tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23875939045917963732024-03-19T04:35:31.222-04:00Emergency Preparedness TodayA public safety, emergency management and emergency preparedness journal. Articles cover homeland security, counter terrorism, community resilience and disaster management subject matters.Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-52653839314796649522016-02-23T20:54:00.001-05:002016-02-23T21:01:39.710-05:00Apple Today Keeps Security at Bay<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Prevailing
opinion appears to be coalescing against Apple’s refusal to unlock the San
Bernardino terrorists’ smartphones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To many,
Apple is more interested in protecting its brand than cooperating to protect
our national interests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a practical
matter, it would seem highly unlikely Apple would adopt a position contrary its
financial self-interests, so the assumption that there is an underlying
business motivation has some merit. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet,
Apple has staked its flag upon privacy issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO’s, expressed in a rank and file letter today,
the issue is not about unlocking one phone. There are bigger issues at stake. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Beyond
the immediate, the Apple controversy has raised policy discussions about the need
for government agencies to have formal backdoors to encrypted communications
and data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The basic argument is that
criminals and terrorists can operate in the dark by using commonly available strong
encryption like AES 256 ciphers and there is no practical way for authorities
to de-encrypt and access information critical to thwarting serious criminal activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I confess, the arguments for backdoors are
compelling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, before we rush headlong
down backdoor paths, I would suggest we understand where they could lead, and
in order to do so we first must uncover the substance of the issue. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nobody
would assume the Navajo language, while virtually undecipherable and used during
World War II for secret communications, would require a government back door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For that matter, whether it is undecipherable
ancient Linear A script or modern English, language itself is a form of encoded
information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So why does the Government believe
a backdoor is required for modern encrypted communications and stored data?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there something different about encrypted
information than any other undecipherable or obscure human language?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps, it is the ease of deciphering an
encoded communication that is the essential difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While on the surface this seems to be a
distinction without substance, it could be rightfully argued that machine
generated encryption is sufficiently non-human in origin to be different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words, sufficiently unbreakable
encryption exceeds the natural human capacity to devise and initiate such as a form
of expression in the absence of a machine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Thus, it is not a form of protected human speech.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, there are many forms of
human expression that defy easy interpretation or understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, it can be at times so abstract that
no machine could decipher it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Picasso
once famously said “Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.” I think
we would agree deciphering Picasso’s visual diary would be no easy task.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Entire art departments devoted to that endeavor
are no closer than the day he sat down with brush in hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, more to the point, ciphers have been used
since antiquity, some being more artful than others, for good and bad,
precisely for secrecy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even in more
recent pre-computer times, anyone could employ a relatively simple, mathematically
unbreakable Vigenere cipher scheme. So, we again are left with the question of what
is the real difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whereas a
Vigenere cipher requires only paper, pencil and a random passage from a secret book,
modern encryption achieves these ends in a much more efficient and pervasive
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the Vigenere cipher itself is
available as one-time pad software, albeit grossly inefficient for real-time
communications.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, it would seem the real
difference is that it is too easy, too accessible and too quick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">With
any “too” controversy, the basic contention is that something is too
advantageous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It upsets accepted norms
or understood conventions of the relative distribution of power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is exactly what government security agencies
argue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is nothing more principled or
deep about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don’t want criminals
to enjoy an advantage, because modern encryption is too good, too available and
too uncontrolled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, unfair advantage
is a matter perspective. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I, for one,
hope that law enforcement enjoys every possible advantage over criminals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, I also don’t want criminals accessing my
sensitive private data either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
problem with backdoors is just that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is another way in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But insofar as law
enforcement and national security are concerned, for most of human history,
even up to and including the advent of modern communications, crafty criminals
enjoyed the advantage when it came to secret communications.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was not until the communications age that phone
tapping and eavesdropping came about and gave law enforcement a leg up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phone networks became the places where most
communications occurred, and intercepting communications became an essential
part of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>law enforcement’s repertoire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, this advantage still required a
showing of probable cause before a warrant would issue. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, basic police work was still needed to show
a good reason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, many claim that even
these protections have been eroded under the banner of pressing national
security concerns since 9/11 under <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
FISA court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its critics point out that the
FISA court denied a paltry .03% of over 30,000 requests for electronic
surveillance searches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, critics
complain that the FISA court operates in secrecy without public access or
visibility into its proceedings and have permitted what amount to large-scale,
sweeping general search warrants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet,
the FISA Court defends itself by noting that many of the approved requests were
substantially modified before they became finalized, and it scrupulously
protecting individual liberties from unreasonable searches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be that as it may, law enforcement’s technological
advantage has been further magnified with the growth of big data, massive private
and public transactional data stores, and a proliferation of public
surveillance cameras.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the first time
in history, a human’s location, phone calls, spending and buying habits, social
dialogue, extended family members, credit history, favorite TV shows, eating
habits, topics searched online, and even books read can be found and are
subject to government access, subject to legal process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For all the talk of “cloud security”, it may,
ironically, create the greatest vulnerability to personal privacy yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Private papers are no longer tucked away in desk
drawers, stored on backroom computers or copied away on CDs in shoeboxes,
immune from warrantless search and seizures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now, it is somewhere else in the ether, under the convenient management of
commercial parties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cynically, the cloud
is a one-stop shop for subpoenas, and in many instances your information is
accessed without you even being notified.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We are leaving “digital footprints” all over the world and it provides
law enforcement with a wealth of investigative advantages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is offered up as a social good that
helps make our communities more secure than ever before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is true in many respects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, we would be wise to be aware of its
potential costs so as to avoid being short-changed on liberty.</span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The
classic approach that courts use to address issues like the government’s need
to access encrypted private data versus the right to free expression and to be
secure in papers and effects is called substantive due process analysis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The basic inquiry is whether the restraint or
infringement upon a particular fundamental freedom is the least intrusive <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>possible to achieve a compelling need of the
state. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, we ought to carefully think about
whether this standard will adequately protect fundamental freedoms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The US Supreme Court found a new right of
privacy in the US Constitution in <u>Griswold v. Connecticut</u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In so doing, it did as much to expand individual
privacy rights beyond traditional property-based concepts as it did in
subsequent cases to whittle them away with a myriad of exceptions using
substantive due process reasoning. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even
the very existence of the right of privacy is born out of relativism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It only exists insofar as <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a reasonable expectation of privacy exists,
which turns on what most people think is, or treat as, private in ordinary
course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem is that social
behaviors can change relatively quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the case of technology, there is hardly any greater prime mover of
behavioral change afoot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, I fear
right to privacy will wither under the rapid transformations in attitudes
brought about by the persistent infiltration of technology into every aspect of
our lives. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As
we trek along the evolution path of man and machine, questions around
encryption will continually arise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet,
the core of the root conflict goes beyond encryption, in the sense that it is <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>about the role of society at large versus the
individual in relation to who really governs a new form of emerging omniscient intelligence
that can increasingly see, record, and analyze the most trivial aspects of our
daily lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is only a matter of time
before machine augmentation of human bodies is commonplace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it is Amazon Echo sits in living rooms
listening to every word spoken awaiting to assist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every large city is populated with cameras
monitoring public places; automatic license plate readers innocuously record
passersby, and your mobile phone tracks your every movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fundamental question becomes, what are
the limits of government access to the communications between mind and personal
machine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a widely held belief that
one cannot be compelled to testify against oneself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The brain, with all its memories,
recollections and thoughts, are free from government intrusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have even outlawed torture against the
worst of our enemies to pry free secrets relegated to the recesses of the
mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, what cannot be pried out by
coercion, will readily be available through not only backdoors in the name of
security, but more likely through a gladly opened front door. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In our emerging technology-infused society, your
coffee pot becomes a snitch for somebody.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Personal privacy will shrink to the
space between your ears, as smart refrigerators, TVs, cars, lights, and so on
become an ever present life companions. There will be no expectation of privacy
because it will have been given away long ago in exchange for the innocuous promise
of convenience and ease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This, then, is
the risk – to be lulled into the complacency of digital convenience served up
by a myriad of eager companies aiming to please.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some
may argue that backdoors are the price of security in an increasingly dangerous
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Access to powerful tools of
secrecy and deception have given bad actors too much power, and the playing
field needs to be rebalanced in favor of law enforcement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would argue that we merely are reverting to
the status quo and this is not so much a new battle as much as a familiar
conflict between individual autonomy and state control in pursuit of
security.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some argue that the stakes
are higher than ever because of the threats of modern terrorism, global crime
syndicates, rogue nations, weapons of mass destruction and a host of other emerging
