Fraud Women's Network - 'From Fagin to Phishing'

Last Thursday I attended the 6th Annual Event and 5 year Celebration of  the Fraud Women’s Network (FWN). The event was called “From Fagin to Phishing” 200 Years of Organised Crime with presentations from Colin Woodcock MBE – SOCA and David Chernick - MD at TREACL Ltd, and Chair of PREFIT. Both presentations were very good and took us on a professional and personal journey of how organised crime changed through the ages? Or had it? How have organisations tackled and mitigated these changes? Have they? How has it evolved and shaped the way we tackle crime and look at fraudsters today?

But the real reason in coming together was to celebrate the FWN's 5th year anniversary, present the Stella Walsh Award and have a truly wonderful network evening where the women definitely outnumbered the men and I was one of the lucky few to be invited.

Now, some of the older, crustier and less tolerant men out there may just see this organisation as a bunch of raving feminists coming together to right all the wrongs in the world created by men. They couldn't be more wrong.  The FWN's strap line isn't we hate men, far from it. Chair, Toni Sless was recorded saying the complete opposite, but it is important to recognise there are notable differences and challenges that women face everyday. I spoke to a number of women who attended the event to ask what they get out of it and what are some of the challenges they actually face and it was all too clear that there is a distinct lack of women in senior positions within the fraud prevention and detection arena.

So what's this Fraud Women's Network actually all about then. Well any woman who works in the anti-fraud arena will know that it can sometimes be a rather male environment and lack true support and mentoring. The Fraud Women’s Network has therefore been set up to bring together women involved in all aspects of fraud prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution, to network and to share best practice, information and experience in order to help tackle the threat from fraud and organised crime head on. They aim to provide women in the anti-fraud business with:

• Networking opportunities. Our regular networking events provide an invaluable way of establishing and cementing contacts across the whole anti-fraud arena, sharing information and ideas (they also enjoy the social aspect and are good at it)
• Access to a wide-ranging education programme about the latest trends and developments in fraud and organised crime, and the newest tools to help prevent, detect and investigate fraud; 
• Mentoring opportunities. Many of the members of the Fraud Women's Network are senior within their organisations and have a great deal of knowledge, experience and advice that they can impart, as well as encouraging junior women to progress in their careers; 
• Access to the members and activities of the regional Fraud Forums, all part of the National Federation of Fraud Forums.

For all enquiries about the Network: info@fraudwomensnetwork.com or Click here: for the Fraud Women's Network website 

The winners of the Stella Walsh Award 2012 were:

• Pat Turner, Manager, Virgin Media – Long Term Commitment to Preventing Fraud.
• Jenny Playford DC, City of London Police – Outstanding Fraud Investigation

Congratulations to both, very well deserved and fascinating accounts of the work they completed.

Personally, I can see real and genuine value in this network and completely support its board, membership and objectives. Do share the above website with any women who may not be in the Network, I know they'd be welcome. I was delighted to be invited by the Chair and even more surprised and honoured to receive a mention within her introductory speech. A Big well done, congratulations and Happy Birthday to the Fraud Women's Network, keep up the good work and keep in touch.    

Information Security Breaches 2012 - Questionnarie

Research is currently being undertaken to identify information security breaches for 2012. Below is a link to a questionnaire, this is being conducted by infosecurity - Europe, in association with the department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Questionnaire Link - Click here

Last year I went to the infosecurity EUROPE conference and exhibition and I have to say the presentation and format of the exhibition is very good and was probably the best large scale exhibition I visited. It's on the same time as Counter Terror Expo 2012 and although very different is well worth going along if you like security technologies of a differing sort.

  

Press Release - Tech:Touchstone: Information Security Executive Summit 2012

I am attending and presenting at the following Information Security Summit. The organisers contacted me today and asked if I could share today's Press Release. Please see below the composed release for the Information Security Summit that I will no doubt talk more about before, during and after.

Tech:Touchstone announces its 3rd Annual Information Security Executive Summit from the 28th - 29th February at the Richmond Hill Hotel. The 3rd Annual Information Security Executive Summit will cover the critical issues and considerations that Information Technology and Information Security leaders need to be mindful of when planning their IT strategy for 2012 and beyond.

