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Thank you, USSN Staff
DISCLAIMERTHE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS REPORT HAS BEEN ASSEMBLED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES AND IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS REPORT IS PROVIDED AS RECEIVED AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN ENDORSEMENT BY THE US SECURITY NETWORK, ANY MEMBER COMPANY, OR PARTICIPATING PUBLIC AGENCIES. INFORMATION MAY BE REPEATED, AS IT IS EXTRACTED EXACTLY AS PRESENTED BY THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
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Improved technology, the rise of bioengineered medicines, and the growing need for hospitals and other drug suppliers to find less costly deals for the drugs they purchase have driven a surge in the amount of counterfeit medicines in circulation. The number of counterfeiting incidents reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has grown from about five each year during the 1990s, to about 20 each year since the year 2000. Improved printing technology has made counterfeit medicines, which are watered down, mislabeled, or can include other chemicals, increasingly difficult to distinguish from valid drugs, and counterfeiters are becoming more crafty in how they market and distribute their goods. Counterfeiters are aided by the pharmaceutical distributions system, which Florida pharmacy investigator Gregg Jones says is weak and difficult for drug manufacturers to monitor. The FDA has no official policy requiring manufacturers to report whether they know if their product is being counterfeited, and until recently, the regulatory agency denied the seriousness of the drug counterfeiting problems in the United States. Following a $55 million recall of the drug Lipitor, lawmakers launched a congressional inquiry, and the FDA announced it was forming a task force on counterfeiting. The task force has since said that new technologies, including radio-frequency chips and improved state licensing, may act to reduce drug counterfeiting, but the agency says such measures could take years to implement. The rise in counterfeiting has prompted large pharmaceutical distributors limit their purchases from smaller wholesalers and to take other active anti-counterfeiting steps. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The 1970 Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) was amended in 1996 to include several issues related to employment, including investigations of employee misconduct and workplace wrongdoings. These amendments have been open to varying interpretations by legal experts, sowing confusion among security professionals over how the rules should be implemented. In 1999, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a letter of clarification about the necessity of pre-obtaining written consent before a third-party investigation of an employee can be launched. This letter, known as the "Vail letter," states that employers must get written authorization not just in pre-employment hiring investigations, but in post-hire investigations as well. Employers have found this rule very frustrating because it effectively announces to employees that they are being investigated, allowing them to thwart the investigation by destroying evidence or taking other protective measures. In addition, the FCRA rules do not give witnesses the protection of anonymity--the rules permit the person being investigated to procure a copy of the investigation report, meaning that the witness sources can be revealed, which tends to discourage witnesses from cooperating in the first place. The FTC has advised that employers could try to write investigative reports without naming witnesses, though this tactic could lead to a wrongful termination lawsuit if an employer ends up firing an employee based on information provided by unidentified witnesses. Some lawmakers in Congress are attempting to address the shortcomings of the FCRA, and the courts have provided several rulings agreeing with the stance of employers, but at present time, the FCRA provides muddled guidance. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This year marks the 51st Annual Energy Information Technology Conference, which hosted more than 40 energy-industry CIOs. The group paid special attention to cyber and terrorist threats to security, agreeing that current standards are not enough to protect the nation's utilities. The executives argued that a critical gap exists between what is mandated by the government and what individual companies can afford to implement. Utilities are suggesting that the federal government step up its support for investments in security, while the industry should create a more coherent set of security standards in hiring practices. Of the CIOs attending the meeting, less than 50 percent reported that they performed extensive security screenings of employees or had access to information-sharing systems that would allow easier flow of information on security-related issues from the government. The American Gas Association, which sponsored the conference, states that it has been working with experts throughout the industry to formulate recommendations for securing the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems, which help manage large industrial operations such as power grids and natural gas. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Nanotechnology researcher Mark Ratner and his son, tech entrepreneur Dan Ratner, have co-authored a book detailing how nanotech will be an important component of U.S. homeland security. Dan Ratner expects the first anti-terror nanotech applications to be sensors boasting unrivaled accuracy for detecting bioterror agents and explosives because they employ molecular matching systems. Another homeland security nanotech application Ratner mentions is super-strong materials used for body armor; in fact, there are nanotech-derived fabrics already on the market that are 10 to 50 times stronger than Kevlar. Nanotech can also be used to decontaminate sites of biowarfare attacks by using nanoparticles to absorb or scrub contaminated areas clean of poisonous agents. Ratner observes that most military applications for nanotech concentrate on beefing up soldiers' survivability or protection, such as "dynamic smart materials" that can be altered at a moment's notice to shield troops against chemical agents. The entrepreneur cautions that without appropriate oversight by nanotech-monitoring organizations, the technology could be used to infringe on people's privacy. This abuse stems from nanotech's ability to ease the processing and storage of personal information when used with computers. Ratner estimates that a large chunk of the $4 trillion spent annually on defense and energy will be channeled into nanotech. www.investors.com
