DHS Monitoring Social Media and Web Sites for Terror Info

As the winter Olympics begin, the Department of Homeland Security has disclosed that it will be monitoring the comments and posts on several websites and social media outlets like Twitter, National Terror Alert, The Drudge Report, The Blotter and others for information on possible terror threats.

The National Operations Center of DHS will watch the web for information, according to the statement, to “provide situational awareness” in the event of natural disaster, an “act of terrorism, or other manmade disaster.”

“The Olympics are a potential target for such events,” said the statement. The statement did not list all web sites and social media that the NOC will monitor, but provided 31 examples, many of them, like the Blotter, sites that cover breaking news, security, or terror.

DHS officials say they will not be monitoring the web sites extensively, but would use the sites as a reference and open source tool in the event of an incident or emergency. DHS officials also used the monitoring of social media sites in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake to aid rescue efforts.

[...]

One official told ABC News that monitoring the web sites during an emergency is like watching “a canary in a coal mine,” since social media sites can have real-time information. The official said the raw information that is available on the sites can help first responders and law enforcement officials make quick assessments to help in their response to events.

Read Full Article.

Editors Note – Some will no doubt speak out against this however, from what we’ve read, this is a good thing. I’ll explain. There are a number of websites that monitor and aggregate news related to homeland security, such as ours. Often times we’ll pick up a small story from a local paper or social media site that may be interesting to our readers, but probably seems insignificant to most people, including ourselves.

What may seem insignificant to us and others, may be of importance to an agency such as DHS that has a vast amount of intelligence and situational awareness to draw from. They have the ability and resources to put stories and posts together that we would never dream are connected.If it makes the country safer, we’re all for it.

The goal of this site has always been to maintain awareness, encourage individual and community preparedness and keep America safe. Any role we can play in acheiving those goals is welcomed.

U.S. Cautions Citizens On Olympics Terror Threats

CTV reports that while there are no specific terror threats, the U.S. is advising American sports fans traveling to Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics to watch out for al-Qaeda and other extremists, especially on transit and in restaurants, churches and other areas outside official venues.

Al-Qaeda’s demonstrated capability to carry out sophisticated attacks against sizable structures – such as ships, large office buildings, embassies and hotels – makes it one of the greatest potential threats to the Olympics,” the U.S. State Department said in a fact sheet on the Games posted on its website.

No specific credible threats have been identified, the U.S. government said. However, Americans planning to attend Olympic events or participate in large-scale public gatherings during the Winter Games should use caution and be alert to their surroundings, the advisory said.

Americans are advised to be especially alert when outside Olympic venues. “As security increases in and around Olympic venues, terrorists could shift their focus to more unprotected Olympic venues, open spaces, hotels, railway and other transportation systems, churches, restaurants and other sites not associated with the Olympics.”

via Read Full Article.

Canada Prepares For Olympics With Mock Terror Drill

Authorities in Vancouver Canada staged a mock terror attack Tuesday in an effort to prepare for the real thing during the 2010 Olympic Games.

The make-believe was part of the final formal security drill “to confirm that federal, provincial, regional, and municipal organizations are prepared to respond in a coordinated manner to any emergency that may occur during the 2010 Winter Games,” said Public Safety Canada.

The week-long exercise in this western Canadian metropolis also includes flyovers by Canadian and American military jets and an incident Thursday at a railway station.

The mock attack involved as many as 2,000 police officers, firefighters, government specialists and military, said Jaimie Tomlinson of Public Safety Canada.

The exercise played out like live theatre in a school playing field in the suburb of Richmond.

Actors pretended to have been poisoned by deadly radioactive isotopes and were rescued by firefighters dressed in hazardous-materials suits who hosed them down in the chilly autumnal air, removed their contaminated outer clothes, and wrapped them in emergency blankets.

“What we have here is a fictional terrorist group planning to disrupt the games in order to draw attention to their cause,” said federal spokesman Ted Sykes.

The script concerned a girlfriend reporting her terrorist boyfriend to police, which set in motion an attack in which deadly radioactive isotopes were released in some 20 public places, including a shopping mall and in the school field, where a rally was being held for Canada’s hockey team.

via Read Full Article.