Speakers at the event include: Tony Hird, Chief Technologist at British Airways Plc, Christophe Gabioud, Global Head of IS at UBS Investment Bank, and Michael Paisley, Head of IS, DP & Business Resilience at Santander UK Group. Each speaker will bring their unique take on how their business implements Information Security Strategy and Technology on a daily basis, as well as the major trends to look out for in 2012.

The summit brings together the most decision ready Senior IT Executives, the foremost Analysts and Vendors in the Information Security Technology Community to network, discuss and learn about the latest developments in Information Security. It has proved crucial for many businesses to assess their current technological standing and build new relationships and alliances in markets which rely more and more heavily on technology for day to day business process.

“We are excited to host such a high level group of thought leaders in the Information Security space representing some the UK’s largest organisations” said Simeon Turner Managing Director of Tech:Touchstone, “The new threats created by increased workforce mobility and the move to cloud infrastructures is forcing constant reassessment of key strategies. We look forward to facilitating an engaging debate!”

The Information Security Executive Summit 2012 will look to build upon previous year’s success of bringing the best in business together to formulate and build new partnerships. Sponsors of the event include: Symantec, TrendMicro, Imperva, Caretower, Netwrix, FoxT and Loghythm

About Tech:TouchStone

Tech:Touchstone creates business-to-business events, with its latest event being the Information Security Executive Summit on the 28th-29th February, for the IT sector where face-to-face communication is paramount to fully understand complex issues, solutions and value propositions.

The company's portfolio of events focuses on areas of strategic industry debate and growth market sectors, with the aim of creating a collaborative learning environment for time-poor IT executives and to facilitate high value, quality interactions between all participants. 

If you’re interested in attending this event or any other please contact the Tech:Touchstone team on 0208 166 4390 and follow them on Twitter @TechTouchstone

Looking Back, Looking Forward - The Security Highs and Lows of 2011

So what happened last year? Well apart from it flying past, for us at Chatback Security it has been a great 2011. We successfully continued our efforts to offer opinions on security risks and threats and have now built up a steady readership and loyal following.

January was kicked off with a promise for us to be more active on the blog and introduce Fraud and other topics. This proved succesful in 2012:

7000 blog readers (55% up on 2010)

3500 unique visitors

4000 tweets via @securityspeak and @chatbacksy

2500 twitter followers

Readers from over over 50 countries

February saw scam awareness month and we also received a couple of emails asking for us to claim our lottery winnings, all we had to do was supply our bank details apparently?! It’s amazing how email addresses get identified by scammers for this type of contact (its even more amazing that people fall for these scams). 

The MPS kicked off a new counter terror publicity campaign asking for people to look out for unusual activity or behaviours that might strike people as not quite right and out of place in their normal day to day. Just one piece of information could be vital in helping to disrupt terrorist planning and, in turn, save lives. If you see it, report it.

March saw us talk about the HOSDB INSTINCT exhibition which considering this exhibition is designed largely for law enforcement and government agencies was actually quite interesting and food for thought when considering the future applications that could find there way in to our airports and hopefully other environments. 

The ‘Insider Threat’ came all too true with a British Airways software engineer being sent down for 30 years after being convicted for plotting to blow up a plane. This particular topic is close to our hearts and seems to have fallen off organisations radars a bit and it's not being discussed as much as it should be. 

April was the month that the Centre for Protection National Infrastructure (CPNI) released a 'Public Realm Integration' document which although it looked like it had been designed by Saatchi & Saatchi it still offers some very good information about when and what you should consider when deploying any Hostile Vehicle Mitigation in the public realm.


May brought us our 1 year celebration of the blog and the introduction of the Stuxnet, the Future of Malware posting.

Paul celebrated our first year with a posting on Insider Threats.

June saw me and Paul enter and successfully complete the 26 mile London Bikeathon in support of a charity close to both our hearts ‘Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research'. We were very kindly supported and sponsored by our new friend in the US Brad Apitz (please follow him at @BradCHSV) who helped us raise over £500 in sponsorship. Thanks again Brad. 

