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[News Index]
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* Department of Homeland Security
[1] Bush proposes massive overhaul of homeland security agencies
[2] Host of agencies will be affected by homeland security reorganization
[3] Reorganization plan gains bipartisan support on Hill
[4] Personnel reform, but no layoffs, envisioned for new department
[5] Creating Cabinet agency no panacea for agencies' woes, critics say
* Other News
[6] Security through obsolescence
[7] Clarke warns educators about need for better security
[8] Hacker group defaces naval websites
[9] Privacy still blights online retailers
[10] Dead Men Tell No Passwords
[11] Trend Micro strengthens hybrid worm defences
[12] FBI wants to track your Web trail
[13] Hacking puts 4,500 students' grades in doubt at Western High
[14] Is Linux Ready for National Security?
[15] Leaky Cyber Borders
[16] Workers Arrested in Airport Security Crackdown
[17] Ford says global terrorism is tougher to tackle than dealing with Cold
War
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News
_________________________________________________________________
[1] Bush proposes massive overhaul of homeland security agencies
By Jason Peckenpaugh
In what would be the biggest restructuring of government since World War II,
President Bush proposed Thursday to move seven entire agencies and offices
from several others into a new cabinet-level Department of Homeland
Security.
The new department would include the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration, Customs Service,
Immigration and Naturalization Service (including the Border Patrol), Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service, and Secret Service.
Offices of some other agencies would also be absorbed, such as the Commerce
Department's Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office; the National Domestic
Preparedness Office and the National Infrastructure Protection Center at the
FBI; and the Federal Protective Service and the Federal Computer Incident
Response Capability at the General Services Administration.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0602/060602ts1.htm
Bush plan backs IT infrastructure
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/0603/web-plan-06-06-02.asp
Bush overhauls domestic security
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_2030000/2030516.stm
Bush Announces Anti-Terror Agency
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,54617,00.html
Bush unveils security shake-up
http://www.itv.com/news/World174074.html
Bush Plans Mammoth Department of Homeland Security
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/6/6/144125.shtml
Bush unveils plan for domestic defense
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/3417812.htm
Bush Proposes Restructuring of Homeland Security
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/06/politics/06CND-BUSH.html?ex=1024027200&en=
25e823afa4b8db5d&ei=5040&partner=MOREOVER
Bush Speech:
Audio
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020606-8.a.ram
Video
http://www.whitehouse.gov/deptofhomeland/remarks.v.ram
Text
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020606-8.html
General Section:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/deptofhomeland/toc.html
Url of the proposed Department of Homeland Security
http://www.whitehouse.gov/deptofhomeland/
----------------------------------------------------
[2] Host of agencies will be affected by homeland security reorganization
According to Bush administration briefing documents obtained by Government
Executive Thursday, several agencies would be shifted into the proposed new
Department of Homeland Security in their entirety; while parts of other
agencies would be absorbed by the new entity.
The following agencies would be absorbed into the new department:
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Coast Guard
Transportation Security Administration
Customs Service
Immigration and Naturalization Service (including the Border Patrol)
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Secret Service
Offices of some other agencies would also be absorbed, such as the Commerce
Department's Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office; the National Domestic
Preparedness Office and the National Infrastructure Protection Center; and
the Federal Protective Service and the Federal Computer Incident Response
Capability at the General Services Administration.
The documents also indicate that parts of the Federal Aviation
Administration and the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the State Department
would be shifted over to the Homeland Security Department.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0602/060602ts2.htm
----------------------------------------------------
[3] Reorganization plan gains bipartisan support on Hill
By Geoff Earle and Mark Wegner, CongressDaily
Although the Bush administration staunchly resisted early congressional
efforts to create a Cabinet-level homeland security agency--as well as
efforts by Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., and
ranking member Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, to require Ridge to testify before
their committee--GOP sources dismissed notions that the administration had
done a turnaround in issuing its own proposal Thursday.
"I don't see it as an about-face, I see it as part of a process," said one
GOP aide.
