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DHS Terrorism and Response to Terrorism Review Report 2011 Now Available

September 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

As a continuation of this website’s support for this year’s National Preparedness Month 2011, and for many of our readers who participate on committees delegated to promote policies and a better understanding of the origins, dynamics, and social and psychological impacts of terrorism, our staff would like to present for review some of the recent output from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START).

As you will notice on their website, START is actually a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence based at the University of Maryland and is a great resource made available to everyone for both reference and for keeping on top of current developments in the area of terrorism and how to best respond to those terrorist activities.

Recently START released its 2011 Research Review report which does a good job in trying to summarize, analyze and explain a range of topics relevant to current terrorism and counterterrorism issues and summarizes research projects completed by START investigators and research writers, who offer in this report, a quick summary of the project findings discovered in each of their reports.

The 10 featured research projects in the 2011 Research Review include:

  • “Terrorism vs. Protest: Stimulating Individual Decision-making via Online Experiments”- Anthony Lemieux and Victor Asal
  • “Trajectories of Terror: Islamic Radicalization in North America”- Gary Ackerman and John Sawyer
  • “Jokers Wild: Understanding the Influence of Service Provision on Popular Support for and Participation in Violent Political Groups”- Shawn Flanigan
  • “IED I.D.- Understanding Terrorist Bomb Attacks and Improvised Explosive Device Usage”- Margaret Wilson, Gary LaFree and Richard Legault
  • “Wicked Web: Social Network Analysis for Combating Islamic and Arab Terrorist Networks”- Victor Asal and R. Karl Rethemeyer
  • “Cause and Effect: Terrorism and Counterterrorism in Israel and Palestinian Territories”- Arie Kruglanski, Laura Dugan and Erica Chenoweth
  • “Against the Clock: Measuring Intervention Success in Terrorist Activity”- Kelly Damphousse, Bent Smith and Summer Jackson
  • “Terror’s Legacy: Quantitative Index of the Public Health Impacts of Terrorism”- Kathleen Sherrieb and Fran Norris
  • “The Missing Piece: Citizen Engagement in Public Health Planning”- Monica Schoch-Spana
  • “Clear, Calm, Collected: Communicating Effectively During Times of Threat”- Elaine Vaughan, Hamilton Bean, Kathleen Smarick and Dennis Mileti

Click here to read an online version of this report.

In addition, START has made available another report titled “Background Report, 9/11 Ten Years Later” — Click here  to read this report.

This information is a great reference resource, not to ignored, and certainly one that comes to mind in this year’s NPM 2011 theme….”A Time to Remember, A Time to Prepare”.

If applicable, please pass this information on to those business continuity, crisis management and disaster preparedness team members in your organization as well as to those local community team members who may need updated information for their counter terrorism strategies. 

Photo courtesy of blog.chron.com

Filed Under: Business Continuity Info, Environmental Security, Physical Security, Risk Management, Safety Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

ASIS 2011 – Wealth of Info for Cybersecurity and Physical Security Experts

September 20, 2011 By 1 Comment

ASIS International 2011 is the world’s leading organization for security professionals and this year more than 20,000 people from around the world are expected to attend its conference.  Many of those visitors are readers of this website.

One of the major areas of concern for both many of our readers as well as probably the majority of those visitors to the ASIS 2011 Conference involves cyber security and cybercrime.

At this year’s ASIS 2011, security experts will explore the effect of the Internet on terrorism, how extremist organizations are using it, and what can be done to stop it … for those readers particularly interested in combating cyber extremists, a very informative story has been written and posted on the Homeland Security newswire website ….read more.

If applicable, please pass this information along to those information security, risk management, disaster preparedness and cybersecurity management team members in your organization.

Filed Under: Business Continuity Info, Homeland Security Dpt, Information Security, Physical Security, Risk Management Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

9/11 — A Decade Later — Observations and Lessons Learned

September 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Photo courtesy of govinfosecurity.com

Sunday, September 11th 2011 marks the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.  While this is not an anniversary to celebrate, it is one which every U.S. citizen will mark in their memory forever.

In an effort to address lessons learned from Sept. 11th and to better understand the changes now taken as we evaluate, prepare for and implement security readiness, risk management, business continuity and disaster preparedness strategies in our families, our communities and where we work , a series of links to related articles has been organized for our readership audience. 

The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 also sparked a new urgency to: (a) predict future threats to the United States, (b) develop strategic defenses against cyber terrorism, (c) focus more attention on business continuity, and (d) expand efforts to educate, train and implement more disaster preparedness skills for individuals, communities and organizations. 