I presented at The 8^th Annual CISO Summit in Rome which was attended by a very experienced audience. I must have done ok because the organisers invited me to speak and chair a panel on social mediasecurity risks at the CSO later in the year. I have a lot of time for MIS Training and will be sharing more news, events and speaking opportunities throughout the forth coming year, so keep an eye on our events page. 

Towards the end of June we both attended The Security Institute’s Annual Conference.  

June also saw the introduction of The National Security Workers Union (NSWU) in the UK.

July saw a couple of guest bloggers posts and the Home Secretary Theresa May announced the terror threat level for the UK has been reduced from severe to substantial. However, a terrorist attack still remains a strong possibility and may well occur without further warning, she went on to warn. Mrs May said: "The change in the threat level to substantial does not mean the overall threat has gone away - there remains a real and serious threat against the United Kingdom and I would ask the public to remain vigilant." January 2012 we remain at ‘substantial’.

August we took leave and you do not want to know where or what we did because that is boring.

September saw us post a summary of the GMB report on From Workplace Watch To Social Spy: Surveillance In (and by) The Workplace.

October brought us National Identity Fraud Prevention Week (NIDFPW), which over the last seven years has helped consumers and businesses alike to fight identity fraud. NIDFPW brings together partners from both the public and private sector to contribute their resources and experiences to help UK businesses and consumers protect themselves against identity fraud. Research commissioned by Fellowes for the campaign has shown that consumer confidence is at an all time low, with 96% of people concerned that the organisations they deal with aren’t treating their data responsibly.

November saw the UK government announce The New Cyber Security Strategy, I attended the Chief Security Officer (CSO) Summit in London where I presented on Security Assurance and chaired a panel session on social media security risks and it was also Get Safe Online Week 2011 (7th - 11th November 2011) What is Get Safe Online Week? Well if you missed it, it’s an annual event to raise awareness of internet safety issues. They reach out to consumers and small businesses through competitions, events and communications activity and to businesses and organisations through their annual Get Safe Online Summit to find out the latest updates or join us and follow them on Twitter @GetSafeOnline for all the latest news. Finally Chatback Security was approached after being recognised as known and influential security bloggers (get us) to participate in the Cyber security Challenge UK 2012 as journalists.  Watch this space we will be talking all about it.

December saw the MPS launch a dedicated police unit to tackle Metal theft, Anonymous were at play again, attacking Stratfor (the website is still offline) and my son’s first published photos to support the 4x4 crime prevention posting by Paul. Our recent posting by Infosec Island was posted at the end of December and still worth a read on security risk management and it’s not all about assessment.

Happy New Year.... 2012 is here so what does it hold for us personally and professionally. Well firstly, more of the same but different, if that makes sense. The year starts with us attending the first round of the Cyber Security Challenge UK. The first 5 months see me being invited to speak at the Information Security Executive Summit in Richmond, UK, Counter Terror Expo in London, CISO Summit 2012 in Prague and the Fraud Corruption Africa Summit in Zanzibar and then of course is the Olympics, London 2012.  


Some of the threats and risks on the horizon that are going to require some effort in combating are:

• Continued trend in metal theft (cabling, ornate statues, church roofs etc), hopefully some change in legislation also around the selling/buying of scrap metal
• Protection of our critical infrastructure (in paricular SCADA systems)
• Hackivism 
• Insider threats
• Olympics (surprise surprise) 
• Under valuing physical security measures (?too much focus on cyber threats maybe)
• Large scale scams and frauds 
• Recruitment of the right security people at the right time

We seek to enhance our relationships with @GetSafeOnline and London Fraud Forum (LFF) and Paul will continue with his work in the Security Institute whilst I intend to work closer with London First who kindly invited us to seminars and events on the Olympics and Cyber Crime.

We are always looking for new areas of interest and guest bloggers or supporters, if you feel we (or you) can contribute to your ideas please let us know via chatbacksecurity@gmail.com or contact either of us direct via LinkedIn (Richard or Paul).  

In the meantime we wish you a very safe, secure and prosperous Olympic new year and look forward to staying in contact with all our friends and supporters. 

