - Researchers have found a way to deduce an individual’s age range based on a tiny amount of blood. This could be helpful in crime investigations.
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