India – Discrepancy Over Alert, Warning of Sea Based Attack

Union Home Ministry on Monday refused to confirm any intelligence alert suggesting a possible 26/11 like attack in the country, a Times Now report said.

Earlier, it was reported that the intelligence agencies had issued an alert warning of possible sea-based terrorist strike.

The alert was reportedly issued for Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata following information that 30 to 40 terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba are planning a sea based strike.

It had also stated that local police and Coast Guard have been put on a specific alert in view of the intelligence inputs.

The warning comes only a few weeks prior to the date exactly one year ago that terrorists struck Mumbai India in a similar style attack.

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Newark Citizen Patrol Part of Crime-fighting Tactic

As we’ve cited in previous articles, New Jersey continues to lead the way in utilizing new, innovative approaches to community safety, emergency preparedness and citizen involvement.

New Jersey Alert A Preparedness Role Model

NJ Law Would Require Homeland Security Drills In Schools.

The latest involves convoys of vans led by Newark’s mayor and filled with more than 100 of its employees and residents, flooding the city’s neighborhoods in the middle of the night as a way to reduce crime. It’s a great idea that probably should also be looked at as part of the city’s contingency planning to to utilize during a crisis or emergency.

As part of Community Caravan Night Patrols, more than 120 volunteers have patrolled city streets with Mayor Cory Booker and a crew of off-duty police officers since Sept. 29. Each weekend and a few nights each week, they pile into long caravans of glaring white vans, which weave through the city’s wards, focusing on areas where 85 percent of the city’s shootings have been recorded.

The program’s goal is to disrupt normal crime patterns during typical high-volume hours, gather intelligence for police, and engage residents in the process of crime prevention, said Anthony Campos, the city’s director of public safety.

“You have this whole collage of people coming together for a common cause,” Campos said of the program. “They’re self actualizing by getting out there. They’re no longer spectators.”

Some of the largest caravans will be out this Halloween weekend, which has long been associated with mayhem in Newark. The patrols will start earlier and end later those nights, Booker said.

The initiative is similar to Operation Impact, a law enforcement technique designed by Police Director Garry McCarthy that saturates volatile areas with police to disrupt criminal trends. The essential difference with the caravans is that volunteers are doing the saturating, and the vans and radios are donated by Newark Now, a local non-profit founded by Booker.

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Modern Warfare 2 Terrorism Footage Stirs Controversy

Terrorism footage from a leaked version of the new Call of Duty – Modern Warfare 2 video game has apparently stirred a great deal of controversey overseas.

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2″ community manager Robert Bowling wasn’t kidding when he said this week might be a good time for players to look away from the Internet if they want “a spoiler free and pure ‘Modern Warfare 2′ experience.” A leaked video involving what are ostensibly terrorist operations from the game has stirred up plenty of controversy, and voices in Australia, a worldwide leader in game censorship, are on the front lines.

“Expecting game designers to be responsible by not glorifying terrorism will always lead to disappointment,” South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson said, according to The Age.

In rundown over on GamePolitics.com, several Australian sources issue grievances with the game for allowing players to presumably act as terrorists in “Modern Warfare 2,” at least one of whom expects video game content to be evaluated as a “leisure activity” instead of an entertainment medium or artform on par with films or novels.

“The consequences of terrorism are just abhorrent in our community and yet here we are with a product that’s meant to be passed off as a leisure time activity, actually promoting what most world leaders speak out publicly against,” Australian Council on Children and the Media president Jane Roberts told the Australian publication.

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Tom Hoggins provides analysis of the controversial new Call Of Duty – Modern Warfare 2 game at The Telegraph.

As soon as the controversial footage of Modern Warfare 2 made it into the public eye this week, there was no doubt a sharp intake of breath from the gaming population the world over. Played from the first-person, the player apparently takes control of a terrorist gunning down innocent civilians in an indiscriminate attack on a public airport.. As he emerges from an airport elevator with his squad, the terrorists open fire on a group of travellers gathered in the baggage reclaim area.

As the footage continues, the player joins in the attack, turning his machine gun on civilians attempting to pull other injured people away from the carnage and even propelling grenades across the airport concourse.

Let’s not beat around the bush here, I’ve seen the footage and even as a lifetime gamer – supposedly ‘desensitised’ to this kind of thing – I was shocked. It was harrowing, terrifying, despicable and made me feel intensely uncomfortable just watching it. It echoes the recent Mumbai killings all too obviously.

So, here’s the big question; has this scene done its job in the way it was intended? While it will cause intense controversy and reignite the debate over video game violence, it could also be a watershed moment for video game storytelling.

