Security and Alarm Systems Blog

►The U.S. set a record this year with 12 separate billion-dollar weather disasters in 2011, according to data released by NOAA on Wednesday. The 12 disasters resulted in 646 dead and billion worth of damage. This record year breaks the previous record of nine billion-dollar weather/climate disasters in one year, which occurred in 2008. Preliminary data for 2011 also shows the Autumn months were warmer than average this year with higher than average precipitation in November.

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The FBI in its annual National Gang Threat assessment said one of its key findings was that “gang infiltration of the military continues to pose a significant criminal threat,” allowing gang members to learn combat techniques that they can use back home in their communities. The FBI says there are more than 53 different gangs represented in the ranks of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

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While some critics charge that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has not given the northern border due attention, the agency maintains that it has crafted a strategy for targeting limited assets that does the job without a massive number of boots on the ground.

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►The 1200 National Guard troops posted at the U.S.-Mexico border have helped apprehend 25,514 illegal immigrants to the tune of 0 million. Now critics of the deployment say the cost is too high and the troops are “doing less than ever” compared to the 6,000 troops on the border under George W. Bush from 2006 to 2008. Back then, the soldiers helped build miles of fences and roads.

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Using automated scanners, Google can detect malware on sites that it has indexed. If a hacker has inserted malware into a Web site, Google will indicate that the site is infected in search results online. The company also launched a tool in 2009 to alert network administrators if their sites became infected.

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When Dan Jenkins, CPP, talks about copper thefts, his descriptions conjure up the Old Testament story of how a plague of locusts descended on Egyptian fields. Only in this case, it is hordes of thieves who descend on anything made of copper. “The appetite for it is insatiable,” says the corporate security director for Dominion Virginia Power.

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►A new bill proposed by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) would shield companies from lawsuits and public disclosure requirements when they inform federal agencies about their security vulnerabilities and the type of cyber attacks they experienced. Companies would be protected from both civil and criminal lawsuits for informing the government about attempts by hackers to breach their computer systems.

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 The CHEMM Intelligent Syndromes Tool (CHEMM-IST) is an online decision support tool created by experts in medicine and emergency response as an aid for determining what chemical agent a patient may have been exposed to in a mass casualty incident.

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Americans are known for our humor and skepticism, and it can be a great strength, but it can also cause us to make light of situations that deserve more serious attention. Consider, for example, the response to the discovery back in 2010 of 10 deep cover Russian operatives in our midst. (The FBI released video of their espionage just a month ago.) They had been in the country since the 1990s. But they were likeable suburbanites and socialites.

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