7. May 2008 by Dan Verton.

Urges Americans, Lawmakers to Avoid Complacency

May 7, 2008

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, speaking last night to a gathering of intelligence and national security experts in Washington, D.C., warned Americans and lawmakers that if complacency is allowed to replace serious discussions of real threats ”we are doomed to repeat history” — a clear reference to the 9/11 attacks and the investigation into the intelligence community’s failure to uncover the plot.

Speaking to the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, an organization of government and industry intelligence professionals dedicated to education and debate of national security issues, Chertoff outlined his prioities for the Department of Homeland Security for the remaining 9 months of the Bush administration. Among those priorities, Chertoff said, are continuing the department’s support for secure travel documentation and the transformation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, preparing a transition team and established doctrine for the new administration, and rolling out a new cyber security initiative that in part would task the intelligence community with helping to defend federal computer networks against criminal hackers and foreign espionage operations.

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2. May 2008 by Dan Verton.

Homeland Security Television’s new program, Ghosts In The Machine: The Challenge of Achieving Interoperability For Disaster Response, reveals the troubling reality of our nation’s ability to communicate during a disaster. More than 6 years after 9/11, the nation can only point to “marginal improvements” in emergency communications interoperability. And according to the Association of Public Safety Communications Offcials, a nationwide interoperable wireless voice capability for first responders is still 15 years away.

That means interoperable emergency communications — which the 9/11 Commission said was one of the most important requirements for homeland security in the post-9/11 world — might be a reality more than two decades after 9/11.

Here’s a direct link to the video:

Ghosts In The Machine: The Challenge of Achieving Interoperability For Disaster Response

Posted in First Responders, Editor's Notes | Print | 1 Comment »

30. April 2008 by Dan Verton.

The majority of U.S. companies have a formal, written plan for emergency preparedness, according to a report released today by The Conference Board. But a widely adopted certification standard for such plans does not exist yet.

Three-quarters of the 302 senior corporate executives surveyed in mid-2007 said that an emergency preparedness plan exists in their companies. The analysis was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as part of an ongoing research project to assess the effectiveness of security in American companies.

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