Department of Homeland Security Continuity Compliance

DHS Terrorism and Response to Terrorism Review Report 2011 Now Available

September 20, 2011 By Ben Carnevale 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 … [Read more...]

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

September 20, 2011 By Ben Carnevale 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 … [Read more...]

DHS Announces Free Software Evaluation Site to Improve Cybersecurity Effort

June 28, 2011 By Ben Carnevale Leave a Comment

In a recent announcement, the US government unveiled a new system of guidance available to businesses, whereby this system would assist businesses in evaluating the software behind the websites, power grids and other services of those businesses -- so that by doing so, that software would be less susceptible to hacking. “Currently, when owners of small businesses buy software or hire a firm to build a website, it is difficult to know whether the programs are really secure or not”, said Alan Paller, director of research at SANS Institute, a computer-security organization. “Avoiding … [Read more...]

Cybersecurity and Anti-Trust Concerns

June 24, 2011 By Ben Carnevale Leave a Comment

While cybersecurity related threats and reports of their consequent hacking attacks seem to show no one is immune from them, even more issues outside of the real of cybersecurity itself appear to thwart any quick fixes to this problem. According to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., who, at a hearing he chaired this past week of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism stated, “When members of the various sector-specific Information Sharing and Analysis Centers, or ISACs, get together to discuss common IT security threats, they don't always share everything they know, even if … [Read more...]

Emergency Preparedness Plan (PPD-8) Issued by White House

April 8, 2011 By Ben Carnevale Leave a Comment

Please join the Homeland Security Policy Institute for a discussion about Presidential Policy Directive - 8: National Preparedness, featuring Brian Kamoie, Senior Director for Preparedness Policy on the White House National Security Staff. President Barack Obama signed a new Presidential Policy Directive on National Preparedness last week and the Directive will be publicly released at this event. The new policy outlines the President's vision for strengthening the security and resilience of the United States through systematic preparation for threats to the security of the Nation, including … [Read more...]

Risk Management, Business Continuity and Workplace Violence

January 27, 2011 By Ben Carnevale Leave a Comment

The potential of workplace violence affecting a company’s business continuity or disaster preparedness planning process was certainly an issue which seemed to gain prominence in many of the related news accounts on this topic that were released in 2010. One of our readers, Michael W. Wanik, CPP, CBCP recently submitted his thoughts on this topic in a related article entitled “The Employer’s Duty in Regard to an Active Shooter Scenario” where he wrote… “I’ve been involved with the supplication of private security services since I left the military in late 1984. During the … [Read more...]

iPhone PatriotApp – "Game Changer" or "Big Brother"?

December 17, 2010 By Ben Carnevale Leave a Comment

In an recent article written by Matt Liebowitz and posted on the http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ website, we revisit an updated version of a very controversial application for iPhones which is getting a lot of buzz again on the web. And, while it is gaining popularity, it is at the same time, also attracting scorn from people who disagree with the controversial law on which it is based. That application is called the "PatriotApp" and can be downloaded free from the iTunes store website. You can find more detailed information also on the www.patriotapps.com website. Launched in September, … [Read more...]

BCM.01-2010 (New Business Continuity Standard) in the News Again

December 15, 2010 By Ben Carnevale Leave a Comment

BCM.01-2010 (Business Continuity management Systems: Requirements with Guidance for Use (ANSI/ASIS/BSI BCM.1-2010)) --- the new business continuity management standard that is the product of collaboration between ASIS International and the British Standards Institute (BSI) --- has been receiving new posting coverage on a variety of websites again lately. As this website posted earlier this year, this new standard has been designated an American standard by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). And, we are pleased to also remind our readers, that two of our staff members – … [Read more...]

Critical Infrastructure Protection Month of December 2010

December 1, 2010 By Ben Carnevale Leave a Comment

The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, proclaims December 2010 as Critical Infrastructure Protection Month. The proclamation calls upon the people of the United States to recognize the importance of protecting our Nation's resources and to observe this month with appropriate events and training to enhance our national security and resilience. Click here to read the full Presidential Proclamation. Please pass this information along to those business continuity, … [Read more...]

PS-Prep’s Small Business Usage Supported by House Homeland Security Committee

November 17, 2010 By Ben Carnevale Leave a Comment

In an article recently written by Jacob Goodwin, posted on the GSN: Government Security News website and entitled “Rep. Bennie Thompson pushes small business usage of PS-Prep program”, we can read how House Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS), who will soon relinquish the chairman’s gavel at the House Homeland Security Committee, has weighed in on the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to establish rules for the voluntary accreditation of private sector companies for their homeland security preparedness activities. In a letter sent Nov. 15 to FEMA’s office of the chief … [Read more...]