TSA Warns of Terrorist Interest in Attacking Buses During Busy Holiday Season
Homeland Security Today (11/11) McCarter, Mickey
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has released a warning that
terrorists may be interested in targeting buses during the holiday travel
season. This warning was issued as a reminder of the standing general threat
against mass transit, not due to a specific threat, explains TSA administrator
John Pistole. The bulletin notes that attacks on buses have become more
prevalent worldwide, with an approximate total of 725 attacks reported between
2004 and 2009. Buses make attractive targets for terrorists because of their
open architecture and accessibility to millions of travelers. A publication by
Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has previously called on
terrorists to hijack buses and drive them into crowded areas, buildings, or
other infrastructure. In order to combat these threats, TSA works with federal,
state, and local authorities on Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response
(VIPR) teams, which send federal air marshals, surface transportation security
inspectors, transportation security officers, behavior detection officers, and
canine teams to important mass transit locations. Local authorities also make
use of their own uniformed officers, canine teams, and closed circuit
recording.
Details Emerge About Suspect Who Fired Shots at White House
Fox News (11/17/11)
Secret Service agents have arrested a suspect who is believed to have fired
shots at the White House in a recent incident. Authorities say that 21-year-old
Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez drove his car near the White House on the night
of Nov. 11 and fired shots at the building with an AK-47 assault rifle. The
shots cracked a window of the White House’s living quarters. However, President
and Mrs. Obama were not at the White House at the time of the shooting. There
are indications that Ortega-Hernandez, who was arrested in a hotel in
Pennsylvania on Wednesday, may have been obsessed with President Obama and that
he may have believed that God had asked him to attack the White House.
Authorities are looking into whether Ortega-Hernandez had mental health
problems. He is expected to appear in federal court in Pittsburgh on Thursday.
Satellite Hack Attempt Shows U.S. Blind Spot
Wall Street Journal (11/17/11) Page, Jeremy
Gen. Robert Kehler, the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, has said that
he does not know who was responsible for interfering with two U.S. government satellites
on at least four occasions in 2007 and 2008. In remarks made during a
teleconference following the release of a report on the matter, Kehler said
that he could not make a determination as to who was responsible for the
interference because he did not have enough information. The report issued by
the U.S.-China Economic Security and Review Commission’s report on the
interference, which was issued on Wednesday, also did not say how the
satellites were interfered with. But draft versions of the report that had
previously been made public said that the interference was conducted through
the Svalbard ground station in Norway. The owner and operator of that ground
station, Kongsberg Satellite Services, has denied that any interference took
place. However, Wednesday’s report did say that the techniques used to
interfere with the satellites did seem to be consistent with a strategy laid
out in Chinese military documents that calls for disabling an enemy’s
terrestrial satellite control facilities during a conflict. The report also
said that the successful hacking of a satellite could allow an attacker to
damage or destroy that satellite or cause problems with the satellite’s
transmission.