Safe Banking Systems ID’s Terror Suspects
November 11, 2009 by Homeland Security NTARC News
Filed under Featured
In the last few months a Mineola-based database company, Safe Banking Systems has made quite an impression on both the FAA and TSA. During that time they have uncovered information that six men suspected of, or convicted of crimes that threaten national security kept their federal aviation licenses even though 9/11-related anti-terrorism laws required they be revoked.
From Newsday
Last June, Safe Banking issued what it called a "public service report" that rocked the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration.
The 10-year-old company informed the FAA and TSA that six men suspected or convicted of crimes that threaten national security kept their federal aviation licenses even though 9/11-related anti-terrorism laws required they be revoked. "We're a small company," said Safe Banking president and founder DavidSchiffer. "But within two hours we were able to identify those people who were high-risk individuals." The company employs 12 people, and its sales are "under $5 million," Schiffer said.
The FAA ultimately suspended the licenses of the six, who included two Libyan airlines employees on the FBI's 10 most-wanted list believed to have participated in the bombing of Pam Am Flight 103.
In a statement, the TSA said that this summer it "completed a comprehensive review of the nearly 4 million FAA certificate holders using the FBI's Terrorist Screening Database. TSA now conducts the name matching process for these nearly 4 million records on a daily basis."
Pentagon Plans New Cyber-Command Center
The Obama administration is finalizing plans for a new Pentagon command to coordinate the security of military computer networks and to develop new offensive cyber-weapons, sources said last night.
Planning for the reorganization of Defense Department and intelligence agencies is underway, and a decision is imminent, according to a person familiar with the White House plans.
The new command would affect U.S. Strategic Command, whose mission includes ensuring U.S. “freedom of action” in space and cyberspace, and the National Security Agency, which shares Pentagon cybersecurity responsibilities with the Defense Information Systems Agency.
The Pentagon plans do not involve the Department of Homeland Security, which has responsibility for securing the government’s non-military computer domain.