House Intelligence Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee Chairman
Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., who anticipated a "major restructuring of agencies,"
said only the administration could judge when to ask Congress for greater
authority for Ridge's office. "If we had jumped out there early with
legislation, we could have made mistakes along the way," Chambliss said.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0602/060602cd1.htm
----------------------------------------------------
[4] Personnel reform, but no layoffs, envisioned for new department
By Brian Friel
No federal employees would be laid off if a 170,000-person Department of
Homeland Security is created by consolidating dozens of existing federal
offices, the Bush administration said in documents obtained by Government
Executive Thursday.
But the new department's leaders should be given much more authority over
personnel than most current federal managers have, the administration said.
"The president's top priority is building the best possible organization for
homeland security," the administration said in the documents. "We anticipate
the initial workforce to remain roughly as it is."
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0602/060602b1.htm
----------------------------------------------------
[5] Creating Cabinet agency no panacea for agencies' woes, critics say
By Kellie Lunney
Reorganizing several government agencies into a Department of Homeland
Security will not solve the communications and personnel problems that
plague agencies involved in homeland defense, labor union officials and
other observers said Thursday.
The Bush administration's proposal to create a Department of Homeland
Security is "basically just reshuffling the boxes, and not tackling the real
problem, which is a lack of communication between law enforcement agencies
at all levels and the intelligence community," said T.J. Bonner, president
of the National Border Patrol Council, which is part of the American
Federation of Government Employees.
The plan would weaken morale among Border Patrol agents who are already
insecure about an impending reorganization at the Immigration and
Naturalization Service, Bonner said. And the proposal could create chaos
with personnel systems, if different pay scales and compensation packages at
different organizations are merged, Bonner said. Pay and benefits vary among
immigration inspectors, Customs inspectors, Border Patrol agents, and Coast
Guard employees, for example.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0602/060602m1.htm
----------------------------------------------------
[Scriptkiddies and clickkiddies might not be able to attack a
system with an ancient OS, but what about the rest
(crackers, ....)? WEN]
[6] Security through obsolescence
By Robin Miller, NewsForge.com
Posted: 06/06/2002 at 12:10 GMT
Here's an interesting way to secure an Internet-connected computer against
intruders: Make sure the operating system and software it runs are so old
that current hacking tools won't work on it. This was suggested by Brian
Aker, one of the programmers who works on Linux.com, NewsForge, Slashdot,
and other OSDN sites; he runs several servers of his own that host a number
of small non-profit sites in the Seattle area. "I have one box still running
a version of Solaris that's so old none of the script kiddies can figure it
out," Brian says. "They tend to focus on the latest and greatest, and don't
have the slightest idea how to handle my old Sun box."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/25608.html
----------------------------------------------------
[7] Clarke warns educators about need for better security
REDMOND, Wash. -- Despite evidence of al-Qaeda's research into American
utility companies gleaned from laptops seized after the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks, don't expect the National Security Agency, CIA and FBI to warn
businesses when a cyberattack might take place.
http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,71714,00.
html
----------------------------------------------------
[8] Hacker group defaces naval websites
By James Middleton [06-06-2002]
'Infidelz' follows on from the 'Deceptive Duo'
Navy and government administrators may have been able to breathe more easily
with hacker menace the Deceptive Duo out of the way but, following an
anonymous tip-off, it looks like others may have taken up the cause.
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1132407
----------------------------------------------------
[9] Privacy still blights online retailers
By IT Analysis
Posted: 06/06/2002 at 12:23 GMT
Privacy concerns have reared their ugly head again this week with the
release of a new study from Jupiter Media Metrix (JMM). It found that as
many as 70% of US consumers are still worried about their online privacy
rights - and JMM reckons these worries will cost online businesses as much
as $25 billion by 2006.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/23/25609.html
----------------------------------------------------
[10] Dead Men Tell No Passwords
By Michelle Delio
12:08 p.m. June 5, 2002 PDT
The man in charge of archiving and maintaining electronic copies of Norway's
most important historical documents is dead and so is access to those
archives.