Thanks and enjoy. Richard 

5th Annual Chief Security Officer (CSO) Summit - London

29th November - 2nd December 2011 at Thistle Marble Arch Hotel, London

Building Holistic Security to Protect Core Assets: People, Property, Information & Reputation

The agenda at a glance:

29th Nov 2011 - Secure London in 2012: Global Security & Crisis Planning
30th Nov & 1st Dec 2011 - 5th Chief Security Officer Summit
2nd Dec 2011 (morning) - Chief Security Officers’ Roundtable (Held under the Chatham House Rule)

This is one of the highlights of the conference year with a truly international selection of expert speakers focusing on the latest security challenges. Some of the topical subjects for discussion via presentations or case studies will be information security, terrorist threats, aviation security, maritime security, hotel security, personnel security, industrial espionage, securing critical national infrastructure (CNI), cyber security risks

The CSO Summit is of particular interest to Chatback Security as Richard will be speaking  (via his day job).

To download the full conference brochure here

To register please click here

If your attending drop us a twitter message via @chatbacksecurity or @securityspeak and we can meet up for a coffee or a beer or a blush!

Follow the twitter hash tag #CSOSummit for the latest conference news and views!

Congratulations I Am A Lottery Winner!

I woke this morning feeling unusually positive, I went about my routine as usual and looked forward to reading my blackberry and clearing my messages before I got to the office. I clicked my way through the message and to my surprise I found that I had won the National Lottery. I decided to wait until I got to the office to look at it properly. With a new found spring in my step and a plan on how I was going to resign I continued my journey.

I logged on to my computer and scrolled through my messages to understand just how much I had won.....

Click to enlarge



After much deliberation I clicked on the attachment and found this....

Phew that was close, fortunately I hadn't spent the money and in all honesty I wasn't happy with what I scribed in my resignation but on the upside I actually have something to post on this blog which Paul is pretending to be happy about.

Please take note of the email address it originated from and the email subject line - not that any of our security or fraud colleagues would fall for such a poorly executed scam!

Security is simple but fraud prevention is at times just too easy, note where Watford is, need I say more.

Get Safe Online Week 2011 (7th - 11th November 2011)

What is Get Safe Online Week?

Get Safe Online Week is an annual event to raise awareness of internet safety issues.

They reach out to consumers and small businesses through competitions, events and communications activity. And to businesses and organisations through their annual Get Safe Online Summit which kicked off on Monday in central London.

Watch this space throughout October and November to find out the latest updates or join us and follow them on Twitter @GetSafeOnline for all the latest news.

What is their objective?

The objective is to encourage everyone to take some time out of their week to learn more about internet safety and to make sure that their computer is properly protected.

The risks are serious but prevention is easy. A few hours is all you need. It's a small price to pay compared to the huge hassle of dealing with viruses, identity theft and online fraud.

SMEs - Protect Your Business Online

9th November - FREE event in Leicester for the SME community.

To find out more and register click here

To view the Get Safe Online Annual Report click here 2011 Report (1,035KB, PDF)

We at Chatback Security are friends of and proud to be associated with Get Safe on Line.

To show your support, display a get Safe on Line Friend logo on your site visit www.getsafeonline.org. or click here Link to apply online.

Be Safe....

National Identity Fraud Prevention Week

This week is National Identity Fraud Prevention Week (NIDFPW), which over the last seven years has helped consumers and businesses alike to fight identity fraud. NIDFPW brings together partners from both the public and private sector to contribute their resources and experiences to help UK businesses and consumers protect themselves against identity fraud.

Research commissioned by Fellowes for the campaign has shown that consumer confidence is at an all time low, with 96% of people concerned that the organisations they deal with aren’t treating their data responsibly.