phenomena.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not so sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>History is replete with successive
generations of wholesale slaughters of city inhabitants by hostile invaders,
mass enslavement, savage conflicts and global pandemics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find it unfathomable that we are in any
more precarious situation than those preceding us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That said, I have no interest in revisiting the
Middle Ages, either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These issues
require significant reasoned discourse with an understanding that technology
will not stop and is accelerating at an ever-quickening pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ultimate question will be, in whose hand
or hands this awesome power will sit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
find no more comfort in Apple or Alphabet guarding privacy than good old Uncle
Sam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As between them, I would bet on the
one that has the greatest guarantee of human freedom in the history of mankind
rather than a corporate charter of maximizing profitability for shareholders. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ultimately, it will fall upon those in black
robes covetously protecting our freedom; otherwise, I don’t think we would
stand a chance against technology in anyone’s hands. Whereas Apple seeks to
preserve and grow its profits, and government bureaucracies seek to preserve
and expand power, it is the acolytes of the Constitution, unencumbered by
neither, that can best preserve liberty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, I say good for Judge Pym for the time being, but he must jealously
guard liberty and understand there is more to privacy than mere expectation by
custom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Privacy is inherently human and
our machines cannot be allowed to make us less so.</span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-32347130199688900292015-12-11T13:25:00.001-05:002015-12-11T13:25:14.364-05:00The Shoe Waiting to Drop - Terrorism Trends and Implications for American Security
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">On the
heels of the Paris attacks in November this year, the NY Times published an Op-ed
piece “Could Paris Happen Here?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>written
by Steven Simon and Daniel Benjamin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simon
and Benjamin, international affairs scholars and counter terrorism experts from
Dartmouth College, posited the assessment that the US need not overly worry
about a similar attack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This turned out
to be gravely erroneous, as the San Bernardino attack confirmed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In their piece, they state that anxiety or
worry over a Paris-type attack on US soli was:<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHd3A3ESa1gfnExMtnk36qmJgtu1wV_m0t4aQ0ccjueGJSg92h7lzcMO40DoP5eEmbeGatTh0otAOum5FmyDMy6GKsZBs-MUqP-xAh1ppXXRdbJun91DH2C34p8r8KzKyqBxNCexHEfpw/s1600/peshawarattack-wikicommons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHd3A3ESa1gfnExMtnk36qmJgtu1wV_m0t4aQ0ccjueGJSg92h7lzcMO40DoP5eEmbeGatTh0otAOum5FmyDMy6GKsZBs-MUqP-xAh1ppXXRdbJun91DH2C34p8r8KzKyqBxNCexHEfpw/s320/peshawarattack-wikicommons.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">"Candlelight vigil in London for the victims of the Peshawar school siege."</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">by Kashif Haque - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Commons.</span> </div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“…<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unwarranted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, it is a
mistake to assume that America’s security from terrorism is comparable to
Europe’</i>s.</span> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">For many reasons, the United States is a
significantly safer place. While vigilance remains essential, no one should
panic.”</span></i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">They
confidently go on to make the case that the US is different in four essential
ways, ranging from its protected geographic access, the lack of a Euro-jihadist
culture within our borders, the lack of access to a weapons pipeline, and
superior monitoring and intelligence capabilities. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">What Simon
and Benjamin and many other experts fail to appreciate is that terrorism is a
form of asymmetric warfare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Traditional
factors often used to assess risks in classic state-sponsored conflicts do not
apply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remarkably, after a large scale
attack like Paris, you will hear many media pundits and experts assert that the
plot, based on its scale and impact, must have required great sophistication, expertise,
planning and outside assistance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
simply untrue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would argue quite the
opposite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Terror
attacks using conventional high capacity weapons directed at soft civilian
targets require very little sophistication or outside assistance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The more open a society is, the more
vulnerable it is to low cost, high impact terror events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the case of America, access to sufficiently
high capacity semi-automatic weapons is easy, movement is easy, access to
public places of mass gathering is easy, and access to materials and secure communications
is easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any group of motivated individuals
with a few thousand dollars of cash, firearms, smartphones, vehicles, and some hotel
reservations can inflict untold civilian casualties with relatively modest planning
and coordination.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The 2008 Mumbai
terror attacks were in many ways a watershed moment in the evolution of
terrorism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It marked the first adaption of
a major commando-style urban assault on a civilian target since the </span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Dubrovka Theater siege in
Moscow on October 23, 2002</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than 30 or 40 commandos, Mumbai
involved a smaller group of 10 well-armed attackers who were able to inflict
massive casualties and generate mayhem by attacking unprepared, publicly
accessible civilian targets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that
time, some experts recognized that Mumbai heralded in a new mode of terror –
namely that large-scale urban assaults could be carried out by small teams of
well-armed terrorists with devastating consequences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">In the
years that followed, several terror plots were uncovered in Europe and reported
as being successfully thwarted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Around
that time, in late 2010, I revisited the significance of Mumbai writing that:</span></div>
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .25in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The significance of the Mumbai
attacks should not be lost in that it represented a continuing departure from
the historically favored terror targets of air and rail transportation, and a
move towards commando style coordinated attacks. The Mumbai attacks were
immensely “successful” from a terrorist perspective, causing large scale
carnage and disruption across a major metropolitan region and “success” breeds
emulation</i>.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">In the
years since, a series of terrorist attacks across the world have served to provide
insight into evolving terror tactics and tendencies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In particular, I recount the following major
attacks, among others:</span></div>
<br />
<ul style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: disc;">
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The Muna Hotel
attack<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>in Somalia in August 24, 2010
was military <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">commando style attack</b>
on a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">hotel</b> resulting in the death of
31 people</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Spozhmai Hotel
attack in Kabul in April 2012 was an assault and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">suicide bombing</b> killing 20; </span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The Boston Marathon
bombing in April 2013 was a planted bombing killing 3 and injuring 264 others.</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The Westgate Mall
Massacre in September 2013, was a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">commando
style attack</b> on a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">mall</b> resulting
in 62 dead, and another 175 injured.</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The Nigerian School
attack and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">kidnapping</b> of 250 <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">school children</b> by Boko Haram.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Volograd, Russia
attacks in December 2013 were multi–site <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">suicide
bombing attacks</b> killing 34 and injuring 80.</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Peshawar School Massacre in December, 2014
was a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">commando style attack</b> on a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">school </b>resulting in over 400 children
and personnel dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The Charlie Hebdo
terror attack in January 2015 was a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">commando
style attack</b> on a newspaper <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">office</b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">building</b> and subsequent kosher
supermarket resulting in 17 killed and 22 others injured.</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The Paris terror
attack in November, 2015 was a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">multi-site,
commando style attack</b> on a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">stadium</b>,
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">theater</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">restaurant </b>and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">mall</b> with
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">suicide bombers</b>.</span></div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The San Bernardino
terror attack in December, 2015 was a two-person <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">commando style attack</b> on an <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">office
building</b> resulting in 14 killed and 21 injured. </span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">As can be quickly observed, commando-style attacks on soft civilian
targets are the current preferred mode of terror attack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I previously discussed in an article (<a href="http://preparednesstoday.blogspot.com/2013/09/kenya-mall-terror-attack-reinforces.html#uds-search-results"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">Kenya
Mall Terror Attack Reinforces a Disturbing Pattern</span></a>, Sep. 23, 2013), it is
my view that modern terror movements and organizations like ISIL, Al Qaeda,
Boko Haram, Ansar al-Shari'a, al-Shabaab and others are not merely loosely affiliated
groups of cells that are disconnected from each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are distributed thinking entities that
are self-aware, share a common gestalt, and are highly adaptive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Emulation, adaptation and iteration in
tactics and techniques can be observed over the course of time across among ostensibly
distinct, geographically separated organizations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These changes are notable because as they
evolve they are optimizing towards exploitation of minimal security presence,
ease of execution, reduced operational complexity, less resource dependencies
or need for command and control, and greater terror impact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">There is no question in my mind that the Pakistan school massacre by
Taliban terrorists on December 16, 2014 was inspired, in part, by the Sandy
Hook massacre on December 14, 2012, almost exactly two years prior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just
as what followed with the Boko Haram attack and massacre in Nigeria a month
later on January 12, 2015 resulting in 2,000 dead and 350 school children being
taken, was no coincidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are
convergences of thought facilitated by access to freely available real time news
sources and scores of social networking sites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The biggest mistake made by many terror analysts is the assumption that
all of these organizations, large or small, even down to the lone wolf, are not
connected to each other by conscious awareness of what others are doing or have
done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stated simply, they learn from
one another, copy one another, inspire one another and obtain tacit ideological
approval from one another which propels successive incidents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I will repeat my concern again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The US needs to vastly improve school security.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A commando style attack on a school is a
major risk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>School targets house many
potential victims, they are not generally secure, and the psychological terror
impact of such an attack would be devastating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Beslan School siege in 2004 looms like an ever-present shadow over
ongoing events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Peshawar school
massacre and Nigerian school attacks which sent shock waves of horror around
the globe, are demonstrable examples that terrorists have learned there is great
value in attacking schools. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recent revelations that the San Bernardino
terrorists had access to and information on local schools should serve as
notice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other targets of concern should
be malls, large hotels and theater performance spaces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all have a natural desire to be reassured
by experts that we should not worry, but as we can see, many so-called experts just
get it wrong, and getting it wrong has deadly consequences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s time to get about the business of better