So the director of the Norwegian cultural center is pleading for hackers to
help him crack the center's password-protected database
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,52997,00.html
http://www.norwaypost.no/content.asp?folder_id=1&cluster_id=19820
----------------------------------------------------
[11] Trend Micro strengthens hybrid worm defences
By ComputerWire
Posted: 05/22/2002 at 04:16 EST
Anti-virus vendor Trend Micro Inc is expanding its software and services
portfolio on order to respond to hybrid worms and malicious code attacks
such as Nimda. The company currently offers pattern file responses and
scanning to enable customers to respond to malicious attacks, but it is now
reacting to customer concerns to do more to predict and prevent attacks and
clean up the aftermath.
http://www.theregus.com/content/56/25010.html
----------------------------------------------------
[12] FBI wants to track your Web trail
The Senate Judiciary Committee will examine Justice Department guidelines on
the ability of federal law enforcement officials to monitor the Internet and
mine publicly available databases. A debate has been ongoing between civil
liberty advocates, some of whom feel that this new ability could lead to
possible discrimination and abuse, and those who feel that this is a long
overdue reform. Some believe that restricting federal law enforcement
officials from accessing research tools and the Internet is limiting their
ability to investigate possible threats adequately.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-933202.html
----------------------------------------------------
[13] Hacking puts 4,500 students' grades in doubt at Western High
By Bill Hirschman and Jamie Malernee
Education Writers
Posted June 6 2002
Every student's grades at Western High School are being re-examined after a
junior admitted hacking into the school's computer and changing classmates'
grades for $5, officials said Wednesday.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-grades060602.story?coll=s
fla%2Dnews%2Dbroward
----------------------------------------------------
[I tried to find out where Alexis de Tocqueville Institute
gets it funding from, but unfortunately I was unsuccessful maybe
this would have explained why they conducted such a study with
such results. WEN]
[14] Is Linux Ready for National Security?
The white paper, "Opening the Open Source Debate," suggests that more
research is needed before the U.S. government dives into open source
programs. Researchers at the Alexis de Tocqueville Institute feel that there
are serious flaws in the open source software, and before systems vital to
the nation's security are placed on open source operating systems, more
research is needed on possible vulnerabilities and flaws, and an open
government debate is needed to help decide what course of action is the most
prudent. Supporters of open source say that funding for the research is
coming from Microsoft. ADTI does not disclose the sources of its funding.
Microsoft has been strongly urging government agencies to stay with its
software for security and compatibility reasons.
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/1276831
----------------------------------------------------
[15] Leaky Cyber Borders
The Net Effect By Simson Garfinkel June 2002
A U.S. shield against foreign spam and hackers: national security or
censorship?
By the time you read this, I should be filthy rich.
I recently received an e-mail that claimed to be from a high-ranking
Nigerian official who had discovered some funds stolen by Nigeria's former
military government. The bank account holding this money, I read, could be
used only to transfer the funds abroad. All I needed to do was respond with
the name of my bank, my bank account number and some personal information.
In return, "Dr. Ahmed" would wire me 35 percent of the trapped $41 million.
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/garfinkel0602.asp
----------------------------------------------------
[16] Workers Arrested in Airport Security Crackdown
NORFOLK (AP) -- Workers at Norfolk International Airport were being arrested
Thursday by federal officials cracking down on airport security breaches, a
newspaper reported.
At least 10 people were in custody by 9:30 a.m., including a former employee
who was arrested at his home while concealing a handgun, The Virginian-Pilot
reported on its Web site. The newspaper cited sources it did not identify.
http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/localupdates/MGB173RV42D.html
----------------------------------------------------
[17] Ford says global terrorism is tougher to tackle than dealing with Cold
War
BY KATHERINE M. SKIBA
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - Former President Gerald R. Ford on Monday called
America "a nation at war" and said nothing - not a congressional inquiry nor
election-year politics - should sway its attention.
Addressing the National Press Club, Ford said the fight in Afghanistan and
other terrorist refuges would do more to avert "another atrocity on American
soil" than any congressional investigation.
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/politics/3393211.htm
----------------------------------------------------
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