tsa

Back home on the East Coast today after a very busy ISC West. (Sorry for the delay in posting, my flights' wi-fi was not working. I also had flight delays, and it was a very long day getting back here.)

Friday I spent time with David Gurulski and Curtis Cole from BRSLabs discussing rules-based cameras vs. the company's behavioral recognition offerings. Management's time saved was a key theme. I wrote recently about one of their recent projects at Port Fourchon in Louisiana.

At Quantum Secure's booth, Rochelle Thompson introduced me the new "SAFE for CIV" software, which closes the physical identity management gap between PIV and non-PIV badge holders for government agencies

OnSSI's Moshe Levi, product manager, emphasized the importance of mobility in security surveillance. I also got a look at the LiveVest, worn by SWAT teams and security guards, that contains three cameras. Very Bond-esque.

David Bunzel, executive director of PSIA expressed his optimism that CSOs are becoming more accepting of industry standards. "They're becoming less proprietary," he said.

I floated around the trade show floor after the above-mentioned meetings and then had a lovely dinner with my co-workers before calling it an early night.

At the airport early on Saturday, the TSA officer I encountered was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed! Such a welcome! I've written much about the problem-plagued TSA, but on this most recent trip, I found the security officers to be helpful, kind and personable.

I'll be writing more about ISC West findings in the coming weeks, but I'm headed to Chicago on Tuesday for the ASIS 2013 Media Tour in Chicago. I'm impressed with the agenda. More about that to come, of course.

TELL THE TSA TO KEEP KNIVES OUT OF THE CABIN. That's the message (caps included) from the Coalition of Flight Attendant Unions, representing 90,000 members, on its www.NoKnivesOnPlanes.com website.

The group this week has been leafleting at airports to get passengers on their side in opposition to the TSA's announcement last month that it will allow knives with retractable blades less than 2.36 inches and narrower than a half-inch to be carried upon planes as of April 25. The TSA will also allow on board previously banned items such as golf clubs and lacrosse sticks.

The coalition's leaflets, which encourage passengers to sign its online petition, have been distributed at major airports and will continue to be handed out this week.

Flight attendants aren't happy with John Pistole of the Transportation Security Administration. The TSA administrator announced this week that airline passengers soon will be allowed to carry on small pocket knives, golf clubs (two each), ski poles, billiard cues, toy baseball bats and hockey and lacrosse sticks.

The Flight Attendants Union Coalition, which represents 90,000 flight attendants, called the decision "outrageous and shortsighted, and asked Pistole to reconsider," according to a news report in the Philadelphia Inquirer. American Airlines' flight attendants union, with 16,000 members, agreed that knives of any kind should not be allowed on board.

Knives with retractable blades measuring less than 2.36 inches and narrower than a half-inch and the aforementioned athletic gear will be allowed as of April 25, bringing the United States in line with international rules.

"We believe that these proposed changes will further endanger the lives of all flight attendants and the passengers we work so hard to keep safe and secure," FAUC said, according to the news report.

The TSA said it was an "intelligence-based, risk-based decision." The biggest threat to travellers is explosives, not pocket knives or sports equipment, TSA spokesman David Castelveter told the Inquirer.

The Transportation Security Administration has announced that five more airports will offer TSA PreCheck by April 1, bringing the total number of airports participating to 40.

Eligible passengers flying on participating airlines out of Austin-Bergstrom International, Cleveland Hopkins International, Memphis International, Nashville International and Raleigh-Durham International airports may receive TSA PreCheck benefits.

“Offering TSA PreCheck at five additional airports is a key step to including more low-risk travelers in the expedited screening process,” TSA Administrator John S. Pistole said in a prepared statement. “This pre-screening initiative helps TSA focus its resources on those individuals we know less about, and strengthens our capabilities to ensure security for travelers when they fly.”

Eligible passengers include U.S. citizens who have opted-in through Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways as well as those who are members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Trusted Traveler programs, including Global Entry, SENTRI and NEXUS. Canadian citizens traveling domestically in the United States who are members of NEXUS are also qualified.

Heard enough about sequestration and its potential impact?

Well, here's some more, pertaining to security if the automatic, across-the-board budget cuts totaling $85 billion for fiscal year 2013 go into effect March 1.

I've read numerous news reports over the past few days dealing with everything from the Department of Homeland Security saying it would be forced to shut down its research and development lab, to the TSA stating it will need to furlough employees—resulting in longer lines at airport security checkpoints. The Pentagon says is would have to furlough civilian workers as soon as April. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol says its ranks would be cut. Port security could be threatened by sequestration as well, according to a report in the U-T San Diego.

Meanwhile, some nuclear arms sites would need to put employees on unpaid leave for weeks or months. Remember the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee? It would have to furlough 700 to 1,000 personnel for as much as six months, reports said.

"Clearly, these layoffs will adversely impact efforts to improve security" at Y-12, where three elderly peace activists, including an 82-year-old nun, last July reached a secured area that houses weapon-grade uranium, the Knoxville News Sentinel quoted an analysis from Democratic House Appropriations Committee members as saying.

And that's just the short list. But Y-12? Oh, my.

Update:

I just read a USA Today article on the sequestration's impact on FBI background checks for gun purchases. You can read it here.

It's official. The Transportation Security Administration as decided to pull its current and controversial full-body scanners from U.S. airports.

The backscatter units, as they are known, have portrayed somewhat naked images of passengers to screeners since 2010. That caused outcries from numerous passengers along with concerns about the amount of radiation scanners emit.

TSA started removing some of the units from airport security check-points last fall.

Since then it has ended its $40 million contract with developer Rapsican, which couldn't come up with successful software that would replace the near-naked images with stick figures by the Congress-imposed June 1 deadline, news reports said. Rapiscan will pay for the machines to be removed by May 31.

TSA started to employ the backscatter units after a Nigerian man attempted to blow up a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight by setting off explosives hidden in his underwear.

Still, even though the Rapiscan machines will be removed, another type of full-body scanner that produces avatar-like images will be used in airports starting in June.

Stay tuned.