protecting against and preparing for the next shoe - which will surely drop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-14170711585759429012015-02-14T18:28:00.000-05:002015-02-14T18:28:04.847-05:00Driving Into the Future on Autopilot - How the Internet of Everything May Challenge Freedom <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1qsTb5czzxUpHGLkrQpCpxXhSIobF93BRowGdlu10ZS22t2aoOwz6gBxX2g4So64UxCwb6OFWu54p242B8r8uu9yBi4tg96l51HdXPiMRTRzXlFQCBgjXUdA42K2o3Av_KFo32jMEAHY/s1600/Open-road(byAndreaBoldizsar).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1qsTb5czzxUpHGLkrQpCpxXhSIobF93BRowGdlu10ZS22t2aoOwz6gBxX2g4So64UxCwb6OFWu54p242B8r8uu9yBi4tg96l51HdXPiMRTRzXlFQCBgjXUdA42K2o3Av_KFo32jMEAHY/s1600/Open-road(byAndreaBoldizsar).JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: Wiki Commons - Andrea Boldizsar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Imagine this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ve been down sized and been out of work
for a few months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ve fallen behind
on your payments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You go to bed and wake
one morning to discover your car is missing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Stolen?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, it drove itself off
to your car finance company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seem
farfetched?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How about this one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re driving down the road to your
appointed destination when suddenly your car takes an unplanned detour to the
nearest police road block and shuts off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Welcome to the future.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As technology progresses, society increasingly is encountering challenges to traditional notions of privacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, these concerns are merely the front edge
of a more serious storm brewing over fundamental concepts of personal control
and freedom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, we already are
experiencing the impact of new consumer technologies in regards to our privacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it comes to Internet and networked enabled
technologies, there is a rule of quid pro quo in effect where in order to get
information or services you must give information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most notable type of personal information
we routinely furnish to untold numbers of parties is our location.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of our favorite mobile “apps” routinely
report our location to third party companies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What is done with this information is really not known.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most claim they will remove personal
identifying information from your data and then combined with generic data of
others to discover trends and patterns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These trends and patterns are theoretically used to “optimize” your
experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As any savvy consumer knows,
this is code speak for personalized targeted marketing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Further, as we all know, you don’t have a
choice in whether you want an optimized experience or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s take it or leave it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, when we purchase or license
technology there is the inevitable EULA (End User License Agreement) accompanied
by a check box or button acknowledging your agreement to the provider’s terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all routinely click and agree because
there is no other option, and for the average consumer the terms are
unintelligible and meaningless in any case. In essence, we rely on the good
graces of some attorney at Big Co. and its executives to determine what is
reasonable, and generally this means grudgingly complying with consumer laws
where applicable and otherwise finding inoffensive ways of telling you the many
rights and restrictions Big Co. imposes because it is their stuff and they
decide how, why, when and who uses their stuff. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact is nearly two decades into the
consumer technology revolution the average person is already trained to
roll-over for a cookie.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, what stops a financing company
from requiring that you agree that your self-driving car turn itself in if you’re
late on a payment?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, the training is already underway
thanks to auto insurance companies under slickly marketed “safe driver”
discount programs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Drivers can install a
device that monitors and reports your driving habits and provided the rules of
safe driving are obeyed, your insurance premium is discounted. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One might say, so what; it’s voluntary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, the question is for how long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will there be a day when you can’t manually operate
a car in the name of safety?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will there
be a day when you can’t hop in a car for a drive without somebody somewhere
knowing where you are and where you are going?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is the insidious nature of
technology, especially once the new phase of technology known as the internet
of everything kicks into overdrive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
internet is nothing but a vast data communication network.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interconnecting everything may bring untold innovations
and benefits that improve our day to day lives, but the internet of everything comes
at a price – to get, you must give.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
new technology economy operates not only on money, but on information
currency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With information comes power,
especially when personal information is made an essential aspect of the delivery
of the service or functioning of the device.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As devices connect and depend on cloud based intelligence to make
decisions, we will begin to see our everyday habits and preferences being
altered in subtle ways to better align with the desires and interests of others
– those in control of the technology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
will occur first by interactive messaging, then by incentive based preferences,
then by autonomous command.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have seen
hints of this type of manipulation when Facebook launched an undisclosed
psychological experiment on its users by increasing negative responses in
newsfeeds to gauge how emotional states can be spread.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a backlash, the experiment was
terminated with a corporate mea culpa but with the caveat that users agreed to
the experiments in terms of service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Essentially,
the logic was O.K. you caught us, but we didn’t do anything wrong because you
agreed to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Riot Games, a massive
online mobile gaming company, gives us a farther glimpse in to the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It recently announced that its platform is
being used to experiment with online user behavior modification, and is touting
its gaming community as the world’s largest psychology lab.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Riot claims its motivation is to encourage
good behavior, and uses various “punishments” to coerce desired behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While Riot’s motivation might be well
meaning, the road to abuse and manipulation is being laid with the same
reckless abandon as illegal loggers are cutting through the Amazonian forests.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Again, one might say the concern is
overblown because we’re talking about games and social media sites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But let’s take something that we all need,
use and has a direct impact our lives – electricity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once all appliances are web connected, energy
consumption can be granularly monitored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Once consumption is monitored, alerts and recommendations to optimize your
usage will follow, and in fact, many energy monitoring applications are doing
this today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will inevitably evolve
into energy usage allocations and tiered pricing to de-incentivize excessive
use (think Riot’s punishment scheme), and then to automatic control of devices
to block usage to control consumption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Some may think this is a fine idea because it advances
conservation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, the problem is one
man’s good idea is another’s oppression, and this where the government comes
in.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As more information about where we
are, what we do and how we do it is collected, stored, and dissected by vast
numbers of private businesses, these business become voluntary and involuntary
privatized arms of the government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the “old” days, the telephone company was the first stop in any
investigation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a subpoena in hand,
law enforcement could learn who you talked to and when, and if necessary get a
warrant to tap into your conversations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today,
with “big data” massive amounts of historical information are being captured
and stored about where you’ve been, with whom you have communicated, what
you’ve communicated, what you have purchased, what you’ve read, what you’ve
searched, who your family and friends are, and much more. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But “big data” is still in its infancy, and big
data is going to get a whole lot bigger still.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Soon there will big data consortiums and exchanges where inconceivably
vast pools of data are logically aggregated and traded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your data footprint will ultimately turn into
the equivalent of your life’s data DNA.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As more regulations and laws are
passed that control businesses, the more intertwined and reliant businesses
become on the good graces of government.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These regulations can be fashioned to require business to keep
information about you, and this in turn becomes a powerful investigative
tool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem is private big data
become easily identified and accessible targets for investigation, and
generally companies are loath to resist subpoenas and warrants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It costs too much and they lose because the
legal standard of probable cause justifying a request is ludicrously low in
practice. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To give you a sense of the
laxity, the FISA court approved over 20,000 requests for warrants between 1978
and 2013, and reject a grand total of 11 requests in the 35 year period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, some might say if you are doing no
wrong there is nothing to worry about. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True, perhaps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But what happens when government
regulation indirectly imposes restraints on day to day freedoms and
choices?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take for example CAFÉ
standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New CAFE standards coming
into effect are causing automakers to phase out large vehicles from their
portfolios. If you understand physics, there is every reason to buy a bigger
vehicle and if you wish to pay the extra fuel charges it would seem like a legitimate
and reasonable choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, the fact is
many are being indirectly forced to buy smaller fuel efficient cars, the
physics of safety be damned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, is it
not difficult to imagine that as corporations acquire more power through
connective technology, the devil’s bargain will be struck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Messy overt methods of control through law
making and regulation will be deftly supplanted by sophisticated indirect regulatory
policies of control enforced by technology companies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, let’s take the seemingly
outlandish example with which we started.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Your car is driving down the road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A burglary is reported and a description matching your car is reported
with a partial license plate reading of 3 digits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using license plate reading technology, your
car is spotted and three digits match.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Your license number is checked against your car make and color.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a close possible match.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using the car registration title database,
your finance company is retrieved and connected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Under your financing, you agreed to have your
car monitored and controlled to comply with all applicable laws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A request to detain on reasonable cause
issues from law enforcement and is sent to the finance company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The finance company is connected to the
manufacturer’s automatic monitoring system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A command is sent to your vehicle to proceed and stop at the closest
police vehicle rendezvous point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Blue
and red light strobes suddenly appear<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on
your next-gen multimedia entrainment system and an audible message is played
pleasantly announcing you have been requested to be pulled over, remain with
your vehicle and wait instructions from police who will meet you in
approximately three minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
followed by “please refrain from making any unusual movements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please keep both hands on the dashboard in a
visible position as the officer approaches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Carefully follow instructions for your own safety and for the safety of