There is some evidence that supports these concerns: the study finds that complacency is high across businesses, most of which do not have clear policies and are not doing enough to combat identity fraud:


• Only 52% of companies have a policy in place to help protect people’s identities – a drop of 4% from 2010

• With this lack of advice it is therefore not surprising that 79% of employees admit the identities of employees or customers could be at risk of being acquired by fraudsters

• Half of employees (50%) believe that sensitive information could be obtained from company computers


• While 42% of British workers believe employee or customer identities could be obtained from company bins

• Worryingly, 57% of employees believe that personal information may not be safe in the hands of fellow employees and that they might abuse the information they hold

• This lack of confidence from employees in their companies suggests that the 54% of the UK public worried about personal information being stolen from a company are justified. Significantly, this number is up almost 10%, from 43% in 2010

But it’s not only at the office that there are risks. The growth in remote working is making employees more vulnerable to identity theft outside the office – Fellowes found that 67% of employees work from a non-office location from time to time. Disturbingly, 39% of these don’t shred at all, meaning that the office practices aren’t extending to all work and documents and confidential company information is being discarded intact.

This level of complacency could have a direct commercial impact: 47% of consumers report that they would not use an organisation again if they found out they had suffered a breach; 45% would look elsewhere, 44% would make sure it did not hold any information about them and 23% would never trust it again. Only 3% of those surveyed would carry on as normal.

Companies need to be more alert to these dangers and to help organisations. Therefore NIDFPW partners are once again making a guide available with tips on how to prevent identity fraud. In addition to a dedicated online resource centre, the guide outlines the risks of identity fraud and suggests simple ways to protect yourself and your company. The guide can be accessed, free of charge, at http://www.stop-idfraud.co.uk/

 

 

Please note that Chatback Security and Action fraud are not responsible for the content of external websites. To report a fraud to report a fraud, call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use the online reporting tool

http://www.stop-idfraud.co.uk/

Threat Level Lowered - 'Substantial'

Home Secretary Theresa May has announced that the terror threat level for the UK has been reduced from severe to substantial.

However, a terrorist attack still remains a strong possibility and may well occur without further warning, she went on to warn.

Mrs May said: "The change in the threat level to substantial does not mean the overall threat has gone away - there remains a real and serious threat against the United Kingdom and I would ask the public to remain vigilant."

There are five levels of threat, ranging from low, meaning an attack is unlikely, to critical, when an attack is expected imminently.

The Home Secretary said: "The decision to change the threat level is taken by JTAC (the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre) independently of ministers and is based on the very latest intelligence, considering factors such as capability, intent and timescale."

The terror threat level was first made public on August 1, 2006, and was set at severe.

Just nine days later it was raised to critical following a series of arrests over an alleged plot to blow up a transatlantic aircraft, but was once again lowered to severe the week after.

The threat was last increased to critical in June 2007, following an attack on Glasgow Airport in which a car loaded with explosive canisters was driven at the entrance to the terminal. The day before, two bombs were discovered at central London locations and disarmed.

The level is under constant review and often changes quickly in response to events.

The threat from dissident Republican and Loyalist terrorists in Northern Ireland was increased to substantial in September 2010, meaning an attack was a "strong possibility".

It followed a warning from the head of the MI5 that dissident Irish Republicans could attempt to mount a wave of terrorist attacks on the British mainland.

Scotland Yard chief Sir Paul Stephenson also urged the public to remain vigilant days after the world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden, was killed in a US operation in Pakistan.

Sir Paul said: "Osama bin Laden led an organisation which is responsible for the injury and death of thousands of people worldwide in the name of an extreme and perverted ideology, committed to the use of terror and murder to achieve their aims. "However, one man's death does not mark the end of an ideology and we must remain alert to the continuing threat from al Qaeda, its affiliates and those acting alone."

Chatback says: I completely understand the process of evaluating the threat level and response, although I do find it difficult to understand why now as this is not in keeping with what is being said elsewhere publicly. There is a real danger to organisations in not maintaining momentum with their security arrangements and makes discussions about enhancing those security mitigation's or understanding the current security risks that more difficult.

Prior to the terror threat level that was first made public on August 1, 2006, the level was again reduced in July 2005 and the following day the atrocities of 7/7 occurred.

Whilst it is inappropriate to maintain an unnecessary level of threat response, I do hope for a consistent approach in the timings of changing the level and hope it's for the right reasons and not political.....

Posted by Richard using BlogPress from my iPhone

Team Chatback Security Complete The London Bikeathon

**Sponsorship money is still coming in but so far as of 27/6 we have raised £440!!**

Any regular readers of our site will know that we were riding in the London Bikeathon yesterday in support of a charity close to both our hearts 'Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research'.