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Terrorists Using Blogs To Engage Counter-terrorist Experts Online

This is an interesting article from the UK. Although I have never received any response from known terrorists on this site, I’ve often wondered if someone like Adnan G. el Shukrijumah, Adam Gadahn or others go online to research and read stories and posts about themselves. When someone like Gerald Posner does an in-depth investigative piece on a terrorist like el Shukrijumah, does el Shukrijumah see it? My assumption has always been that he does. Many well known terrorists have an obvious strong desire for attention in the media and this article makes that case.

A senior Arab Afghan adviser to al Qaeda and the Taliban has openly challenged an Australian counter-terrorism expert in a series of blog posts. Abu Walid al Masri has written direct responses to Leah Farrall, an Australian academic who writes the All things Counter Terrorism blog and has years of experience fighting terrorism with the Australian Federal Police.

Farrall recently described al Masri as “one of Mullah Omar’s most trusted advisers” in an op-ed for the Australian. He has written 12 books in Arabic relating to Afghanistan and al Qaeda, and has just re-emerged as an author for the Taliban’s flagship magazine publication, in which he recently encouraged the Taliban to engage in the kidnapping of British and American soldiers. Because of this, Al Masri has been one of Farrall’s “main academic interests for many years” and she was shocked read his blog posts about her: “To say that I am blown away by this would be a pretty massive understatement”.

In his first blog post, Abu Walid al Masri joked that Farrall’s “focus on academic research will give us a bit of comfort and space so we can work safely in the field (terrorism). Therefore I thought it would be a good to distract her with these dialogues so the rest of the gang can do the work.”

He compares Farrall to the “beautiful female soldiers” who tortured “our brothers” in Abu Ghraib, and then begins the dialogue sardonically:

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PhoneSnoop – DHS Warns Blackberry Users About App

The Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) is warning BlackBerry users about a spyware program that allows attackers to turn a target’s handset into a microphone that can be accessed remotely.

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From Search Security

The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team is warning Blackberry users about new software that could be used by hackers to turn the smartphone into a listening device.

An application called PhoneSnoop can configure the phone’s speakerphone function to enable a hacker to listen to surrounding conversations remotely. The software uses a Blackberry API to intercept incoming calls. Once the software is downloaded and installed, the software is triggered by a simple phone call, placing the device into speakerphone mode.

Sheran Gunasekera, the developer of the snooping application, wrote on his blog that he wanted to shed light on the threats posed by careless use of Blackberry smartphones. Gunasekera said the application can be easily detected and is visible in the Blackberry user interface.

“While the BlackBerry remains one of the more secure devices out there, user awareness and education is paramount to remaining completely safe from spyware,” Gunasekera wrote.

Gunasekera posted a YouTube video demonstrating how PhoneSnoop works. He introduced the tool on Oct. 19, but only made the software available for download Oct. 23, tweaking it to allow users to create a customized trigger number.

The US-CERT warned Blackberry users to password protect their devices and only download software from trusted sources.

“This software allows an attacker to call a user’s BlackBerry and listen to personal conversations,” the US-CERT said. In order to install and setup the PhoneSnoop application, attackers must have physical access to the user’s device or convince a user to install PhoneSnoop.”

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HUD and DHS Launch Disaster Recovery Website

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced the launch DisasterRecoveryWorkingGroup.gov—a new inter-agency website that will allow federal disaster recovery officials to solicit public comments from state, local and tribal partners and the public.

The new website will be used by the federal government’s newly-formed Long Term Disaster Recovery Working Group—co-chaired by Secretary Donovan and Secretary Napolitano—to allow stakeholders to submit ideas for disaster recovery; articulate objectives for recovery assistance going forward; identify examples of best practices; raise challenges and obstacles to success; and share thoughts, experiences and lessons learned.

“It is vital to our success that disaster recovery professionals and stakeholders provide their input as we move forward to improve disaster recovery efforts across the country,” said Secretary Donovan. “This new website will give everyone involved in disaster recovery a voice in shaping how we respond, and then rebuild and revitalize communities in the wake of disaster.”

“Successful recovery relies on effective collaboration with partners from state, local and tribal governments and the private sector,” said Secretary Napolitano. “This new website will support the federal government’s efforts to enhance our nation’s resiliency in the face of emergencies by engaging directly with our stakeholders.”