the officer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please be advised that
in-vehicle video and audio is being recorded and may be used against you in a
court of law.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Could there be a day when your car
arrests you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will seem like a good idea to somebody. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-66364834904818973512015-01-09T08:51:00.001-05:002015-01-12T17:22:35.142-05:00The Charlie Hebdo Attack – A Foreshadowing of a U.S. Nightmare<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggorYt4I9NA_U03_R4jb3WhTqGZd7oVk6ocz8W294pc2WsSUnwwUj5iiAIB6hGQABSrWKg0gSlGVowGrQQmppIJ-8dn5JixtpwfY5BGwFPNBxFrz3C-LvPjWarG2jPHIjFqllG_gD_Yx8/s1600/packistan+school+massacre.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggorYt4I9NA_U03_R4jb3WhTqGZd7oVk6ocz8W294pc2WsSUnwwUj5iiAIB6hGQABSrWKg0gSlGVowGrQQmppIJ-8dn5JixtpwfY5BGwFPNBxFrz3C-LvPjWarG2jPHIjFqllG_gD_Yx8/s1600/packistan+school+massacre.PNG" height="212" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">At
the risk of overstating causation, I have come to believe that the Jungian
notion of collective unconsciousness operates like an unseen force in the world
of terrorism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This seems especially true
in the context of modern, loosely affiliated terror groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While top-down organizational planning occurs
in some cases, it is striking how many incidents are characterized as “lone
wolf” exploits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite this
characterization, we know that these actors do not act alone in a broader
sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Putting aside self-identification
with a radical ideology, they also exhibit discernible patterns of approach and
action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their tactics are drawn from a well
of depravity over time and place, and show signs of adaptive continuity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, this brings me to my point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><strong>I see a confluence of terror actions that
reflect a shared vector of thinking which ought to raise alarms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am very worried that it is only a matter of
time before a US school undergoes a commando style terrorist attack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are too many behavioral signals that
lead in this direction.</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
Paris terror attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine comes on the heels of the
Pakistan school massacre where Taliban terrorists indiscriminately attacked a
school and left 153 dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
Pakistan school attack, a relatively few attackers were able to inflict massive
casualties through a coordinated military style attack on a “soft” target.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Charlie Hebdo attack was also a small
coordinated action against a soft civilian target. But, the Paris attack also
bears a similarity to the Boston Marathon bombings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In each case, the perpetrators are disaffected
immigrant bothers. Whether the Tsarnaev brothers influenced the suspected brothers
in the Paris attack is not known, yet it bears a signature.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Following
this Gestalt, the United States suffered the worst school shooting in history
at Sandy Hook School in Connecticut in December 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While not undertaken by a “terrorist” in the
classical sense, the event was a proof point that very large casualties can be
achieved by one actor, and schools are generally defenseless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also inflicted vast damage to the US national
psyche.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simply put, attack schools and
you attack the very heart and soul of America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Whether Adam Lanza inspired the Pakistan Taliban would be pure
speculation, but again there is a signature of evil bearing a resemblance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the Taliban have routinely attacked
small girls’ schools in Afghanistan under the pretense of religious offense,
the Pakistan school attack had an entirely different tone. It was undertaken purely
to exact great retribution and strike massive fear in the Pakistani
population.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Framed differently, Sandy
Hook showed feasibility and effect. A terror mind could not help but be
influenced by the reality of its devastating effect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
Paris attack has a linger to the Mumbai terror attacks in November of 2008
which resulted in 164 dead and over 300 wounded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mumbai was a tactical and behavioral
departure point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It showed that commando
style attacks by a small coordinated group could exact large casualties on soft
civilian targets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While bombs were used,
the use of automatic weapons was prominent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The “success” of this style of attack again left its mark on the master
psyche of terrorists. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Charlie Hebdo
attack just reinforced this notion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Going
back even further though, it is possible to follow this deadly lineage and
extract some lessons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1998, the
United States embassy bombings occurred which killed hundreds of people in
simultaneous truck bomb explosions in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. The date of
the bombings marked the eighth anniversary of the arrival of American forces in
Saudi Arabia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These bombings succeeded the
Khobar Tower bombing in 1996, which was an attack on a US airman residential
complex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These attacks, while striking
an arguably governmental targets, were nonetheless soft targets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Khobar case, a petroleum truck bomb
was detonated sheering off half of the building and killed 19 airmen in Saudi
Arabia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A year earlier, in 1995,
Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building with a truck bomb
filled with fertilizer, collapsing half of the building and killing 168 people
and injuring over 600 others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Oklahoma City attack was preceded by the first Twin Towers attack in 1993 when
a truck bomb was driven into the belowground garage and detonated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even further back in time, we find the 1983
Marine Barracks attack in Beirut, which killed 229 servicemen with two truck
bombs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Khobar attack a decade is
eerily similar to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is difficult to
avoid the parallelism and conspiracy in thought that propels the next act of barbarity.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">As far as the recent Paris attack is concerned,
the perpetrators appear to have some connection with Syria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As thousands easily move through Europe to
fight with ISIS, these radicalized fighters will return as better trained,
battle hardened zealots in Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
can see the risks and challenges that European nations will continue to
face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, the United States is hardly
better off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without entering into the
debate over semiautomatic weapons, the fact is powerful weapons are readily
accessible and the United States’ porous borders affords small groups of terrorists
relatively easy entry to the country. To assume we will remain insulated from
motivated radical terrorists is a deadly mistake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The means, proven feasibility, massive
psychological terror factor and intent are all present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The chance of commando style attach on a
school by a few individuals is a real threat, as is a truck bomb attack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While obtaining large quantities of explosive
materials is difficult, hijacking or stealing a fuel tanker is not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Driving a tanker into a school facility and
detonating is a real possibility given past exploits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, using the two tactics in combination
is also a possibility, given that have used similar tactics in Afghanistan and
Iraq on police and army compounds.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In
speaking with one law enforcement person about school safety, he indicated that
most schools are not worried about active shooters, and are dealing with more
practical day to day security problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While I can appreciate this pragmatism, there is an overarching pattern
of potentiality borne out of past conduct that we ought to recognize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I greatly fear that a terror attack on an
U.S. school by militants is only a matter of time, and the effects will rock
this Nation to its core.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope and pray
that I am wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Yet,
we need to heed the clarion call and continue to make changes in our security
posture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, schools buildings need
to be shielded from a truck assault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any
large truck, like a tanker or trailer truck, needs to be routed and controlled outside
a blast zone until it is verified.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regional
areas should have quick reaction counterterror swat teams that are equipped to
respond and defeat well equipped and military trained terrorists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Schools and law enforcement agencies need to
have real time collaboration capabilities for situational awareness and ground
truth for tactical advantage. Being able to communicate with school personnel
and see inside schools is essential.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Glass windows and doors need to be upgraded to be more breach proof to
delay an assault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reinforced safe areas
should be created in schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More
one-way exits should be installed to enable personnel and students to evacuate without
going through bottleneck points and feeder spaces that create kill zones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While many of these suggestions may seem over
the top, a terrorist attack is by its nature dealing with the unthinkable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cost of hardening our schools is a small
price to pay if it can save the lives of several hundred or more innocent
children – namely ours.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-6130725983827160372015-01-06T13:06:00.003-05:002015-01-11T18:34:39.486-05:00Why the Aereo Court Got it Wrong and What it Means<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Professor_Lucifer_Butts.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Professor_Lucifer_Butts.gif" style="max-height: 465px; max-width: 1148px;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image Credit: Wikipedia Public Domain</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The US Supreme Court got it wrong
in the Aereo</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Mutualink/Why%20the%20Courts%20in%20Aero%20are%20Wrong.docx" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><u><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><u><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[i]</span></span></u></span><!--[endif]--></span></u></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
Decision, and it exemplifies a problem in US courts today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judges with little or no understanding of
technology are making decisions that have far-reaching impacts on future
innovation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a general matter, the
Federal court system, especially at the appeals level, is comprised of older
judges, many of whom are technically illiterate.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Mutualink/Why%20the%20Courts%20in%20Aero%20are%20Wrong.docx" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[ii]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Further, even at the circuit level the vast percentage
of judges as a matter of educational background and experience are lacking in the
most basic technical understanding to be minimally equipped to make sound
decisions.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Mutualink/Why%20the%20Courts%20in%20Aero%20are%20Wrong.docx" name="_ednref3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[iii]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, it is nearly universally acknowledged
that that our economy has undergone a shift from manufacturing to a digital information
economy, and it is the court system that adjudicates disputes and is often forced
to make decisions either based on outdated laws or immature digital laws that
require an appreciation of technical context and nuance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aereo
is a classic failure to intelligently navigate the realities of new technology that
appear to trespass on old laws. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In brief, Aereo Inc., is an
innovative internet based video distribution company that uses individual
antennas to receive locally broadcast TV transmissions then retransmits them to
subscribers over the internet one a one to one basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The content of the transmission is not
altered and is merely passed on to an individual subscriber that elects to request
and receive the retransmitted stream for his viewing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ABC and other broadcasters sued Aereo
alleging copyright infringement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
June, 2014, the US Supreme Court ruled that Aereo violated the Copyright Act of
1976 because Aereo infringed on a copyright owner’s exclusive right to perform the
copyrighted work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Court relied on
amendments to the Copyright Act that were introduced nearly 40 years ago when
Congress took aim at Community Access Television (CATV) providers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CATV providers were organizations that erected
large antennas clusters to capture weak TV signal transmissions and retransmit
