Atlantic Organization for Security (AOS)

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1103 AOS Mar Brief

31 March, 2011, AOS Brief  is a service featuring some of the most interesting news and articles which highlight transatlantic commonalities in response to Homeland Defense and Security issues, for mutual benefits in sharing approaches, technologies and solutions 

Feel free to pass it on to any of your colleagues who might be interested in getting it. 

Please note that each item can be read in full by clicking on it. 

Topics in this Issue
  • Cybersecurity
  • Systems and Technologies
  • Policy and Trends
  • UAV
  • Contracts
  • Export Control / Contracting Policy

Categories Acquisition – Air Defence – ATC/ATM – ATM  – Border Control – Border Security – Comms – C4ISR – company balance – Contracts – Customs and Border Protection – Cybersecurity  – Export Control  – Homeland Security  – piracy / antipiracy – Policy – sensor – site protection – training  – VTS / VTM  –

Companies / Organizations BAE Systems – BOEING – EU – EDA – DHS – FINMECCANICA GROUP – GENERAL DYNAMICS – LOCKHEED MARTIN – RAYTHEON – SAAB – THALES GROUP – DHS – EUROPEAN UNION – FRANCE – GERMANY – ITA MOD – NATO – TSA – UK – UK MOD – US COAST GUARD – US DOD – USA – BORDER SECURITY – CYBER SECURITY

Cybersecurity

  • CYBER COMMAND PURSUES ‘DEFENSIBLE’ IT ARCHITECTURE – Gen. Keith Alexander has outlined a series of next steps to be pursued by the six-month-old U.S. Cyber Command, including development of a “defensible architecture” that’s better suited for the latest generation of cyber threats. Alexander is director of the National Security Agency and commander of U.S. Cyber Command, which operates out of Fort Meade […]
  • WHITE HOUSE CYBERSECURITY REPORT: CYBER ATTACKS +40% LAST YEAR – The onslaught of cyber attacks against federal networks increased by 40 percent last year, according to an annual White House cybersecurity report. There were 41,776 attacks against agencies in the last fiscal year up from the 30,000 reported the previous year, according to an Office of Management and Budget annual report. The report is part […]
  • PENTAGON & DHS WORKING ON CYBERSECURITY PILOT PROGRAM – The Pentagon, along with counterparts from the Department of Homeland Security, are working a new joint effort to protect a number of defense industry networks from cyberattacks. In the program, DoD and DHS computer security specialists are working with the “tier one internet service providers” to transition a number of the cybersecurity measures already in […]
  • EXTREMELY SOPHISTICATED CYBER ATTACK AGAINST RSA – The network of one the world’s largest and trusted security firms has been breached, and an unknown amount of information about its popular multifactor authentication technology has been stolen. Customers are worried about what form potential attacks could take. The SecurID information that was stolen would not allow attackers to launch a successful direct attack […]
  • CYBERWARFARE ADVANCES –The commander of the new U.S. Cyber Command told Congress on Wednesday that threats of cyberwar continue to grow. “The cyberthreat continues to mature, posing dangers that far exceed the 2008 breach of our classified systems,” Army Gen. Keith Alexander said in testimony before the House Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats. “We are collectively […]
  • DHS : EINSTEIN 2 CYBER INTRUSION DETECTION SYSTEM DEPLOYED– DHS continues to deploy the Einstein 2 cyber intrusion detection system, which is now at 15 federal agencies and four major Internet service providers. Last year, the system detected over 5.4 million events, demonstrating that DHS has “developed the expertise about how to act in that environment, move forward to protect security and to protect […]
  • ‘SPECTACULAR’ CYBER ATTACK TARGETS FRENCH GOVERNMENT – The French finance ministry has shut down 10,000 computers after a “spectacular” cyber attack from hackers using Internet addresses in China, officials and reports have said. The French government said that on March 7 it was the victim of a “spectacular” cyber attack from hackers using Internet addresses in China who targeted documents on international […]
  • NEW CYBER ATTACK FEARS OVER THE CHINESE ‘RED ARMY LAB’ BEING USED FOR BT BROADBAND TESTS – A controversial Chinese telecoms company with close links to the Red Army is developing equipment to be used in millions of British homes. The new technology is to be rolled out as part of BT’s £2.5 billion plan for super-fast broadband […]
  • LONDON UNDERGROUND MOBILE PHONE NETWORK COULD BE HACKED DURING 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES? – UK Spy fears after Far East firm with alleged links to Chinese military is given all-clear to build mobile phone network on the Tube Security experts have voiced concern after Business Secretary Vince Cable backed a giant Chinese company that is bidding to build a mobile phone network on the London Underground. The deal between […]