Hopefully, by reading some of these articles, you will be more ready and able to answer such questions as:

  1. How much did we get right in the days after 9/11—especially about the real cyber-threats that we face today?
  2. How much did we get wrong and what did we miss entirely?
  3. And perhaps most importantly, how well have we prepared ourselves for current and future attacks in the decade since the attacks of Sept 11th? 

The list of related article links is:

“9/11 Remembered: What We’ve Learned”

“A Decade After 9/11, Business Continuity is Still a Work-in-Progress on Wall Street”

“How Cyber Security Has Changed Since 9/11″

“10 Years After 9/11: How Far Did $635 Billion Spent on Homeland Security Go?”

“9/11 Anniversary: What Our Emergency Response Systems Still Can’t Do”

“IBHS Calls for a Culture of Preparedness on Ten Year Anniversary of 9/11″

“9/11 Ten Years Later: Bioterrorism, Then vs. Now”

“9/11: Top Lessons Learned for Disaster Recovery”

“9/11 Mental Health: What We Now Know About Trauma”

“10 Years After 9/11, Do We Face a Serious Cyberterrorism Threat?”

“Science After 9/11: How Research Was Changed by the September 11 Terrorist Attacks”

“9/11: Ten Years Later”

“Drawing Lessons from 9/11: Ten Years Later”

“9/11 Ten Years later: Sharing Information Now Key to Security”

“The 9/11 Commission Recommendations — 10 Years Later” 

“10 Years Later — The Effect of 9/11 on Travel” (InfoGraphic)

“9/11 Ten Years Later – EuroNews”

If you have a favorite article, opinions or comments about this topic. please share it with our readership…..

Filed Under: Business Continuity Info, Information Security, Physical Security, Risk Management Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Security Related Issues and Houses of Worship

September 9, 2011 By 1 Comment

In trying to keep our readers in touch with security related (i.e. both physical and information) issues of the day, and not stay too focused on certain sectors, it is necessary to remind our readers that houses of worship must also be concerned about security related issues – especially since 9/11.

To that point, the following website links are suggested for follow-up:

 Securing Houses of Worship

House of Worship Security and Training Tips

Protecting Your House of Worship (BLOG) 

Please share your experiences and suggestions on this topic.

If applicable, pass this information along to those members in your local house of worship community who are responsible for information and physical security or risk management related issues.  

Photo courtesy of tfwm.com

Filed Under: Cybersecurity, Information Security, Physical Security, Risk Management, Safety Tagged With: , , , ,

Compliance Requirements vs. Operational Security Goals

August 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

by: Lisa DuBrock, CPA, CBCP

 

I happened upon an interesting article while reading my daily security management briefing alerts, and realized that the focus of the article was a mirror of a conversation I have with my clients almost weekly —‘Compliance and Security” or ‘Security and Compliance’. 

To me they seem like natural partners but I have found out that is not always the case.  In developing solutions to information security threats I frequently see a people vs. tool mentality at work.  I argue that it is really a ‘people and tool partnering’ that allow any organization to identify, assess and mitigate risk.  This includes the risk of breach as well as the risk of non-compliance to regulations.    

Please take a look at this article written by Richard Mackey, entitled “How Security Pros Can make Compliance Initiatives Work for Them” and consider downloading and reading the whitepaper discussed.   

Let me know your thoughts — Is it ‘Compliance and Security’ or  ‘Security and Compliance’?

Filed Under: Cybersecurity, Information Security, Physical Security Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

ASIS 2011 — Expanded Educational Offerings

July 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

As this year’s ASIS 2011 Conference comes closer, and if your career path is related to the security industry, then you should consider attending this conference.

To that point, security practitioners from across the industry will find some exciting new offerings at the ASIS International 57th Annual Seminar and Exhibits (ASIS 2011) in Orlando, Fla., Sept. 19-22. New partnerships with (ISC)2 (“ISC-squared”) and PSA Security Network among others, broaden the scope of the educational program and open valuable new networking opportunities. In total, this year’s Seminar will offer attendees more than 180 educational sessions across 18 tracks.

Read more about these expanded educational developments, and click here if you would like to download a pdf version of the just released Seminar Overview Brochure.

To get more details and information, and to register your attendance at the conference, click here.

If applicable, please pass this information along to those physical and information security team members in your organization.