them to underserved viewers in communities. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Congress revised the Copyright Act to specifically
state that the act of retransmission is a right reserved to copyright owners,
reversing an earlier line of court decisions that held that merely retransmitting
a broadcast without altering its content was not a performance protected under
copyright laws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Making an analogy to
CATV providers, the Court essentially found that Aereo was performing the same
function and therefore the Congress must have meant to prohibit Aereo’s
activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In reality, the Supreme Court made
a decision on gut feel, effectively concluding Aereo had created some kind of
“infernal machine” that beat the system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In so many words, the Court divined that a 1970s Congress would have
been offended by the outcome of Aereo’s technology rather than its substance. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In making its decision, the Supreme
Court rejected several Aereo arguments that sought to distinguish it from a
CATV provider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These arguments included
that unlike a CATV provider, Aereo was a one antenna to one viewer retransmission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whereas a CATV provider essentially
rebroadcasts to anybody within its reception range, an Aereo subscriber, if it
chooses to watch a show, must request the show and then when it does, a single
antenna is enlisted to pick up the signal which is then converted to IP,
temporarily stored and then forwarded to the requesting viewer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In essence, Aereo argued that a one to one
retransmission was not a public performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Aereo further argued that it was not a transmission within the meaning
of the Copyright Act because it was not a broadcast transmission, meaning that
it was not simultaneously transmitted in a wide area or a large number of
viewers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Calling upon poor analogies, the court
rejected these arguments, and, most importantly, stated it was deferring to Congress’s
intent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When interpreting a law, deferring
to the lawmaker’s intent, that is- determining what lawmakers meant when they
enacted a law, has been recognized as the standard of proper judicial review
since our founding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, despite the
appearance of deference in this case, the Supreme Court, in reality, did the
opposite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Essentially, the Court took a
nearly forty year old law that could not possibly have conceived or foreseen
the technology at issue and speculated what Congress’ intent would have been if
it understood the technology. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At some
point, extrapolating intent to new circumstances moves beyond reasonable
assumptions to activist speculation. This is the case here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of the fundamental principles
underpinning the validity of any law is its certainty and clarity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a law is vague, it deprives all citizens
of substantive due process, because a citizen cannot reliably determine whether
an act is lawful or unlawful. Not knowing which the case is, a citizen must
either forbear from an activity in fear that it may subsequently be determined
unlawful or engage in activity under the threat of potential future jeopardy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is often referred to in the law as having
a “chilling” effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When the Aereo defendants claimed
that the Court, if it sided with the plaintiffs, would chill innovation, the
Court cast aside this concern while gratuitously acknowledging that Congress
does not want to dissuade innovation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather
than undertake any substantive analysis, however, the Court merely ordained
that the decision would have no adverse impact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In justifying its determination, the Court emphasized that its ruling was
limited and pointed to legislative history that the “[transmit amendment] does
not determine whether different kinds of providers in different contexts also
‘perform’.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, this precisely what
Aereo is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A different kind of provider
in a different context.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To this point, It
should not go unnoticed that Court employed used car analogies and “knobs” in
its decision to elucidate its technology analysis. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To prop up its finding, the Court turned to
legislative history and selectively chose the history which best suited its
decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet, by its own admission, it
recognized that Congressional history specifically cautioned that new
technology would not necessarily fall within the strictures of the
retransmission amendment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, how did the Aereo Court get it wrong?
</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Mutualink/Why%20the%20Courts%20in%20Aero%20are%20Wrong.docx" name="_ednref4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[iv]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> I
would argue it simply did not understand technology to a degree necessary to
appreciate the substantive technology issues in question. The Court was fumbling
with and failed to grasp the concept of transmission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A digital broadcast signal is encoded and
then decoded when it is received.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
is the case with every TV with a digital receiver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once the signal is received, it is decoded
and then “retransmitted” across a bus (a carrier) to a processor that then runs
an application or function to visually display the data on a screen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aereo is simply distributing the same
functions over space.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Mutualink/Why%20the%20Courts%20in%20Aero%20are%20Wrong.docx" name="_ednref5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[v]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of using an internal bus, it is using
the internet to deliver the signal to a computer viewer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is as if Aereo removed the box around the
TV, and then separated and spread its components over distance and then reconnected
the components with very long wires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is
their a substantive difference merely because a passive box encloses the
retransmission function?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, is it that
the retransmission occurs within some undefined proximity to a viewer that the
Court intuitively senses but never articulated?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As for the antenna aspect, again by viewing the function, Aero is no
different from a viewer that rents a TV with a digital antenna, except the
viewer just rents the antenna component in the Aereo case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, we come to not so much to function as
much as packaging and form factor.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When viewed within a comparative functional
analysis, the court is simply off base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The only valid argument one could raise is that transmitting a signal beyond
is natural extent (i.e., the receivable coverage area) is exercising a
transmission right more broadly than what the content owner intended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Considered
in this light, the question must be put whether any content owner or
broadcaster that permits or engages in a broadcast over licensed spectrum to
the general public at large is, by the very act itself, waiving its right to
select who and how viewers may receive a signal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is as if an author dumped an unlimited
number of copies of his book into the public square with a “free as long as you
don’t tear out or add pages” sign, and then complains if Mr. Smith picks a few
up and delivers them to the convalescent home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the format is generally
decodable and the medium is receivable in the public airwaves, it certainly
defies logic that a one-to-one re-transmission does anything more than the
original act itself, assuming the viewer had the ability to or ought to have
received the signal to start with. But the Court never reaches this level of
inquiry in its decision.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Even assuming that Aero was engaged
in something analogous to CCTV, the next question is what substantive harm has
occurred if the content is unchanged and the content is broadcast for
free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If anything, the act of
retransmission in unadulterated form advances the commercial interests of the
broadcaster and owner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could be
argued that the broadcaster suffers harm because the presentation has a
particular placement in a series of presentations whereby if the presentation
in question is not seen in series it diminishes its value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This argument would be specious at best,
because viewers have the unfettered ability to change channels, nor has any
broadcaster attempted to impose a license condition that requires a viewer to
be tethered to a channel for a series of programs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quite the opposite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each “show” is advertised and promoted as a
separate work or performance such that no broadcaster adds any transformative
value by showing a series of shows in any particular combination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Further, to the extent retransmission
reaches a larger set of eyes and delivers the original advertising, it seems
inexplicable how any broadcaster can claim harm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If anything, retransmission furthers the
economic interests of the broadcaster, and thus the owner of the work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the answer is “just because the owner is
the copyright holder”, then the question must be whether there is a legally and
morally sufficient basis to warrant the chilling of innovation when there is no
readily apparent harm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To this point,
it is granted that an artist can control the distribution of his works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, a private painting made for a
person or special viewing may very well warrant protection because it was created
with the specific purpose of a limited distribution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The limited or private distribution is part
of the original work itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has a
creative intimacy in its purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the other hand, by allowing broad public
dissemination of a work to any and all who might view it, the work has lost its
intimacy with its creator and there can be no compelling reason why it should
be controlled as long as it does not cause economic harm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As technology accelerates and
provides increasingly more ways in which viewers may receive, view, interpret,
interact and enhance works, the courts need to recognize that technology is
forcing courts to dig deeper into the substantive nature of intellectual
property and understand precisely what is protectable and why a work is
protected. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simply dithering and fudging
around the edges with narrow holdings and vague notions does not advance the
interests of society, and harms innovation and creativity because of
uncertainty. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They create vast uncertainty,
because it is impossible to distill any rational boundaries that can be applied
by a technologist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our judiciary is in desperate need
of qualified jurists with a sound understanding of technology, otherwise the ingenuity
and creativity that drives our economy will suffer in the morass of legal uncertainty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Disclosure:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The author has
no direct or indirect interest in Aereo or any party related or affiliated with
Aereo.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Mutualink/Why%20the%20Courts%20in%20Aero%20are%20Wrong.docx" name="_edn1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[i]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><u>American Broadcasting Cos. v. Aereo, Inc</u>.,
134 S. Ct. 2498 (2014) (Web Link: </span><a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-461_l537.pdf"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;">http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-461_l537.pdf</span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Mutualink/Why%20the%20Courts%20in%20Aero%20are%20Wrong.docx" name="_edn2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[ii]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"> See,
for a discussion of aging judges: </span><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2011/01/the_oldest_bench_ever.html"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;">http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2011/01/the_oldest_bench_ever.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"> </span></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="edn3" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Mutualink/Why%20the%20Courts%20in%20Aero%20are%20Wrong.docx" name="_edn3" style="mso-endnote-id: edn3;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[iii]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<em>See</em>, discussion of general expertise of judges:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span><a href="http://www.libertylawsite.org/2014/02/05/posners-tyranny-of-expertise/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;">http://www.libertylawsite.org/2014/02/05/posners-tyranny-of-expertise/</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"> </span></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="edn4" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Mutualink/Why%20the%20Courts%20in%20Aero%20are%20Wrong.docx" name="_edn4" style="mso-endnote-id: edn4;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[iv]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<em>See</em>, <u>Copyright: ABC, Inc. v. Aereo, Inc</u>., 128 Harv. L. Rev. 371 (Nov.