Systems and Technologies

  • TOP FIVE APPS FOR THE ARMY WINNERS RECOGNIZED AT LANDWARNET CONFERENCE – The Army announced winners of the Apps for the Army (A4A) application development challenge at the LandWarNet Conference in Tampa, FL. A4A is the Army’s first internal application development challenge. In 75 days, 141 Soldiers and Army civilians registered in teams or as individuals to participate in the A4A challenge. By the May 15th deadline, […]
  • SMARTPHONES COMBINE WITH TACTICAL RADIOS TO BOOST GROUND TROOPS –A cutting-edge combination of smartphones plugged into tactical radios empowered small Army units during a recent field exercise observed by Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the Army’s vice chief of staff. Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division communicated via voice, data and images as they swarmed a mock village to capture a high-value target. Information traveled rapidly […]
  • U.S. ARMY: $2.3M TO GD FOR HANDHELD BATTLE COMMAND CAPABILITY – The U.S. Army has awarded General Dynamics C4 Systems a $2.3 million contract to provide a prototype, hand held system (GD300_datasheet here) that will enable unprecedented network connectivity and increased command, control and situational awareness for dismounted soldiers and Marines. Two companies received contracts as part of the U.S. Army’s Joint Battle Command – Platform (JBC-P) […]
  • LICENSE PLATE SCANNER AIMED TO SNAG OFFENDERS – Police in DC area now have a system that can scan up to 3,600 license plates within a minute. It’s a system that works faster than ever before. The scans can detect stolen plates and stolen cars in your community. It’s called a Mobile Plate Hunter 900 (MPH-900), and it’s helping officers track down offenders from […]

Policy and Trends

  • TSA PLAN TO BODY-SCAN PEDESTRIANS, TRAIN PASSENGERS – Giving Transportation Security Administration agents a peek under your clothes may soon be a practice that goes well beyond airport checkpoints. Newly uncovered documents show that as early as 2006, the Department of Homeland Security has been planning pilot programs to deploy mobile scanning units that can be set up at public events and in […]
  • Finmeccanica To Sell Some DRS Assets For Up To $800M – Finmeccanica SpA said it is looking to sell some assets of its U.S. unit DRS Technologies Inc. to raise between $700 million and $800 million. Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, chief executive of the Italian defense and aerospace group, also told analysts at a presentation in London he wants to keep control of another unit, Ansaldo Energia, […]

