Thursday, May 10, 2007

Daily Highlights

The Associated Press reports Cracker Barrel pulled hamburgers from hundreds of restaurants after a patron in South Carolina reported cutting her mouth on a piece of metal embedded in a patty, (See item 28)
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The Alameda Times−Star reports cell phones could save lives in California under an alert system state officials expect to provide in 12 to 14 months that will send warnings about campus massacre threats, road calamities, wildfires, as well as terrorist attacks, floods, and tsunamis. (See item 43)

Information Technology and Telecommunications Sector

44. May 08, Federal Computer Week — DoD struggles with incompatible data. Despite its efforts, the Department of Defense (DoD) is finding it difficult to share data. The multiagency Cross−Domain Semantic Interoperability Working Group concluded that DoD must address the problem with technologies that aren't yet available. The group released a report stating that DOD's data strategy is inimical to achieving broad interoperability. The technologies necessary to reach that goal haven't sufficiently matured, according to the report. DOD’s strategy is to establish communities of interest (COIs) that will develop standard data models. That approach is problematic, the report states, because it will result in a proliferation of COIs and competition among them. “The Army may end up with 100 or more data models, even with strong governance to limit the number," the report states. The group concluded that mapping the various data models could require as many 9,900 interfaces. The report's authors recommended that DoD focus on emerging technologies that directly address such issues to expand its ability to share data with internal and external partners.
Source: http://www.fcw.com/article102657−05−08−07−Web
Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Daily Highlights

The Associated Press reports airport directors from a half dozen U.S. cities are meeting with top Israeli security officials at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv to learn about one of the world's most rigorous and effective airline screening processes. (See item 17)
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WUSA reports students and staff at Rachel Carson Middle School in Herndon, Virginia, have discovered straight pins in food three times since April 24; food tampering is a felony that carries a penalty of five to 20 years in prison. (See item 23)
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CNN reports the federal government on Monday, May 7, charged six alleged Islamic radicals with plotting to kill U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix in New Jersey, which is used to train members of the Army Reserve and National Guard for missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world. (See item 41)
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Information Technology and Telecommunications Sector

39. May 08, US−CERT — Technical Cyber Security Alert TA07−128A: Microsoft Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities. Microsoft has released updates to address vulnerabilities that affect Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, Office, Exchange, CAPICOM, and BizTalk as part of the Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for May 2007. The most severe vulnerabilities could allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service on a vulnerable system. In addition a previously disclosed vulnerability in Microsoft DNS RPC is addressed in this update. Microsoft has provided updates for these vulnerabilities in the May 2007 Security Bulletins. The Security Bulletins describe any known issues related to the updates. Note any known issues described in the Bulletins and test for any potentially adverse effects in your environment.
May 2007 Security Bulletins: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms07−may.mspx
Source: http://www.us−cert.gov/current/index.html#microsoft_releases _may_security_bulletin