2014), for an interesting discussion of “purposivism and textualism”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"> </span></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="edn5" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Mutualink/Why%20the%20Courts%20in%20Aero%20are%20Wrong.docx" name="_edn5" style="mso-endnote-id: edn5;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #0563c1;">[v]</span></span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<em>Id.</em> Some describe this as raising uncertainty with “cloud” implementations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, it misses the point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the NIST definition of what a cloud
service is ambiguous at best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See, NIST
Special Publication 800-146 which contemplates hybrid implementations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> An understanding of how technology is doing a function is essential as what it is doing in any substantive analysis, because the "how" informs the "what</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">." </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-68642614510783129932014-10-02T08:16:00.002-04:002015-01-11T18:28:28.663-05:00Ebola - A Global Terror Vector<strong>This is a copy of an article submitted to the Yale Global Health Review in February, 2014 for publication. It was never published. This paper was a self study project undertaken by my daughter. With the current emerging global Ebola crisis, this information is too important not to release to the web. YGHR missed the boat on a critical global health issue. </strong><br />
<strong><br /></strong><br />
<strong>Joe Mazzarella </strong><br />
<strong>********************************************************************************</strong><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Global Health Risks of Non-state
Transnational Terror</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Grace Mazzarella</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">January, 2014</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Ebola_virus_particles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Ebola_virus_particles.jpg" style="max-height: 465px; max-width: 1131px;" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In September of 2000, the United
Nations, through its member states, agreed on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The MDGs are a series of goals aimed at making
measurable improvements in alleviating worldwide poverty, hunger, disease,
illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women within
a 15 year period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since its adoption, the
World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that great strides have been in
the intervening years.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[1]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These gains are the result of concerted governmental
and non-governmental programmatic efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Despite this progress, these gains are vulnerable to being undermined by
both well-known and less well-known and understood emerging systemic
threats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of these less well-known
and understood threats is the emerging systemic risks associated with the
agents and causes of geopolitical conflict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the area of global health, the new paradigm of multinational,
non-state sponsored terrorism represents a significant and growing risk factor
with unique challenges for the world health community. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most state efforts to combat
terrorism are motivated by a desire to prevent acts of terrorism and their
immediate impacts, namely the indiscriminate loss of life and injury to civilians
and noncombatant personnel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While acts
of terrorism catch worldwide media attention, terror groups can have
significantly greater far reaching and lasting effects through sustained low
intensity conflict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Terror in itself is
not the objective for terrorist groups inasmuch as it is to create conditions
of increasing civil instability to achieve various ends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These ends are often political, ethnic and/or
religious in nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a consequence,
civilian populations are often targeted based upon on their ethnic and
religious composition and political alignments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For the ideological modern terrorist, the objective is to inflict not
only death, but to instigate mass displacement and removal of objectionable
segments of the civil population.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This,
in turn, creates enclaves of control to stage, assemble and support larger
operations with the intent of further challenging incumbent government forces,
disrupting national systems of civilian and military support, such as commerce
and transportation routes and utility infrastructure, and creating successively
greater instability within the state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These strategies and mass displacement effects have been observed in a variety
of conflicts including Iraq, Syria and the Sudan.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Focusing on Syria, one needs to
only consider the scale of humanitarian tragedy occurring in Syria to understand
the scope and nature of this problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As of
the writing of this Article, the United Nations High Commissioner Refugees (UNHCR),
reports that over 2.3 Million refugees have been displaced from their Syrian
homes as a result of ongoing civil war, and it is predicated that the refugee
population could reach 4 Million if the conflict continues along it present
course.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[2]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite its political characterization, the
greater reality is that the Syrian civil war is being fueled by an influx of
multinational Islamic fighters, many of which are aligned with known terror
groups such as Al-Qaeda and external state sponsors of terrorism like Iran.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[3]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
Beyond the effects of conventional fighting between insurgents and government
forces, civilian populations have been brutalized by numerous reported attacks
of barbarity designed to terrorize and incite mass civilian departure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In one of many similar reported incidents, on
January 17, 2014, Al-Qaeda insurgents reportedly overran the western-backed
Free Syrian Army held town of Jarabulus located in Northern Syria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Al-Qaeda fighters then initiated an
indiscriminate killing spree, murdering men, woman and children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among their heinous acts, over hundred men
were rounded up and Al-Qaeda fighters began slaughtering them, including beheading
their victims and posting heads on spikes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As a result of this terror, nearly 1,000 civilians fled for the safety
in Turkey.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[4]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Syria’s
civilians, much like in other recent modern terror infused conflicts, are
suffering extreme and indiscriminate brutality which is driving mass population
displacement.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But Syria is not unique.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In many of today’s conflicts around the
globe, terrorist organizations operate to destabilize government institutions by
sowing fear and insecurity among the populace, and eroding the will and capacity
of government institutions to carry-out the delivery of basic services.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[5]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether one begets the other is open for
debate, however it is generally recognized that terror groups tend to coalesce
and root themselves in places where governments are politically weak and have
failing civil institutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cases on
point include Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, South Sudan, Somalia, Libya,
Algeria, Nigeria, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Indonesia and Yemen, among
others.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[6]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, the number of displaced person has
risen year over year and reached its highest since 1994 with an estimated 45
Million refugees, and the UNHCR reports that vast percentage of refugees are
arising within the aforementioned countries.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[7]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
As non-state actors foment civil unrest and spread terror, large civilian
displacement becomes a major pandemic disease vector that has broad regional
and global implications.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">By way of example, the Syrian war
has given rise to an outbreak of polio, a disease that has been effectively
eradicated from most of the global community, save a few, through decades of
vaccination efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prior to the
conflict, the last reported case of polio in Syria was reported in 1995.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In November of 2013, the WHO raised an alarm
with an outbreak of up to 37 confirmed cases of polio. </span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[8]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
result, a massive immunization effort has been launched to stem the
outbreak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nonetheless, this in turn has raised
fears that there is high risk of a polio outbreak in Europe given that large
numbers of Syrian refuges may begin to migrate from temporary camps in
neighboring countries to Europe as they search for better living conditions.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[9]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Other places where polio has
gained a foothold through disease importation include the African horn nation
of Somalia, which is home to a nominally functioning government and numerous
terror camps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other countries of polio importation,
as reported by the WHO, include several African countries with terror based
insurgencies such as Niger, Mali and the Congo.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftnref10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[10]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile, the countries of Afghanistan,
Pakistan and Nigeria remain polio endemic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All of these locations share another common thread besides polio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are each suffering from ongoing conflict
spurred by endemic terror groups operating within their borders are main
drivers of forcible displacement.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Overall, the Syrian conflict serves as a
powerful example of the role that non-sate terror organizations play in
breeding conditions for global health emergencies and potential pandemics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the twentieth century was occasioned by
state conflicts, the twenty-first century has given rise to a new form of
non-state entity conflict that is transnational in nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hallmarked by internal destabilization, these
forces operate to sow political instability and fear among the populace and
ignite civil strife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike traditional
sovereign conflicts, the ability for world organizations to reach into and
operate in these conflict areas to stem global health emergencies is often
hampered due to non-existent diplomatic functions and no reliable or formal
command and control leadership capable of brokering necessary conditions of
security and safety for non-combatant relief workers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Syria, the effort to provide humanitarian
relief has been thwarted in many cases and nation-states have been unable to
provide consistent meaningful humanitarian aid.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftnref11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[11]</span></span></span></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">In the emerging reality of
geopolitical conflicts characterized by non-state terror groups, it is possible
that global health emergencies may be exploited as another tactic to create
large scale destabilization and fear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
this vein, while seemingly remote, it is not unreasonable to assume that terror
groups could seek to spread highly contagious diseases in target populations through
one or more terrorist cells.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In essence,
the dynamics of population displacement, nonfunctional health delivery systems,
and access to contagious diseases becomes a vehicle for biological warfare, or
coined another way its own weapon of mass destruction (WMD).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While polio would be an unlikely candidate