We started at Battersea Powerstation and rode over to Richmond Park/Ham House and then back again, all together it was 26 miles (although closer to 35 by the time we got to the venue and home again). We managed to safely avoid the other cyclists (over 5,000 of them), the buses, and all the pubs on route! The weather was hot hot hot and we were both knacked knacked knacked!

We are not athletes (see below), I ride most weekends but only really to get some peace and quite from the wife and kids for a couple of hours and Richard rides once a year because his car has run out of petrol!

Is he still alive?!

All in all it was a very enjoyable event and one which I hopefully will do for the third time next year, I may even consider the 52 mile course but we will wait and see (hopefully Richard will join me)!



A well earned pint at
the finish!

There is still time to
sponsor us!

Many thanks to all who sponsored us (there is still time for those who haven't) and a special thanks to Brad (@bradchsv) who sponsored both Richard and I.........if your ever in London we will definitely shout you a beer/coffee/tea or two!

8th Annual CISO Summit Rome 2011

Day One - Cyber Crime Risk

Following the Cloud Summit day one of the 8th Annual CISO Summit and Roundtable starts with Detective Superintendent Charlie McMurdie, Head of the Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU). Providing an overview of the National approach to cyber crime programme. 'National harm, national impact' and briefly shares some limited details on several success stories on arrest operations.

Don Randall, Chairman of the 'Sister Banks' gives his opinion on some of the threats as he sees it and some opportunities to engage with all levels of staff.

Mike Maddison and Sir David Pepper from Deloitte raise the level with Cyber risk should be at board level.

A very interesting and dynamic presentation by Michael Colao, Head of Information Security at Beazley on Insuring against cyber security risks.

And now for the break and expresso.

Back from a break and now it's Don Randall MBE, Master of The Worshipful Company of Security Professionals who announced yesterday (7th June 2011) the first ten Registrants have been admitted to the new Register of Chartered Security Professionals who is chairing the panel on 'Advanced persistent cyber threats and critical infrastructure protection'.

Amongst the panelist are Charlie McMurdie, Jim Reavis of Cloud Security Alliance, Eddie Schwartz newly appointed Head of Security at RSA who got a big laugh at his introduction of company. So far we talked about Olympics, 7/7, cyber crime and data loss but obvisouly no public comments on the current RSA issues, to soon me thinks.

Very informative discussion from the panel and nicely rounds off the first part of the days proceedings. A final presentation from one of the sponsors Courion then it's lunch and more expresso.

Now back from lunch, which incidentally was good I especially love the fact wine was on the table. You've got to admire the Italians approach to eating.

Next up is the turn of Dr Simon Singh on 'The science of secrecy' which was fascinating and inspired by that presentation I've decided to leave and concentrate on my own presentation for tomorrow on Combating and Managing Security Risk through Security Assurance.

I have been very impresses with the quality of the presenters and MIS Training who organised the event no it's off to sponsored drinks and dinner in the centre of Rome somewhere. More tomorrow and my turn in front of this very experienced audience.

Day Two - Security Governance

The second day starts for me with a presentation on Beyond the Cloud by the very entertaining Ray Stanton of British Telecom and there was some funny moments between him and the chair Marcus Alldrick CISO Lloyds.

Next up Dr John Meakin from BP discussing BP's approach to information security.

Lunch and wine complete now back with a presentation by Nils Puhlmann co-founder and CSO of Zynga who created Mafia Wars and other similar games and apps talking about security innovation - are we keeping up.

Next the Technology challenge of identity and access intelligence by my new friends and tour guides at Whitebox Security. Shlomi Wexter discusses. Very passionate and interesting talk.

CISO 'Think Tank' up next. Time for me to prepare for my presentation on Security Risk and Assurance.

Presentation delivered, off for a quick meeting about planning the Round Table slot, drink then dinner.

Final full day for me tomorrow, will be busy with the Round Table section of proceedings, then travelling home so will hopefully will post a wash up in the next couple of days.

