U.S. Extends Alert Over German al Qaeda Threat

U.S. officials extended a travel alert in Germany and urged Americans to remain wary after terrorist organization al Qaeda posted messages in recent months threatening attacks in the country.

The alert issued Thursday will remain in effect until February 10. It replaces one issued in September that expired Wednesday, a news statement said.

It urged Americans in Germany to keep up with news reports and to consider the security procedures in place when they visit hotels, restaurants, and other entertainment and recreation venues.

“Over the past few months, al Qaeda has released videos threatening to conduct terrorist attacks against German interests,” the statement said. “While these threats initially mentioned the German federal elections in September, al Qaeda continues to threaten Germany.”

Germany is investigating all threats, the U.S. State Department said.

via U.S. alert over German al Qaeda threat – CNN.com.

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Homeland Security – Study Finds Serious Vulnerabilities in U.S. Passport Process

An investigation conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found serious weak spots in the process of issuing of passports, raising concern over terrorists’ access to American identities.

According to the report, “terrorists or criminals could steal an American citizen’s identity, use basic counterfeiting skills to create fraudulent documentation for that identity, and obtain a genuine U.S. passport.”

The GAO used counterfeit methods to successfully obtain passports in four different tests. In one case, the GAO investigator used the identity of a man who died in 1965.

The investigator was also able to purchase an airline ticket and bypass airport security using fraudulent identification.

According to the report, U.S. Department of State officials said fraud detection efforts are “hampered by limitations to its information sharing and data access with other federal and state agencies.”

View the full report

Highlights