due to mass vaccination</span>, <span style="background-color: yellow;">infectious diseases such as the hemorrhagic Ebola or
Marburg viruses could be used to create a large scale pandemic with a small
team of sickly volunteers. Further, proximate access to and vectors for movement
by a multinational terror organization are present because they are coincident with
terror endemic areas, notably the Sudan, Uganda (bordering South Sudan) and
Democratic Republic of Congo</span>.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[12]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These viruses can be opportunistically
identified in the population and then intentionally passed from a host to
willing conspirators. Placing “ground zero” patients inside of highly dense
refugee camps along and infecting several disparate international targets has
the potential to create global impacts that could overwhelm response systems
and resources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This tactic, albeit crude
by today’s standards, has a historical precedent within North America when
British forces used infected blankets of small pox to eradicate Native Indians during
the French Indian Wars.</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftnref13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">[13]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">More generally, non-state
controlled areas with largely collapsed or inoperative healthcare systems and
large refugee populations present conditions for pandemic outbreaks that can
impact local, regional and global security.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This risk requires collaboration and attention among not only world
health authorities but political and policy leaders, security experts and
institutions of research and higher learning in order to create the necessary
programs to monitor, identify, respond to and mitigate these hazards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
the world community makes progress towards its MDGs, it is important that it
recognize emerging changes in geopolitical dynamics and be prepared to adapt
its programs and strategies to counter their associated risks.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">[1]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;"> United
Nations, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Millennium Development Goals
Report 2013</i>, 1 July 2013, ISBN 978-92-1-101284-2, available at:
http://www.refworld.org/docid/51f8fff34.html. </span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">[2]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;"> Syria
Regional Refugee Response, UNHCR Interagency Information Sharing Portal –Regional
Overview, Web. 20 Jan. 2014 (http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/regional.php)</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">[3]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laub, Zachary, and Masters. "Al-Qaeda in
Iraq (a.k.a. Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria)." Council on Foreign
Relations, March 2013. </span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftn4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">[4]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">
Hunter, Isabel, Al-Qaeda slaughters on Syria's killing fields, AL Jazeera
Online (January 21, 2014) (http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/01/al-qaeda-slaughters-syria-killing-fields-2014121112119453512.html)</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftn5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">[5]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">
Audrey Cronin, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ending Terrorism – Lessons
for Defeating Al Qaeda</i>, International Institute for Strategic Studies
(Adelphi Paper 393, 2008), Ch. 1.</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftn6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">[6]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;"> National
Counter Terrorism Center, Counterterrorism Calendar 2014 – Interactive Map,
Web, accessed January 22, 2014 (http://www.nctc.gov/site/map/index.html)</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftn7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">[7]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">
UNHCR-Global Trends Report 2012, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Displacement-The
New 21<sup>st</sup> Century Challenge</i>, June 19, 2013 (http://unhcr.org/globaltrendsjune2013/UNHCR%20GLOBAL%20TRENDS%202012_V08_web.pdf)</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftn8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">[8]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">
Global Alert and Response, World Disease News, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Polio in the Syrian Arab Republic – update</i>, World Health
Organization (November 23, 2013), Web (</span><a href="http://www.who.int/csr/don/2013_11_26polio/en/index.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.who.int/csr/don/2013_11_26polio/en/index.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">)</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftn9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">[9]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">
Eichner &Brockmann, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Polio emergence
in Syria and Israel endangers Europe</i>, The Lancet,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Volume 382, Issue 9907, Page 1777, 30
November 2013 (Elsevier Ltd, pub. online November 8, 2013, http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)62220-5/fulltext)</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftn10" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn10;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">[10]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;"> Polio
Global Eradication Initiative Annual Report 2012, World Health Organization (WHO,
Geneva, March 2013). (http://www.polioeradication.org/Portals/0/Document/AnnualReport/AR2012/GPEI_AR2012_A4_EN.pdf).</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftn11" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn11;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">[11]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">
Blanchard, Humud & Nikitin, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Armed
Conflict in Syria: Overview and US Response</i>, Congressional Research
Service, Rel. RL33487, January 14, 2014 (avail. </span><a href="http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33487.pdf"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33487.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">),
10. “As with humanitarian assistance, U.S. efforts to support local security
and service delivery efforts to date have been hindered by a lack of regular
access to areas in need. According to Administration officials, border
closures, ongoing fighting, and risks from extremist groups have presented
unique challenges.”</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn12" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftn12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">[12]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small;">
CDC, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Known Cases and Outbreaks of Ebola
Hemorrhagic Fever in Chronological Order</i>, Web, accessed January 23, 2014,
and CDC, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Known Cases and Outbreaks of
Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever</i>, in Chronological Order, Web, accessed January
23, 2014. (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/marburg/marburgtable.htm).
</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn13" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/Joe%20Mazz/Documents/Grace/Global%20Health%20and%20the%20Terror%20Vector.docx" name="_ftn13" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn13;" title=""><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: xx-small;">[13]</span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">F.
Fenner <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">et al.</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The History of Small Pox and its Spread Around the World</i>, (Geneva,
WHO, 1988): 239.] <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">See, also,</i> Sheldon
J. Watts, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Epidemics and History: Disease,
Power and Imperialism</i> (Yale University Press, 1999) for a comprehensive
exposition on the geopolitical impacts and epidemics in the Western world.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<br /></div>
</span><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-63798687435975319902014-07-21T14:10:00.001-04:002015-01-09T22:22:09.119-05:00Moving Towards Smarter Immigration and Border ControlSignificant political debate swirls around the issue of illegal immigration within the United States. Despite the great divergence of opinion regarding immigration policy, one would believe that controlling border entry is an area of consensus. If nothing else, a porous border presents significant risks of importation of disease, criminality and terrorism. One aspect of the border and immigration problem that has been overlooked is the effective use of systematic information gathering and sharing to begin to discover the source, means and methods being used to exploit our borders. Simply stated, a tremendous amount of intelligence with immense value is being left on the table. Whether intentionally or unintentionally so, we are operating with blinders as we play cat and mouse games at the border.<br />
<br />
In large measure, the influx of illegal immigrants into the United States is being facilitated by systemic processes fostered by transnational drug cartels and other organized criminal groups that seek to profit from human smuggling. Successful border exploitation is a result of decades of experience through trial and error associated with drug trafficking. In the evolution path to human smuggling, there is the early experience of the “mule”. These are illegal aliens encouraged to cross borders with contraband. Enterprising criminality quickly recognized that humans themselves are merely another form of contraband form which to profit. Human smuggling is simply a natural outgrowth of a matured and operationalized illegal drug trafficking phenomena.<br />
<br />
In this regard, Illegal immigration bears the hallmarks of a large scale, organized criminal enterprise with hierarchal command, divisions of labor and functions, specialization, communication and transportation systems and money laundering infrastructure. The picture of a poor immigrant family picking up roots on their own and making their way to a new way of life is outdated. Illegal immigration is big business. Criminal syndicates operate across borders through untold numbers of “street soldiers” recruited through gangs operating in the United States and abroad. Beneath the surface, a highly adaptive and effective system exists consisting of recruiters, safe houses, look-outs and counter intelligence, document forgers, identity thieves, chop shops and auto-body repairers, transporters, enforcers, money facilitators, and guides. Drug trafficking, human smuggling and gun smuggling all share the same ecosystem of illicit activities. When we fail to gather information that helps to define the nature and extent of this far reaching system and how it operates, we limit our understanding and deprive ourselves of the ability to effectively combat and defeat these activities.<br />
<br />
In many ways, we are currently hindering our ability to discover essential information. Currently, efforts to police illegal immigration are effectively segregated from other law enforcement activities that focus on criminal activities. This is further compounded by numerous federal, state and local law enforcement agencies have different jurisdictional and enforcement mandates rendering day to day cooperation and information sharing among agencies challenging. Local law enforcement is the most effective day to day information gathering agency because it is embedded in the local community and has a more intimidate understanding of what is happening on the street. Yet, as a matter of federal policy, local law enforcement is unable to enforce illegal immigration laws and detain illegal aliens. The best local law enforcement can do is refer the matter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement which, in turn, is overwhelmed and allows individuals to remain free on their own recognizance except in the most egregious cases. Being by nature transient and wishing to evade enforcement, most illegal aliens never report back and melt into the landscape. On the other side of the coin, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has no idea where most illegal immigrants are located at any point in time and the data that is available is often stale or erroneous.<br />
<br />
Despite these problems, illegal aliens have been given access to public educational and health and welfare programs without any form of verification as to their stay status, and in many cases stolen social security numbers and other false documentation is presented. Public welfare institutions and healthcare facilities are blocked from verifying identity or reporting the presence of illegal aliens to law enforcement. So, at all levels, the ability to gather information about the whereabouts of illegal immigrants, is either nonexistent or exists in silos. <br />
<br />