Privacy proponents are concerned that technologies that are being more and more deeply embedded in people's everyday lives--ostensibly to improve the quality of life--could be employed by governments and enterprises as tools to monitor people without their consent. One such technology is ubiquitous computing systems, in which tiny sensors and transmitters are distributed practically everywhere to support wireless ad hoc networks for a multitude of services; designers of such systems acknowledge that the technology could be vulnerable to abuse. The recent UbiComp conference in Seattle was a focus for such concerns: An anonymous engineer there admitted, "The more awareness you have in the system, the less privacy you're going to have." Another UbiComp attendee, Carleton University sociologist Anne Galloway, posed that ubiquitous computing systems, with their promised ability to record and store virtually any human act, could furnish an archive of embarrassing or objectionable behavior. UbiComp systems designers expressed confidence that they will be able to uphold the privacy of their users' personal information by enlisting specialists in a wide spectrum of disciplines to co-develop their systems. Researchers and engineers attending UbiComp noted that people desire to have control over the amount and kind of data collected by ubiquitous computing systems, and this control was demonstrated--or promised--by projects showcased at the conference. University of Calgary scientists unveiled a system that enables telecommuters to blot out family members when they enter a home office in view of the camera, avoiding potentially embarrassing or privacy-infringing situations. Other developers are restricting their ubiquitous computing applications to art installations, hoping to evade privacy concerns for the moment. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Senate Agriculture Committee ranking member Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said Monday that a General Accounting Office report finding "serious shortcomings" in the Agriculture Department's security at Plum Island, the federal research laboratory off the coast of New York's Long Island, "raises concerns" about security at other animal disease research facilities such as the National Animal Disease Center at Ames, Iowa. In a statement, Harkin said GAO had found insufficient security checks to prevent unauthorized individuals access to secure areas of the Plum Island facility containing dangerous pathogens; unclear guidelines and operating procedures for security personnel; and alleged acts of sabotage at the facility. USDA uses the Plum Island facility to research animal diseases that do not exist on the U.S. mainland. The facility was transferred to the Homeland Security Department in 2002, but USDA scientists still do their work there. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Overstay tracking is a key component of a layered defense, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The FDA, Justice Department, Secret Service, Association of Board of Pharmacy, Association of Chain Drug Stores, and others are teaming together to prevent counterfeit prescription drugs. High drug prices are encouraging patients to purchase prescription drugs from Canada and other foreign countries, which increases the risk of counterfeiting. Some potential solutions to prevent counterfeit drugs from reaching the public include: forcing drug companies to ship pills in smaller quantities, decreasing profits associated with counterfeit drugs, and implementing gadgets that track prescription drugs and identify them as the real product to pharmacists. The problem came under serious review after the FDA and Custom agents found 1,019 drugs out of 1,153 imported drugs to be illegal. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Several governments in Asia and the Pacific Rim have agreed to a Bush administration draft proposal that calls for strict limits on how shoulder-fired missiles can be used and transferred. The Bush administration is pressing to have the proposal incorporated into the final communique issued during the meeting of Asian leaders this week in Bangkok, which President Bush will attend. The proposal includes language advocating "strong national regulations on the production, transfer, and brokering" of missile systems, as well as research into creating a new class of shoulder-fired missiles that would include "launch control features that preclude their unauthorized use." U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell recently said that "no threat is more serious to aviation" than the threat posed by shoulder-fired missiles. Some shoulder-fired missiles can be purchased on the black market for just $5,000, according to weapons experts. The countries that have expressed support for the U.S. proposal include Australia, Canada, Russia, Japan, and New Zealand. The United States is hopeful that other regions of the world will agree to similar proposals restricting the trade and use of shoulder-fired missiles. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Recent discussions with Regions Bank Senior Vice President and Director of Compliance Loring Muir and SunTrust Banks Corporate Compliance Officer John Ehrensperger unveiled the top priorities of those in the banking industry in light of recent legislation aimed at reducing money laundering, fraud, and privacy violations. SunTrust has undergone changes in its banking priorities, which has left it scrambling to integrate disparate risk management systems to cover compliance with the USA Patriot Act, Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, and the Basel Accords, but Ehrensperger notes that a comprehensive risk management strategy is beneficial to any financial institution. Muir, on the other hand, claims that the biggest obstacle for Regions is the USA Patriot Act, which requires the company to upgrade its technology to meet customer identification requirements. Both companies note the importance of technology in their compliance efforts and highlight the cooperation between managers and IT staff members and professionals. According to Ehrensperger, SunTrust's internal monitoring technologies have proven to be an enormous asset in terms of identifying potential fraudulent acts and other illicit activities, and Muir adds that his company has mainly relied on vendors to provide the appropriate technologies to reduce money laundering and other events. Regulatory compliance is considered a necessity by both facilities, but each has its own way of gauging the success of policies and procedures implements. Regions evaluates its technology with other technology, while SunTrust examines error rates in transactions, such as consumer loan disclosures. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The Senate Governmental Affairs on Wednesday called for a report on pay parity and benefits among the different federal law enforcement agencies to address recruitment and retention challenges. The bill (S. 1683) would require the Office of Personnel Management to submit a report to Congress by April 30, 2004 on the different pay and benefit scales at federal law enforcement agencies and recommendations to eliminate disparities between different agencies. The committee approved the measure on a voice vote. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio?chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Oversight of Government Management Subcommittee, which has oversight of federal agencies, including the 44 federal law enforcement agencies?introduced the bill in September to review pay and benefits for the 129,000 law enforcement officers to "explore ways to stabilize recruitment and retention efforts."
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