The National Security Council is back in business – well, at least under its old name again. In May 2009, the president’s National Security Council, which deals with foreign policy hot spots around the globe, The New York Times reports, was renamed the National Security Staff by President Obama. The explanation at the time was that the NSS would incorporate the staff of the president’s Homeland Security Council.
The recognition of the need for homeland security, and the rapid growth of the security industry around that need, is based in part on recognition of the critical need to ensure that no individuals in a facility or campus ever have access to an area where they are not authorized to enter.
The Homeland Security Department ranked last in overall satisfaction amongst 19 large federal agencies for the third year in a row, according to the National Journal. The agency’s 46.8 percent rating in overall satisfaction marks a more than 6-point drop from 2012. The rankings, in “The Best Places to Work” 2013 report, are largely based on data collected by the Office of Personnel Management through its Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.
The NSA has been using its collections of data since November 2010 to create sophisticated graphs of some Americans’ social connections that can identify their associates, their locations at certain times, their traveling companions and other personal information, a New York Times article reports.
NASA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are collaborating on a portable radar device to detect the heartbeats and breathing patterns of victims trapped during a disaster.
In her farewell speech, outgoing Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano says that the U.S. will soon face a major cyber attack with serious impacts on the economy and society as a whole.
DHS Closer to Controversial National Facial Recognition
August 27, 2013
Recent investigative reports, revelations of government collection of email and telephone data as well as the release tomorrow, August 28, of a movie that does not position public security video in a good light all seem to be aiming at resurrecting Big Brother.
The American Society of Safety Engineers applauds and supports a Presidential Executive Order to improve federal agency coordination of the national chemical facility safety and security oversight.