Daily Report Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Daily Highlights

The Department of Homeland Security released on Tuesday, January 9, fiscal year 2007 grant guidance and application kits for five grant programs that will total roughly $445 million in funding for state, local, and private industry infrastructure protection initiatives. (See item 15)
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The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday, January 8, published a comprehensive final rule that further reduces the risks for passengers and crews flying long−range regularly scheduled commercial routes over remote areas. (See item 18)
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A New York Department of Environmental Protection worker, caught on surveillance camera, is under investigation for tampering with equipment that chlorinates a reservoir serving more than eight million New Yorkers. (See item 23)

Information Technology and Telecommunications Sector

32. January 09, VNUNet — Experts warn of WiMax security holes. Even before the much−hyped WiMax wide area wireless networking gets off the ground experts are warning of security issues affecting the technology. Analyst firm ABI Research noted that, contrary to many users' expectations, WiMax does have "a number of security vulnerabilities." "Early Wi−Fi consumers enjoyed a false sense of security until there were some well−publicized hacking exploits," said ABI vice president Stan Schatt. "The WiMax Forum has emphasized how much more secure WiMax is than early Wi−Fi. As a result, there may be WiMax customers who are similarly lulled into a false sense of security." Schatt warned that the flaws should begin to show themselves once the first big WiMax rollouts begin. Gaps in WiMax security fall into three categories: user terminals; intrusion detection; and connectivity service networks. User terminals will need encryption acceleration to handle AES processing demands. In addition, access service networks at the edge of WiMax networks offer the ideal place for vendors to add intrusion detection and protection software and hardware.
Source: http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2172121/experts−warn−wimax −security

33. January 08, CNET News — A shifting landscape for e−mail security. Cisco Systems' purchase of e−mail security specialist IronPort Systems is another sign that big−name vendors are taking over the spam fight, analysts say. Upon completion of the $830 million cash and stock deal, networking giant Cisco will join Symantec and Microsoft as a leader in the e−mail security arena. Those other companies entered the market via acquisitions and product development of their own. "As a market matures, this is typically what happens −− the major vendors want to have another arrow in their quiver to sell," said Peter Firstbrook, an analyst with Gartner. More acquisitions are likely, with Cisco rival Juniper Networks and tech giant IBM possible suitors for the remaining independent e−mail security companies, he said. E−mail security used to be the terrain of specialized providers, selling to eager buyers who wanted to stop the influx of e−mail threats, particularly spam. Today, such technology has become more of a commodity, and the area has changed from a sellers market to a buyers market catered to by the big guys, analysts said.
Source: http://news.com.com/A+shifting+landscape+for+e−mail+security/2100−7350_3−6147760.html