Last month, President Obama asked Secretaries Napolitano and Donovan to co-chair the Long Term Disaster Recovery Working Group, comprised of more than 20 federal departments, agencies and offices, to ensure that individuals, communities and the nation’s economy can withstand and rapidly recover from disasters. In order to develop a better national strategy for an effective approach to long-term disaster recovery, the Working Group will:

* Provide operational guidance for Federal, State, Tribal and local authorities to provide for effective and unified disaster recovery. This includes defining roles and responsibilities, detailing recovery management and operational coordination, articulating communications strategies and establishing measurements for success;

* Review disaster recovery programs and the framework of disaster recovery, and identify gaps as well as overlapping and/or conflicting sources of authority for disaster recovery efforts;

* Examine areas for improved interagency planning and collaboration among federal agencies;

* Examine methods to build capacity within State, local and tribal governments as well as within the nonprofit, faith-based, and private sectors; both in recovery operations and in pre-disaster recovery planning; and

* Examine successful practices and lessons learned during previous disaster recovery efforts, with particular attention to catastrophic disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

In addition, Secretaries Donovan and Napolitano will provide the President with recommendations to improve long-term catastrophic disaster recovery and help develop a National Disaster Recovery Framework that will provide detailed operational guidance to recovery organizations under existing authorities.

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Is Osama Bin Laden Accidentally In New al Qaeda Video

UPDATE: From Bill Roggio at The Long War Journal – According to one of my most trusted sources, the blurry image seen on the tape is indeed Osama bin Laden.

One of the reasons that this is convincing is that the blurry image remains in the video. As Sahab, which produces al Qaeda’s propaganda, is very selective in the information it releases, and rarely leaves garbage in its videos. As Sahab intentionally leaves in this clip, for reasons unknown. Does al Qaeda want to generate a buzz? Is this a hidden message? Perhaps this is a precursor to a new bin Laden tape?

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2009/10/osama_bin_blurry.php#ixzz0VNychmQ2

The Danger Room has a story that they say, may be something, may be nothing. If you check out al-Qaeda’s latest video, there’s a blurry image that bears a striking resemblance to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Danger Room features 5 stills from the video. You be the judge.

Last night, al-Qaeda’s media unit, As-Sahab productions, released a video featuring a lengthy sermon from the group’s theological star Abu Yahya al-Libi. Most of it is pretty typical stuff. But towards the end, things get interesting.

The camera blurs and closes in on the assembled crowd hugging and congratulating al-Libi. One of those fuzzy well-wishers, some in the Italian press are saying, bears a striking resemblance to one Osama Bin Laden. Danger Room pulled a few stills from the video so you can judge for yourself.

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Growing Up Bin Laden, Osama’s Son Omar Speaks

Time magazine takes a look at the life of Omar Bin Laden, the fourth eldest of Osama bin Laden’s 20 known children

For Omar Bin Laden, the fourth eldest of Osama bin Laden’s 20 known children, the awful realization that his own father was a terrorist mastermind plotting a global conspiracy that would destroy the lives of thousands of innocent people and even his own family came gradually.

Of course, there were warning signs: Omar’s childhood was marked by regular beatings and survivalist training; there was the growing army of ruffians and retainers who called his father “Prince”; and then there was that Afghan mullah who had given his father an entire mountain in Tora Bora.

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FBI Lacks Translators For Terror Intelligence

AFP cites a Justice Department audit in a report that states the FBI currently does not have enough translators to review as much as one third of the foreign-language material it collects in counter-terrorism operations.

About one third of electronic documents and one quarter of audio files collected in anti-terror probes have not been translated and reviewed, said the report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine, seen by AFP Tuesday.

“Not reviewing such material increases the risk that the FBI will not detect information in its possession that may be important to its counterterrorism and counterintelligence efforts,” it said.

According to Fine, Federal Bureau of Investigations agents translate and read all of the 4.8 million pages of text in foreign languages.

However, 14.2 million e-mail messages, or 31 percent of the total during the auditing period, have not been reviewed. Neither have 1.2 million hours of audio, or 25 percent of the 4.8 million hours collected.

Despite the demand for translators, the FBI has also seen the number of their linguists drop, going from 1,338 in March 2005 to 1,298 in September 2008.

“We found that the FBI failed to achieve its linguist hiring goals for critical languages,” the report read.

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Second Life Raises Awareness With Disaster Zone Project

Pixels and Policy has an interesting article on how the Catastrophic Planning and Management Institute in cooperation with Linden Labs recently launched a new Second Life sim, an innovative disaster awareness project called the “The Disaster Zone’ that will assist in planning and preparing for real disasters with virtual worlds. The project includes 14 collaborative islands and one overarching goal: limiting deaths related to natural disasters.

Cp-mi CPMI plans to create an in world disaster recreation and training program designed to educate users on the best way to avoid falling victim to hurricanes, earthquakes, and other common disasters.

The Citizens’ Emergency Preparedness Project makes use of cutting-edge technology and streaming media to drive home its message.

CPMI offers the opportunity to learn through streaming media and community interaction. Second Life is already a mix of community center and media hall, so it seems natural to build a facility to teach the importance of working together to help prepare for and mitigate disasters.