Day Three - Round Table

This is the part of the event that more and different people that haven't been at the summit turn up especially for this discussion. This is the opportunity for any and all to be involved in the questioning and challenging today's issues through a series of pre prepared and supplied questions by the audience. This is also the first time I have been invited to do something like this so I am very much looking forward to assisting in facilitating the day.

Unfortunately I cannot say too much about the content as we all promised up front to be discreet ('Chatham House Rule' apply) or more simpler, The first rule of the Round Table is you do not talk about the Round Table, the second rule of the Round Table is ...... well you can see where I am going with that so I'll stop there. Nothing further to report only that I have been very surprised by the fact I've actually learnt a few new things and met some interesting people which I intend to keep in touch with and as conferences go that doesn't happen very often, of course the food and wine was typically Italian . Ciao per ora. Richard


Posted by Richard using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Prevent Strand Steps Up

The government’s revised Prevent counter-terrorism strategy was published today. It outlines that the Home Secretary Theresa May will promise to spend more on identifying threats in prisons, universities and the health service. Plans will be unveiled to prevent computers in schools, libraries and colleges from accessing extremist material on the internet.

 

Mrs May has criticised universities for their "complacency" in tackling Islamic extremism on campus, saying that for too long they have not been sufficiently willing to recognise what is happening.

Lord Carlile of Berriew QC, Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation 2001-10, comments on the issues surrounding Preventing Violent Extremism including outcomes of the Prevent review.

"It is crucial for universities to be able to identify possible threats and be aware of what is happening on campus. National Security will focus on all aspects of securing the nation and is a vital learning opportunity for institutions that are vulnerable to incubating extremism".

Posted by Richard using BlogPress from my iPhone

Happy Birthday to us…..Happy Birthday to us……….1 Year Old!

Well we have been doing this security blog a year now and Paul and I would like to thank everyone that has supported us during this time.

When we first started out we thought this forum could act as a place for likeminded people to visit, comment and challenge some of the developments that were happening in the security world, or if nothing else gave us the opportunity to share our personal opinion.

We thought if we got a few visits and a little interest it would justify our input and help develop some of our skills. But to date with well over two thousand visits to the blog from all over the world and collectively over 1200 twitter followers of both @chatbacksy and @securityspeak in our first year it’s amazing and definitely surpasses any of our expectations.

We are very keen to use this forum to enable others to share opinion and experience by being a guest blogger and believe we have been successful in bringing the right type and tone of topics by our guests and would like to continue to encourage anyone from the security profession to contact us if they have anything the wish to share and it be published. We are really happy with the positive and constructive feedback we have received and are not surprised to find that some of the topics we have mentioned have not been as well received by a few, (you know who you are) either way we thank you all for your visit.

Anyone who manages a blog will now it is very difficult to keep it fresh, current and with the right amount of content to engage with our followers. Neither of us are Stephen Fry and every once in a while you’ll find a spelling mistake or two but I would like to personally thank my friend and co author Paul for all his attention to the detail. More often than not Paul ends up tidying my attempt at a posting up and certainly keeps the blog the looking fresh and professional in line with our brand. Without his significant help and other guest bloggers the Chatback Security blog could have easily turned into me just ranting every once in a while.

We promise we will continue to try and bring you our opinion on all security related matters and compliment this with what’s going on in the world, but in the meantime Thanks again and Happy Birthday Chatback Security.

Richard

CPNI Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) Public Realm Intergration

This week the Centre for Protection National Infrastructure (CPNI) released a Public Realm Integration document which although looks like it has been designed by Saatchi & Saatchi it offers some very good information about when and what you should consider when deploying any HVM in the public realm. It is arguably that it provides quite a bit of detail which could be used to combat the hostile vehicle threat but its available in open source on their website, so one would consider it has passed any vetting.


Click on the image to view
the document



In any case we post it to support the continued interest and development of this area and to share with our visitors who otherwise would not visit the CPNI website.

 

We would be interested in any comments you have in relation to this and maybe continue a discussion through other postings. In the meantime, Enjoy.

The document mentions 'CPNI is keen to encourage public realm designers to consider protective security at project inception. There is a need to design innovative and integrated solutions that protect sites deemed to be vulnerable to vehicle borne threat, whilst not diminishing functionality or aesthesis'.