UAV

  • CHINA STOLE SOUTH KOREAN SECRETS ON DRONE? – China hacked South Korea’s secret military information on plans to introduce a U.S-made high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle, last June, an opposition lawmaker claimed on the 7th of March. Observers say Beijing may be unnerved by Seoul and Tokyo’s pursuit to secure unmanned reconnaissance aircraft as their bolstered intelligence capabilities could help the U.S. glean more […]
  • DOMESTIC UNPILOTED AIRCRAFT MAY USE ‘TUNNELING’ TO FLY IN NATIONAL AIRSPACE – While unmanned aerial vehicles are common in the skies above Afghanistan and Iraq, they have been flown sparingly in the United States because of strict Federal Aviation Administration rules regulating national airspace. Police agencies would like to use remotely controlled aircraft to monitor cities. Customs and Border Protection has employed them along the U.S. borders […]
  • UNMANNED SPY DRONES AND FACIAL RECOGNITION CAMERAS COULD SOON BE THE NORM IN UK – Ministers signaled that advances in technology meant there was nothing to stop such controversial surveillance measures becoming commonplace. The warning came in proposals for a code of practice to better regulate the spread of CCTV amid fears there will be “unchecked proliferation” without it. Christopher Graham, the Information Commissioner, said last year that Britain is […]
  • HIGH RESOLUTION SAR IMAGERY TO INTEGRATOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM – Insitu Pacific and SELEX Galileo are collaborating on rapidly integrating SELEX Galileo’s best-in-class high-resolution synthetic-aperture radar(SAR) PicoSAR into the Integrator Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). Equipped with PicoSAR’s active electronically scanned array (AESA)and ground moving target indicator (GMTI) technology, Integrator will deliver the highest-resolution SAR imagery available on any tactical UAS in service today. “This will […]
  • UAV MARKET WILL TOTAL JUST OVER $94 BILLION – Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been the most dynamic growth sector of the world aerospace industry this decade, report Teal analysts in their latest integrated market analysis. Teal Group’s 2011 market study estimates that UAV spending will almost double over the next decade from current worldwide UAV expenditures of $5.9 billion annually to $11.3 billion, […]

Contracts

  • SSC IMPROVES THE MSS 6000 FOR THE FINNISH BORDER GUARD – Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) signed a contract with the Finnish Border Guard (FBG) to further improve the surveillance and protection of the Baltic Sea. With this contract, phase II in the project, the maritime surveillance capacity of FBG’s two Dornier aircraft will be improved with the integration of an advanced search radar and infrared camera […]
  • DHS SPENDING BIG ON NEW SENSOR SYSTEMS – After one year of studying whether it was wise to proceed with SBInet — the so-called virtual border fence — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano pulled the plug on its current iteration. DHS has not soured on technology to monitor the borders, though. Plans call for more than $800 million to be spent […]
  • U.S. TO SPEND $800M TO TERMINATE MEADS PROGRAM – Over the next three years, the U.S. government plans to spend more than $800 million on a missile defense “proof of concept” that Army Secretary John McHugh has little confidence will even work. Speaking before the House Armed Services Committee on March 2, McHugh explained to lawmakers that the Pentagon’s course of action for the […]
  • US SSC PACIFIC: $219 MILLION CYBERSECURITY CONTRACT TO SAIC – Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) announced it was awarded a prime contract by the U.S. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) to provide technical services in support of cyberspace operations. The multiple-award, indefinite-delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract has a two year base period of performance, three one-year options, and a total contract […]

Export Control / Contracting Policy

  • SIMONE BEMPORAD OF FINMECCANICA NA: THE IMPORTANCE OF INCREASING THE COOPERATION AND INVOLVEMENT WITH ALLIED COUNTRIES – Simone Bemporad: “I think that we could benefit from the focus that the QDR poses on partnerships with allied countries. What I mean is that we will see more programs in which several countries will be called on to contribute.” download the 100129 Quadrennial Defense Review Report here   Finmeccanica North America CEO Simone Bemporad […]
  • GAO: FOREIGNERS TAP SENSITIVE INFO – The risk that foreign nationals working for U.S. companies or universities could gain unauthorized access to technologies that have dual military and civilian use —  controlled technologies” — is a lingering concern for U.S. national security, according to a report released this week by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. This liability could have serious repercussions […]
  • SMUGGLING PLANE FORCED TO LAND IN TURKEY – Weapons were found on an Iranian cargo plane forced to land in southeast Turkey on Saturday, Turkish media reported Tuesday. According to reports, the arms plane left Tehran with military ammunition for Syria. Several crates containing weapons and ammunition were removed from the aircraft. Turkish media reported that the plane was forced to land in […]