Bringing in the Virtual Feds

CPMI has been closely involved in the evaluation and development of Catastrophic Plans for multiple Federal agencies and the Department of Defense. The organization is now flexing its virtual chops, bringing its work in catastrophic planning to civilian groups.

Other CP-MI Federal projects include review of IT Security, Interoperable Communications for Disaster Response, Health IT Security and Medical Record security and assistance in reconciliation middleware; Internal Review Processes and software development; review of Emergency Alert Systems, evaluation of Exercise Hot-Wash procedures and After Action Reports.

Full Article – Pixels and Policy.

Visit The Second Life Site

Catastrophic Planning and Management Institute

NEFA Report – The New York, Denver Terror Plot Arrests

This NEFA Foundation report, “Target: America”, provides details on Najibullah Zazi’s activities prior to his arrest and sheds light on why this case is considered by many experts to be the most significant terrorist plot on U.S. soil since 9/11.

The investigation into a plot to detonate explosive devices in the United States led by Afghan immigrant Najibullah Zazi and three yet-to-be-named accomplices is ongoing. To date, only three individuals have been arrested in connection with this case.

Only one, Najibullah Zazi, appears to be implicated in an operational capacity. Two others, Bosnian immigrant Adis Mendunjanin, and New York City cab driver Zarein Ahmedzay, have been questioned, but have not been arrested.1 A childhood acquaintance of Zazi’s, Naiz Khan, with whom Zazi stayed when he traveled to New York in September, is reported to be under surveillance in connection with the plot.

This is the most advanced U.S.-based plot since 9/11 that is said to be tied to Al-Qaida. According to media reports, high-ranking Al-Qaida operative Mustafa Abu al-Yazid3 used a middle man to contact Zazi.4 Although we have seen Al-Qaida-linked individuals in the U.S. engage in terrorist-related activities such as Iyman Ferris who surveilled the Brooklyn Bridge while in contact with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed5 we have not seen a fully operational plot in which operatives received direct training from Al-Qaida.

Read The Full Report

iWatchLA – PSA And Training Video Available Online

The LAPD has released 2 new videos as part of it’s iWatch program. One, a 78 second PSA and the other a 7 minute national training video.

Although some have been critical of the PSA, calling it Orwellian and Big Brotherish, I would tend to disagree. No one is being asked to ’spy’ on their neighbors, friends and co-workers as some blogs have suggested, they’re simply being asked to report suspicious activity.

That’s what the iWATCH program is about, it asks citizens to report, via a toll-free telephone number or website, any suspicious activity that might indicate a terrorist plot is in the works.

Often times it’s the smallest bits of information that yield the biggest breaks in a case or investigation.

It was just such a tip that led to the September arrest of Najibullah Zazi, the Denver man suspected of having al-Qaeda connections. Zazi you might recall, came under investigation after purchasing large quantities of chemicals from Denver-area beauty supply stores.

A recent Officer.com article provides several examples.

I encourage you to watch the videos and as always, report any suspicious activity immediately.

iWatch 78 Second PSA

IWatch National Training Video

iWatchLA

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• Afghan immigrant suspected of plotting terrorist attack on NY pleads not guilty (telegraph.co.uk)

Facebook, Twitter To Message Disaster Warnings in Australia

The Cairns region in far north Queensland Australia will be be conducting trials in the use of social network sites Facebook and Twitter to issue urgent messages about natural disasters in the area. This is something we have advocated here for some time now. The benefits of using social networking platforms in crisis or emergency communications are numerous and we’re missing some incredible opportunities in this area.

The Cairns Regional Council’s Disaster Management Unit will set up Facebook and Twitter sites that will include information on important weather events, cyclone watches and updates, as well as links to other relevant sites.

Mayor Val Schier says many young people access their social networking websites several times per day.

“We’ll be doing lots of the same sorts of things we usually do, like producing brochures and going out and doing community meetings and talking on the radio, but in addition to that this year we’re trialing two different things,” she said.

“We’re actually going to use Facebook and we’re also going to use Twitter as a way of communicating with young people.

“We’re really just trying to find ways of connecting with people. It’s really important that people get prepared for cyclone season, but also if there is an emergency happening that they’re kept up to date with what’s going on.”

Source

Brother Defends Alleged Terror Suspect On Facebook

The family of alleged terror suspect Tarek Mehanna is proclaiming his innocence and turning to Facebook to get the family’s message out.

From WCVB TV 5 Boston

Tamer Mehanna said his brother, Tarek, was set-up by federal agents with false and ludicrous accusations because of his constant refusal to tell lies about the Muslim community as an FBI informant.

“Free Tarek Mehanna” is the official and public Facebook site for people who believe in his innocence.

His brother says Mehanna refused a year’s worth of FBI attempts to make the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy graduate a confidential informant.

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