INSTINCT at HOSDB 2011

This week myself and Paul attended the Home Office Sceintific Development Branch (HOSDB) exhibition in Farnborough, Hampshire. HOSDB in conjunction with UK Trade & Investment Defence & Security Organisations is the UK's platform for showcasing to the world the some fo the new security applications, technologies and solutions that are available to international law enforcement, agencies and public security professionals.

Now, not only was it probably the best day's weather we have had for a long while, but the exhibition itself was actually quite good. Clearly there is very good reason and interest for the UK to market its wears and demonstrate some of its cutting edge technology and the usual companies and faces were there. But it was more the TD2 airport exhibition on the other side of the airbase that caught my eye.

In recognition of the role that technological innovation has to play in CONTEST, the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism (OSCT) with the support of The Ministry of Defence, HOSDB, the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) and the Association for Chief Police Officers (ACPO) established INSTINCT (Innovative Science and Technology in Counter Terrorism) INSTINCT is a cross-government programme involving more than a dozen departments and agencies and focuses primarily on improving our understanding of how technology can be best deployed to counter the threat of terrorism. Following a couple of foiled or failed attacks in the aviation environment INSTINCT commissioned its second Technology Demonstrator Project (TD2) and Thales UK was selected to deliver it.

The exhibition itself was laid out just like an airport terminal and by using your boarding card (show material, not actual) you progressed throughout the terminal being confronted by the security technology and of course any sales and marketing staff until your reached your airside area. Upon reaching airside (again, not actual) we were treated to a 10-15 minute presentation and Q&A session that visually demonstrated the process we had just undertaken, describing the joint up thinking and approach given to applying an intergrated security system that could enable early detection and identification of individuals posing a risks to airports and to protect passengers against those possible risks safely and with minimal or no intrusion.

For me this exhibition felt different than any other I've recently been to, as the providers of these applications were not necessarily selling their product directly, it felt more like selling the concept, which for me is a lot easier to 'buy in' to than the hard sale and of course in my opinion action always sounds louder than words. To those of you who didn't get the chance to visit and want to know more about a strand of the CONTEST strategy that doesn't seem to get much of a mention please take the time to visit the Home Office links provided.

2012 Tickets Ballot Opens - Fraud Warning

The 2012 ticket ballot opens today, 15th March 2011. The below information relates to the fraud prevention advice that has been agreed for anyone thinking of purchasing Olympic tickets.

The advice is very simple, do not use unauthorised websites. It is very important to get this message out to everyone wishing to purchase tickets. As a lot of our blog visitors are from overseas we thought we’d post this information as it is widely agreed in fraud prevention circles that by attempting to take away the market place from the scammers it reduces to opportunity for exploitation and fraud.

The Metropolitan Police's Operation Podium urges you to follow this advice to protect you, your personal details, family and friends from being exploited by criminals.

If you’re buying a ticket for the Games:

• The 2012 ticket ballot opens today (15th March 2011). You have until 26 April to apply for tickets through LOCOG as it is not first come first served
• Only apply for a ticket online at www.tickets.london2012.com. This is London 2012’s official site. You can get a paper application from any Lloyds TSB branch, or from any public library in Northern Ireland
• If you get a ticket for an event you can’t attend, you can return your ticket to get a refund through the London 2012 official ticket exchange. Your ticket will then be officially resold
• Don’t buy a ticket from an unauthorised website or tout. You risk being scammed, and not getting the ticket you wanted and paid for
• There are only three official providers for Games Breaks and Hospitality Packages in the UK - these are:

• Thomas Cook - http://www.thomascooklondon2012.com
• Prestige Travel - http://www.prestigeticketing.london2012.com/
• Jet Set Travel - http://www.jetsetsports.com/
• Other websites or companies will not be authorised to sell you a ticket
  as part of a package.

Always check the terms and conditions to see exactly what you are being sold; If you find tickets for sale before the 15th March 2011 or available from any unauthorised source at anytime, don’t buy them. They are not genuine. Report it to http://www.actionfraud.org.uk/ or London 2012 via brandprotection@london2012.com or your local police force.

Good Luck and safe buying.