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RON LIBENGOOD SPEAKS AT SYMPOSIUM
Ron Libengood, SecuraComm founder and C.E.O. delivered a presentation at the 6th Annual Tri-State Transit Symposium at New York University on October 18 at 10 AM. The NYU Wagner Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management invited Mr. Libengood to speak at the event.
SECURACOMM ADDS DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING
PITTSBURGH- Pittsburgh-based SecuraComm announced the hiring of Leo Marsh, PE, as the Director Of Engineering.
Mr. Marsh’s dramatically enhances SecuraComm’s existing engineering department. A professional engineer, Mr. Marsh brings 25 years of engineering experience and a number of prominent credentials including Registered Communication Distribution Designer (RCCD) and Certified Business Continuity Planner (CBCP). He is also a Microsoft
Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA), Certified Energy Manager (CEM), plus being Certified Leader in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). An active member of the Building Industry Consulting Service International (BICSI) since 1995, Marsh is a nationally published author of articles and papers, and a regular presenter at industry trade conferences. He holds membership in the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI), and the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE).
Mr. Marsh’s responsibilities include directing SecuraComm’s security engineering department in utilizing all available resources and technologies in the planning of security technologies projects. He is also responsible for the development of complete project documents for issuance to the client. He takes responsibility for all engineering projects from lead development to proposal preparation, client presentation, selection of the project team, participating in design development, estimating, reviewing the project with clients, stamping drawings, monitoring construction and ensuring that the project is closed out accurately. Further, he assists in corporate planning, manpower coordination and management and in selected business development activities. He administers overall continuity plans.
Mr. Marsh is Chairman of the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS) and is active in BICSI most recently helping develop the upcoming Safety and Security Design Manual due out early in 2006.
Marsh is a Navy veteran, holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the
University of Pittsburgh, and an MBA and an MS in Management Information Systems from Duquesne University.
SecuraComm is a national security consulting and engineering firm that provides independent appraisals and development of integrated security protection programs.
SecuraComm consultants are affiliates of the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS), Crime Prevention Association (CPA), Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) and the International Association of Professional Security Consultants (IAPSC). As part of the IAPSC, SecuraComm is capable of partnering with clients to assess, design, develop and manage security, communication and fire systems for government agencies, corporations, schools, and private homes worldwide.
SECURITY TIP OF THE MONTH
- Tips for Surviving TSA Airport Regulations
Check with your airline or travel agent to determine how early to arrive at the airport. Recommended check-in times differ by airline and airport.
- Check with your airport to confirm which parking lots are open if you will be parking at the airport. Some lots may be closed for security reasons. Be sure to allow extra time for parking and shuttle transportation.
-- Bring evidence verifying you have a medical implant or other device if it is likely to set off the alarm on the metal detector. Although this is not a requirement it may help to expedite the screening process.
-- Have removed prohibited items such as pocketknives metal scissors with pointed tips (metal or plastic scissors with blunt tips are permitted) and tools from your carry-on baggage.
-- Double check the list of prohibited and permitted items to determine what can be placed in carry-on or checked baggage if you have any questions. Have reviewed TSA's guidance on unlocking checked baggage.
- Watch your bags and personal belongings at all times.
- Do not accept packages from strangers.
- If you see unattended bags or packages anywhere in the airport terminal or parking area, immediately report them to a security officer or other authority.
- Report any suspicious activities or individuals in the airport or parking lot to airport security.
- Don't joke about having a bomb or firearm. Don't discuss terrorism, weapons, explosives, or other threats while going through the security checkpoint. The mere mention of words such as "gun," "bomb," etc., can compel security personnel to detain and question you. They are trained to consider thesecomments as real threats.
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SECURITY NEWS
Task force: IT systems' design should incorporate privacy safeguards
By Alice Lipowicz
Contributing Staff Writer
New IT tools such as data mining ought to be used for homeland security only if their intrusiveness on privacy and infringement of due process rights can be adequately addressed in advance, according to a new report from a task force sponsored by the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank.
The task force of academics examined technologies including data mining, link analysis, data integration and biometrics, and recommended that they be deployed in efforts to counteract terrorism “if and only if” privacy protections are in place. It also suggested principles to follow to ensure the protections.
“Even more important than its specific recommendations, this paper is an exhortation to technology developers: Consider privacy at the start of any system development,” wrote task force member Paul Rosenzweig, senior legal research fellow at the Heritage Foundation. “Privacy protection methods and code (such as immutable audits, or selective revelation techniques) need to be built into new systems from the beginning, both as a matter of good policy and as a matter of good politics.”
One of the principles suggested by Rosenzweig and the Task Force on Protecting the Homeland and Preserving Freedom is that new technologies in cyberspace should comply with existing legal and policy limitations in physical space. For example, if an individual normally has an opportunity to object to a transfer of personal data to a third party, that opportunity should be written into software design for new systems.
To minimize intrusiveness, IT systems for homeland security would be best applied if they are voluntary and used for limited purposes, such as verifying identity or initiating a lead for a law enforcement investigation. Data mining on its own should not be the source of information used to identify an individual for specific consequences, such as an arrest or preventing a passenger from boarding a plane, Rosenzweig wrote.
“Knowledge discovery technology is best understood as enhancing the efficiency of the information-gathering process. But it should not be seen as an end in itself; just as in the physical world, the enhanced scrutiny must produce tangible results before adverse consequences beyond the fact of scrutiny should be allowed to be imposed,” the task force report states.
To reduce the possibility of abuse, the task force recommends distributed architectures rather than a centralized system for collecting data. “The impulse to centralization should be resisted where possible,” the report states.
The task force also advises use of technologies that foster anonymity while allowing individuals to be uniquely identified without rendering their specific identities. One way to enhance privacy is “one-way hashing” that allows lists of individuals to be compared without disclosing the identities of the people on the list.
“[The] Disney [Co.] can compare its list of visitors [to its theme parks] with the Terrorist Screening Center’s watch list and neither need disclose the contents of the lists. If, and only if, a match occurs, would Disney be obliged to disclose the identity,” the report reads.
New IT technologies should have strong oversight mechanisms built in, being either tamperproof or tamper evident, with automatic audit functions logging all activity for later review, the task force suggested. Also, new technologies should require authorization and review by a public official before deployment to ensure accountability.
Redress mechanisms for false positive identifications must be robust, the task force added. “People’s gravest fear is being misidentified by an automated system. The prospect of not being allowed to fly or of being subject to covert surveillance based on electronic records scares them,” Rosenzweig wrote. The task force said a formal redress process was needed — one with administrative and judicial mechanisms — to resolve such concerns.
The task force is one of nine anti-terrorism working groups convened by the New America Foundation, which are meeting in Washington this week at a conference titled “Terrorism, Security and America’s Purpose.” Supporters for the event include the New America Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Hauser Foundation and the New York Community Trust.
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