GSN: Government Security News

Utimaco, a member of the Germany- headquartered Sophos Group that provides lawful interception systems, has integrated its Lawful Interception Management System (LIMS) with Qosmos ixMachine network intelligence probes for what the companies call “deeper network analysis, higher throughput and up-to-date protocol enhancements,” enabling telecommunications service providers to deliver next-generation legal investigative capabilities to law enforcement agencies (LEAs).

Stonybrook, NY-based Applied DNA Sciences, Inc., a provider of DNA-based security solutions, reports that it has expanded its sales force to include a number of veteran industry and government consultants who will be responsible for driving sales and strategic business initiatives throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Shoham, Israel-based Suspect Detection Systems Inc., a developer of counter-terror and crime prevention technology, reports that “multiple units” of its Cogito interrogation system have been sold to a “large federal agency operating in a major Latin American nation,” which was otherwise not identified. “This is the second sale to the same federal agency in the past year,” Cogito said in a statement.

The folks at the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, also known as the U.S. Access Board, are supposedly devoted to ™accessibility for people,™ so it came as a bit of surprise to learn that ordinary citizens attempting to enhance their personal aromas are not welcome at the panel's public board meetings.™Persons attending Board meetings are requested to refrain from using perfume, cologne, and other fragrances for the comfort of other participants,™ declares a notice posted by the Access Board in the Federal Register on November 6.

In an effort to avoid overcrowding of imprisoned criminal aliens, the Federal Bureau of Prisons is considering plans to sign a contract with a private company to house 1,200 to 1,800 low-security criminal aliens in a correctional facility located either in Baldwin, MI, or Lake City, FL.The Bureau of Prisons has announced the availability of a draft environmental impact statement it has developed to examine those two alternatives, or the third option of taking no specific action, which the Bureau says “is not considered a viable alternative.”

More than five years after Hurricane Katrina devastated vast swaths of Louisiana and Mississippi, 367 temporary housing units are still occupied in the Magnolia State â€" an 87 percent decrease from the 2,808 units occupied on January 1, according to a recent summary of recovery progress in Mississippi compiled by FEMA. Other Mississippi Katrina recovery highlights in the FEMA summary:

The city of Wilkes-Barre, PA, has awarded Schneider Electric a $2 million contract for a wireless video surveillance system. The company reports that it will design, install and maintain a network of more than 200 digital surveillance cameras located throughout the cityâ€s downtown area, commercial areas, school zones, parks and parking garages.

Monmouth Junction, NJ-based ™>Infinova has unveiled its new V1493 medium-load integrated PTZ system designed for outdoor video surveillance on intelligent transport systems (ITS). The system is designed to operate in winds up to 130 mph and features a 15™ housing for 1/2™ high resolution camera plus 1/2™ motorized zoom lens.

Vancouver, BC-based Avigilon has appointed Ian McCorkindale as the companyâ€s director of sales for Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. He joins Avigilon from Honeywell Security, where he was most recently the leader of global strategic corporate accounts responsible for lead generation, training, and system design for enterprise video surveillance systems, according to an Avigilon statement.

Financial management at DHS needs to be fixed, DHS Deputy Inspector General James Taylor declared in recent testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Securityâ€s Subcommittee on Management, Investigations, and Oversight. “Specifically, DHS must reengineer and standardize its underlying financial processes so they conform to the requirements of the Chief Financial Officer Act of 1990,” Taylor said in his prepared testimony. “In addition, DHS must strengthen how it manages information technology, so it is able to develop and implement integrated systems that support redesigned financial processes. Finally, DHS must address long-standing inefficiencies in acquisition management, to ensure it can acquire effectively the information technology needed to meet its financial management responsibilities.”

The Department of Stateâ€s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP) is undertaking a two-stage competitive process for 2010 funding of projects that will “improve the response to trafficking in persons outside the United States.” G/TIP anticipates awarding grants of up to $750,000 per project and also anticipates making 50 awards.

The Department of Homeland Security recently announced plans to hire 1,000 cyber security experts over the next three years. The decision signals the seriousness with which DHS takes the cyber threat. But there is a problem. DHS stands no chance of meeting its goal. In the past, DHS has had a poor track record of attracting talent to the department, particularly in technical fields. Few competent professionals already within the federal ranks want to go to DHS. Recruiting in the private sector is equally hopeless. No bag of incentives that DHS can possibly offer can compete with pay and performance packages available in the private sector, where demand for skilled services continues to increase even in the down economy. I have yet to meet an out-of-work cyber security expert, and when I do, I doubt he will be able to get a security clearance.

When it comes to gathering high-tech actionable intelligence from the High Frontier, aka space, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair says that private enterprise is meant to play an increasing role. Admiral Blair, the former commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, delivered that message late last month, during a keynote speech at the 2009 GEOINT Symposium, held in San Antonio, TX.

The ASIS Foundation, the charitable arm of the well-known trade organization for security professionals, has named Eric Amerland of the ASIS New Orleans chapter the winner of the Timothy J. Walsh APC I Award. The Walsh Award pays for tuition, transportation, hotel costs and course materials for ASISâ€s Asset Protection Course 1, to be held Nov. 16-19 in Philadelphia.

Sunnyvale, CA-based Proofpoint, Inc., the provider of e-mail security and data loss prevention solutions, has unveiled newest SaaS and appliance e-mail security and data loss prevention platform, Proofpoint 6. Highlights of Proofpoint 6 that the company is spotlighting include the availability of Proofpoint Encryption, data loss prevention security and workflow enhancements, and support for DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) e-mail authentication.

Ashburn, VA-based Telos Corp. reports that it has received a task order awarded under NETCENTS to deliver a geomapping imagery visualization application for the Hawaii Air National Guard.  The award incorporates the companyâ€s SE7EN applications, which, Telos notes, take advantage of the multi-touch, interactive capabilities of the Microsoft Surface platform. 

Denver, Co-based Secure64 Software Corp. reports that the U.S. Department of Labor has purchased the companyâ€s Secure64 DNS Signer product to meet the OMB DNSSEC implementation mandate and increase security of its Internet infrastructure, including DNS services.  The Domain Name System (DNS) is responsible for translating host names to IP addresses (and vice versa) and is critical for the correct operation of any Internet-enabled device.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in the Department of Justice is seeking a contractor to provide technical and instructional support to ATFâ€s National Firearms Examiner Academy (NFEA), as part of a year-long program for trainees. Generally, the contractor must be experienced in providing training to adult learners and must have a minimum of 20 years experience in forensic science.

DHS and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have launched a new interagency Web site intended to allow federal disaster recovery officials to solicit public comments from state, local and tribal partners and the public. The site, called DisasterRecoveryWorkingGroup.gov, is available at here.

Following the determination that the H1N1, or swine flu, epidemic now raging in the U.S. has the potential to affect national security, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for peramivir, an antiviral manufactured by BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., for administration to “certain adult and pediatric patients.” Peramivir is a drug that is not approved by FDA, but the agency is issuing the EUA under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as requested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.