Filed Under: Cybersecurity, Environmental Security, Executive Protection, Information Security, Physical Security, Safety Tagged With: , , , ,

BC/DR and Risk Management Teams in U.S. Chemical Facilities — Be Aware of Recent Regulatory Developments

July 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If your business involves the production, distribution or sales of chemicals, you need to be aware of new developments relative to the U.S. Chemical Industry’s regulatory environment.

This week, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs voted 8-2 for Senator Susan Collins’s bill, S. 473, to renew the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), which is designed to regulate the chemical industry to ensure that they are keeping their facilities safe from terrorist attack. A similar bill has already been approved by a House committee and the chemical industry and regulators are eager to see Congress pass the bill to provide stability in the regulatory marketplace. The bill was originally approved in 2006 and is set to expire this year.

To get more of the facts surrounding these most recent developments, click here.

To follow the debate of whether or not this bill goes far enough to protect the thousands of chemical related facilities in the United States, click here.

If applicable, please pass this information along to those team members in your organization responsible for risk management, physical security, regulatory compliance or business continuity planning.

Photo source courtesty of 123rf.com

Filed Under: Business Continuity Info, Physical Security, Regulatory Compliance, Standards & Best Practices Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Information Security vs. Physical Security — Mind the Gap

July 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Recently, a question was submitted from one of our readers, regarding their belief that most physical security professionals do not consider information security to be in the realm of their responsibilities.  Our staff wondered just how much this belief might be shared by our general readership, and the decision was made to poll our readership for their input(s) to this debate of whether or not information security should be in the realm of responsibility for physical security professionals.

To assist that process, the following reference reading articles are available to readers to help them reach a decision on this question….

“Physical and IT Security Convergence: The Basics”

“Bridging the Gap Between Physical and Information Security”

“Information and Physical Security: Can They Live Together?

“Cyber Security versus Physical Security: Smack Down!”

If you found this reading of value, please pass it along to those information security or physical security team members in your organization.  And, given the risk management issues surrounding this potential business continuity planning issue, you may also want to pass this information along to those team members as well.

Filed Under: Business Continuity Info, Information Security, Physical Security Tagged With: , , , ,

Personal Security and Preparedness Matters

June 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By: Lisa DuBrock, Contributing Writer

For those of us living in big cities, at some point in our lifetimes we may be living in a high rise apartment or condominium building.  Unfortunately just because you take an elevator to your home every night doesn’t mean that you are safe.

Having lived in a ‘condo’ building in downtown Chicago for 5 years in my late 20’s, I found this article interesting.  I also chose my building because it had 24 hour doorman and I wanted someone to know who went in/out of the building.  I didn’t think of it in terms of personal preparedness or personal security at that time, but that was exactly what I was doing.

This article just reminded me that no matter where you live it is a matter of risk and reward.  If you live in a high rise maybe there are a few pointers here for you too.

Read an interesting article on personal security matters.

Photo courtesy of and credit to huhinsurance.com

Filed Under: Physical Security, Security Tagged With: ,

Private Sector Preparedness (PS-Prep) + Emergency Management = Critical Infrastructure’s Future in U.S.

May 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico’s Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (the nation’s worst environmental disaster), governmental emergency management teams faced the reality that more effort is required to proactively begin building relationships with private-sector partners.

In a recent article written by Austen Givens, entitled, “Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Is an Ominous Sign for Critical Infrastructure’s Future”, you can review the methodology that Givens uses to make that strong case for the need to have our government’s emergency managers engaged with the private sector in cooperative efforts of mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery efforts.  The objective of his article is expressed best when Austen Givens states, “…The Deepwater Horizon disaster offers countless lessons for emergency management on the need to forge deep, lasting ties with the private sector. With 85 percent of the nation’s critical infrastructure in the hands of businesses, and complex system failures becoming an increasing reality for emergency managers, building bridges across the public-private sector divide is imperative for emergency managers in government.”

In short, critical infrastructure in our communities is vulnerable to disruption and the private sector — not government — is in charge of most of it.  And, if that private sector is going to be adequately prepared for that interaction, then everything must be done to support continuous improvement of disaster preparedness levels throughout the private sector. The PS-Prep program is certainly qualified to be one of the players to make that happen. This story by Givens brings our attention to this matter in a very relative way.

This website has set an objective to provide a one-stop location to learn about and be provided with ongoing updates of developments in the PS-Prep program.  Our staff continues to welcome comments and input from our readers to help us achieve that goal.

Read more about Austen Givens’ position on this timely and critical infrastructure-related topic.

Photo courtesy of blog.gmfus.org

Filed Under: Physical Security, PS-Prep Program, Risk Management, Safety Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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