RealNews - 6/850 - Terrorism.com
RealNews Items
Bush targets terror threats
January 30, 2003 | adminIn a wide-ranging State of the Union address, President Bush promised to create a center to integrate information from all intelligence sources at a single location. But Democratic leaders remained wary that it would duplicate what is already being developed. In his address Jan. 28, Bush said intelligence and law enforcement agencies have worked more closely than ever to track and disrupt terrorist networks in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But he said he’s ordering the FBI, CIA, the Homeland Security Department and the Pentagon to develop a terrorist threat integration center to merge and analyze all threat information in a single location. Full Story
Slow Slammer response points to NIPC woes
January 30, 2003 | adminSlow response from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to Saturday’s outbreak of a virulent new computer worm may have been the result of the recent government reorganization creating the Department of Homeland Security and increased concerns about threats of cyber terrorism. The FBI came under scrutiny on Monday when it appeared the agency was asleep on its feet Saturday as the W32.Slammer worm rocketed around the world, infecting hundreds of thousands of systems within the first few hours of surfacing. Full Story
Policy would secure users, transactions
January 30, 2003 | adminThe federal CIO Council this month approved a proposal to create a single policy that all agencies would use to authenticate electronic messages, documents and users themselves. With the growth of e-government, “there is renewed interest from our upper-level management” in authentication, said Judy Spencer, chairwoman of the Federal Public-Key Infrastructure Steering Committee. “We have to develop this common policy framework that reaches across these different areas, and then below that, we need to give agencies the component pieces” to fit into their applications and infrastructure. Full Story
Security basics
January 30, 2003 | adminDuring the past several years, federal agencies have spent immense amounts of time and money trying to make their computer systems safe and secure from unauthorized use or intentional damage. These efforts are laudable, and much progress has been made to protect the national information technology infrastructure from malefactors of various sorts. There is, however, one significant area in which substantially more progress is needed: encouraging government contractors to establish and maintain meaningful computer security procedures. Full Story
The BlackBerry Thicket
January 30, 2003 | adminCongress worries that legal hassles may shut down the wireless e-mail service that it now depends on. Should the government seize the technologies necessary for public safety? As if members of Congress didn’t have enough trouble communicating with each other, a lawsuit now threatens to shut down their handheld e-mailing system. In November, a federal court ruled that Research in Motion, the Canadian company that makes BlackBerrys, infringed on a patent held by NTP, of Arlington, Virginia. The jury awarded NTP $23 million, but the Virginia company wants more, including an injunction that could force BlackBerry to go dark. Congress, evidently, is afraid of that dark. Full Story
American Taliban moved from Virginia to California prison
January 30, 2003 | adminJohn Walker Lindh, the American serving a 20-year sentence for helping the Taliban, has been transferred to a federal prison in this desert community northeast of Los Angeles. Lindh, 21, arrived at the medium-security Federal Correctional Institution in Victorville on Saturday, under guard by federal marshals, authorities said. He had been held at a federal lockup in Virginia. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison last October after pleading guilty to supplying services to the Taliban during the war in Afghanistan and carrying explosives in commission of a felony. Full Story
Global Ship Piracy Up Again, Terrorism Feared-IMB
January 30, 2003 | adminActs of piracy are rising sharply and global shipping is increasingly prone to “terrorist” attack, an ocean crime watchdog said on Thursday. In its 2002 annual report the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which monitors crime on the high seas, said the attacks on shipping worldwide rose steeply to 370 incidents last year compared to 335 in 2001. The IMB highlighted the dangers of a new and disturbing trend: attacks by militant groups like al Qaeda on tankers and merchant ships using small boats packed with explosives. In direct reference to the attack on the French tanker the Limburg, rammed by an explosive-laden boat in the Gulf of Aden last October, it said such acts would be difficult to stop. Full Story
Russia Expels US Woman
January 30, 2003 | adminRussia has deported an American woman who allegedly tried to contact Islamic extremists to give them advice on terrorism. Officials from the FSB security service accused Megan McRee of using the internet to get in touch with groups including al-Qaeda, according to reports from Moscow. She had offered suggestions on how and where to carry out attacks, officials said. Ms McRee, however, was deported for failing to register her visa. Full Story
Indonesian Muslim Militia Head Cleared
January 30, 2003 | adminA court in Indonesia has cleared the leader of a former Islamic militia of inciting violence between Muslims and Christians. ” I hope this is an attempt by the judge to uphold freedom of speech in defence of the state and its people ” Jafar Umar Thalib. The cleric, Jafar Umar Thalib, was accused of the offence while he led the Laskar Jihad militia on the religiously-divided Moluccan Islands. Full Story
Hundreds of Recruits Ready to Retaliate, Europe Warns
January 30, 2003 | adminSpanish police arrest an alleged al-Qaeda member in Barcelona last Friday. European investigators have evidence that over the past six months Islamic militants have been recruiting hundreds of Muslims to carry out attacks in the event of a war against Iraq. A French anti-terrorism expert, who requested anonymity, said one threat to Europe came from radical groups that have links with Chechnya and have learned how to make chemical weapons at training camps in Afghanistan or while serving in the Soviet army. He said Chechnya was a kind of “neo-Afghanistan”, a new training ground and staging area for anti-Western terrorists. His thesis, he said, has been validated by new information about intense recruiting and training and a focus on chemical weapons. Spanish and British police reported finding chemical protection suits during raids last week in Barcelona and London. Full Story