GSN: Government Security News

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is looking to recruit two new members to each of two different standards panels that are trying to develop new standards for in-car video systems used by law enforcement officers as well as walk-through and hand-held metal detectors.The first standards committee is in the process of developing a standard for what the NIJ calls a ™Vehicular Digital Multimedia Evidence Recording System,™ but which would more commonly be called an in-car video system. This standards development work will be carried out by a Special Technical Committee, which will hold four different two-day meetings, during a seven-month time period, during which a new standard â€" and an accompanying certification program â€" will be written.

The DHS Office of Inspector General (DHS OIG) calls the departmentâ€s own “public-facing” Web sites a “highly accessible point of entry and attack to its information resources.” That was the top-line warning in a recent report from the DHS OIG, redacted for public distribution earlier this month, entitled Vulnerabilities Highlight the Need for More Effective Web Security Management.

Spindale, NC-based First Choice Armor reports that its female-engineered body armor is the first to win approval from the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ) voluntary body armor compliance testing program, NIJ Standard-0101.06 (NIJ-06). The NIJ introduced the NIJ Standard-0101.06 to create minimum performance requirements and test methods for the ballistic resistance of personal body armor intended to protect officers against threats likely to occur in their line of duty, First Choice notes, adding that vests in compliance with NIJ-06 must protect against amplified velocities of ammunition, and extreme conditions.

Netanya, Israel-based Commtouchâ€s latest quarterly Web threats report finds that in Q3 2009, for the second quarter in a row, there were “spikes in email-borne viruses not caught by major anti-virus engines.” That spike is what differentiates these two quarters from the “rather consistently low numbers seen during the previous 18 months,” according to the report.

Menlo Park, CA-based TYZX, the 3D-vision technology company, is now offering the TYZX DeepSea G3 embedded vision system (EVS), which it characterizes as a 3D system that provides real-time range data for robots, security systems and other applications, even in adverse operating conditions. In what the company calls an “enclosure about the size of a paperback book,” the TYZX G3 EVS integrates a TYZX DeepSea stereo camera featuring two high dynamic range (HDR) imagers, a TYZX DeepSea 3 stereo image-processing ASIC circuit, a built-in ProjectionSpace processor, and an embedded PowerPC CPU running Linux and a gigabit network connection.

Lenexa, KS-based ICOP Digital, Inc., the digital surveillance specialist, reports that the 88th MP Detachment in Camp Zama, Japan, has purchased the companyâ€s Model 20/20-W digital in-car video systems. The deal was made through Raytheon Company, with which ICOP has a reseller agreement.

BiKal IP CCTV, a UK-based manufacturer of network surveillance equipment, reports that its flagshipt EyeSoft software surveillance platform will utilize the Nvidia Cuda graphics platform to accelerate the video system. The software supports most video formats including MJPEG, MPEG4 and can accelerate H.264 video with Nvidiaâ€s PureVideo technology found on more recent releases of the graphics cards, says BiKal.

GSN: Government Security News has announced the finalists in 26 different categories in its 1st Annual Homeland Security Awards competition, along with seven preemptive winners in another seven categories.All winners will be announced â€" and celebrated -- at a gala dinner GSN is hosting at the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan on the evening of Tuesday, October 27, 2009, the night before the opening of two security expos at the Javits Center in New York City â€" Public Security & Safety and ISC East.

If you are the owner or manager of a private company, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) wants you to ask yourself how quickly your company can get back to business after a terrorist attack, a tornado, fire or flood, or any other natural or man-made disaster. The answer, says FEMA, depends on emergency planning you do today. Here, according to FEMA, is what you need to do now:

The Internal Revenue Service is on the hunt for a contractor to provide explosive-detection dog-team services at 10 offices nationwide, from the beginning of 2010 through the end of 2014. The IRS posted a “pre-solicitation” to that effect earlier this month. The postingâ€s solicitation number is TIRNO-09-R-00032.

Todayâ€s cyber-threat environment is not what it was in 1995. If you work in the government sector, you face nation-sponsored adversaries with sophisticated capabilities, deep pockets and a high level of political and economic motivation. Your job as an information security officer (ISO) is further complicated by progress within IT organizations and trends within our society and the way we communicate.

Radnor Township, PA-based Villanova University, a specialist in online IS security education, has launched a new government security training program, the Master Certificate in Information Security Management â€" Government. VU characterizes the new program as a completely online, three-course track, designed to help government workers prepare for mandatory certification by imparting the latest security practices and principles.

SDI Government Solutions, a division of Systems Documentation Inc., of South Plainfield, NJ, and a provider of information performance solutions for the Department of Defense and other government agencies, has named retired U.S. Army Col. Emmett O'Hare to the post of vice president of operations. He will direct operational activities for all government contracts held by SDI Government Solutions.

Palm Harbor, FL-based (ISC)2, a non-profit organization for information security professionals, has launched what it calls the Safe and Secure Online volunteer program, offering its top cyber-security professionals from business and government to teach cyber-safety in classrooms nationwide. Upon request, (ISC)2 volunteers will deliver an interactive presentation designed for children aged 11-14, to teach them how to protect themselves in a cyber-connected world, the organization says.

San Diego-based MIR3, an innovator of real-time universal notification and response technology for the enterprise, has announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has selected MIR3â€s hosted platform for its global health alerting needs. The CDC is a U.S. federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services, based in Atlanta, Georgia.


San Diego-based MIR3, an innovator of real-time universal notification and response technology for theenterprise, has announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has selected MIR3â€s hosted platform for its global health alerting needs. The CDC is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services, based in Atlanta, Georgia.


Wilton NH-based Sentry Solutions, the dry lubrication specialist specializing in the military, law enforcement, firearms and outdoor sporting markets, reports that it has received an overall score of 4.95 out of a possible five for its Marine Tuf-Cloth in the National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) member-tested and -recommended program ratings. “Even if you do not live in a saltwater environment, this cloth will be useful for protecting metal items from rain, sweat or other liquids that the items may be exposed to,” the company quotes one of the NTOA testers as saying.

“Perhaps in no area has globalization progressed so radically as in organized crime.” That was the provocative message of Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden, addressing the 78th Interpol General Assembly in Singapore earlier this week. Ogden, who chairs the Attorney Generalâ€s Organized Crime Council, also cited a provocative statistic: “By one estimate, organized crime today comprises up to 15 percent of the global gross domestic product.”

In an effort to accelerate its procurement of approximately $500 million worth of explosives detection equipment at 26 different U.S. airports, TSA has decided to waive a Buy American provision in the “stimulus act” that would require that 100 percent of the iron, steel and manufactured products being purchased actually originate in the U.S., and instead require that only 95 percent of such materials be U.S. products.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has picked Amanda G. Fredriksen to be the assistant commissioner for the Federal Acquisition Serviceâ€s Office of Strategic Business Planning and Process Improvement. In this position, Fredriksen, a GSA veteran, will oversee and guide FAS†strategic planning, business process improvement, and strategic communications programs and initiatives, according to a GSA statement, and she also will continue to lead FAS†Recovery Act collaboration with the Public Buildings Service.