Therefore, one of the first steps to beginning to solve illegal immigration problem is knowing the nature and extent of the problem, and beginning to unravel the means, methods, persons and organizations behind this phenomena. This can occur with a combined effort among federal, state and local agencies to actively track and record the presence of illegal aliens. Law enforcement, schools, hospitals, and public benefits programs must be enlisted to report the identity and presence of illegal immigrants. Further, the use of social security numbers should be required to be reported to a national database to begin to ferret out identify fraud. Assuming there will be policy towards allowing illegal immigrants to stay under a documented worker program, there should be a requirement that illegal immigrants provide key information that can assist authorities in developing a better understanding of the system they are fighting. This information would include where illegal immigrants came from, how they were recruited, who recruited them, who helped them and how they made their trip, where did they stop, etc. Just like an employment application, truthfulness and accuracy should be required as a condition to stay and any inaccuracy should be grounds for deportation.<br />
<br />
Over time, a reservoir of data and associated trends and correlations will begin to emerge. Americans have an uncanny ability to tackle complex problems when they put their minds to it. Being able to track, quantify and analyze illegal immigration should be something that stands above immigration policy. Information collection will empower policy makers and those with the responsibility of enforcement. When we begin to recognize that the border does not stop at the border, and illegal immigration effects every community, we will recognize that border protection is an internal matter that is best addressed by all communities working together, and it starts with gathering and sharing information.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-62354731483750625802013-10-14T23:39:00.000-04:002013-10-14T23:39:54.115-04:00The Global Crime & Sex Syndicates & the Internet<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
On a recent trip to a foreign
country, I had the opportunity to meet with a leading law enforcement official of
a major city who provided a glimpse into a typical “global ground zero” problem
– a poverty racked slum area where drugs and sex intersect with the vulnerable
poor of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This location was one
of countless other locations around the globe that are incubators feeding
organized crime and terror.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here, the buildings were ramshackle, itinerant
men and woman, mostly young, mingled about in the shadows as drug and sex were
sold in a virtual open market environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From a security camera we were
able to observe in a matter of moments a potentially violent sexual act about
to occur in a public area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Police were
called in and the two were arrested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But this small incident is one of hundreds occurring every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Law enforcement can do little but standby and
contain the area and address only the most egregious of situations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that moment, I had a realization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These areas of abject poverty are merely a
reflection of a greater disturbing global reality. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This city in a far-away place was connected to
the US, and we connected to it in profound ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
the money generated from the sale of illicit drugs, human trafficking and
pornography that is undoubtedly financing the continuing growth of increasingly
complex and interconnected global criminal and terror organizations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These organizations have worldwide reach and shadow
connectivity through the power of the internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Perhaps this is not a major revelation given that it has been printed
elsewhere, but it takes on a new meaning when directly faced with the reality
of poverty from the eyes of law enforcement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For most, slums are not areas
visited by tourists, and in most instances great efforts are made to keep
tourists from “unsafe” areas and likewise to keep inhabitants of these from
secure tourism areas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is done for
good reason, but in another way it does a great disservice because it hides from
the eyes of the well to do the reality of the rising criminal exploitation of global
poverty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simply put, whether it is
drugs, prostitution or pornography, these seemingly victimless vices are hardly
that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are fed by the exploitation
of the poor at ground zero.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
After my visit, I conducted a few
simple Google Searches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first search
was the name of the subject country plus the search term “woman”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This search returned numerous “dating” and “marriage”
sites aimed at foreigners. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It seemed
rather obvious that these sites, for the most part, were thin veneers for sex
tourism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any business man or tourist on a visit could seemingly
be easily arranged with a young woman for a “date”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I next conducted a search with the country
name in question coupled with the not overly explicit term for a woman’s chest –
a rather basic search that would be performed by any overly inquisitive male
youth in Anytown, USA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Google images returned literally thousands of explicit
images most of which were considerably more graphic than the search term implied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A quick
review of the search displayed several disturbing things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A subjective assessment of the first two
pages of Google’s image returns suggested that as many as 20% of the images could
contain young woman of questionable age – meaning a reasonable person might
question whether the subject’s age is over majority or the images were intended
to convey youthfulness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><em>[Notably, Google
has listed several image removals in the return footer, but by clicking on the notice,
all were for DCMA copyright violations…from other image owners].</em><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Following one Google return image
with a young woman and a man in an explicit act, Google forwarded me to a web
site which purported to be a blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The site
titles were explicit and referred to “teens” from the geographic area in
question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I chose not to investigate any further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather,
I chose to pursue the underlying blog platform provider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as I encountered this, it became clear
that young woman throughout the world offer an endless supply of victims for
this insidious industry and the poor are incredibly vulnerable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">[Editor
Note:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a lot of researching to find
a way to report objectionable material to Google, I found that the Google
linked to the National Center for Missing Children (NCMC) -<a href="http://www.missingkids.com/home"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.missingkids.com/home</span></a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did report my concerns about the site in
question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, this editor wonders why
it is so difficult to report offensive images.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I discuss this further below.]<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Beyond the presence of the material
on the blog, the blog itself struck me for what is was in relation to the
problem at hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a rapid web page creating,
editing and posting technology that provides a means to pump out illicit materials
quickly and make them globally available in an instant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once
out on the internet, images are copied, reposted and linked to in many ways,
and automated search engine crawlers quickly find, index and make them available
in search returns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A review of the underlying
sex blog platform revealed it was created several years ago, and its express
aim is to allow for the rapid creation of sex oriented blog sites which cannot
be created or maintained on popular blog sites (A simple footer at the bottom of
the blog site contains a button to report complaints, at best a token effort to
avoid complicity with those spawning pornography).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This blog platform is likely one of a great
number available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While blogging technology
is no longer deemed cutting edge, a glimpse into the power of technology is offered
in its ability to enable large scale illicit activities with relative ease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With new social technologies like Twitter,
Facebook and Instagram which allow photos and videos to be posted immediately
to the internet and subscribers to view them, the power to proliferate
pornography is virtually unlimited and uncontrollable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a recent conversation with a board member of
a private Christian school and I was shocked to learn that there was a problem
with 6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> graders and “selfies”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently, there were a large
number of young girls sending out unsuitable photos of themselves to friends using
Instagram.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
would expect a Christian private school to be an environment that encourages self-control,
moral behavior and boundaries, but the presence of internet connected camera
phones makes it so easy to produce explicit photos and share them, there are no
longer any barriers and in their absence even those inculcated with morals and
ethics feel free and empowered to abandon them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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It would seem axiomatic that for
every woman exploited on the internet, there are equal or greater numbers still
that are being abused through local prostitution, sex tourism, and human trafficking.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The presence of drugs serves to addict, undermine
and enslave the poor, not only taking what little money they have but serving
as vehicle to a criminal lifestyles controlled by their masters in exchange for
the next fix. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For other innocents, the entry into this world
is not their own doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are forcibly
taken or fraudulently induced into captivity through friends and associates
working on behalf of local criminals often connect to larger criminal
enterprises.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Often, the prospects of apparently
legitimate employment opportunities in the hospitality and retail industry are
used to attract low skilled workers only to find out later there is no real job
and they are to be held against their will and placed into prostitution. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using the stigma of sex slavery and also illegal
immigrant status, these young victims feel trapped in hopelessness, being ashamed
to contact family and friends and afraid to contact law enforcement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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So, what can we make of
this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The notion that pornography and
illegal drugs are victimless crimes seems to be fundamentally wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a clear nexus between criminal drug
activity, sex crimes and pornography.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Where one is, the other is likely to be found.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sources of these victims are found in places
of poverty around the globe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The victimization
is global in nature not only because the internet allows for global distribution,
but because internet connectivity and global commerce enables affiliations of criminal
and terror groups that can work in concert over large distances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The means, methods and opportunities are all
present with little to no barriers, and detection is difficult.<o:p></o:p></div>
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With respect to the United States,
the demand and use of illegal drugs and the unlimited access to pornography and
ability to shop for prostitutes via the internet serves to fuel these
destructive organizations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The internet
has placed the poor in far-away places in the cross hairs of web sites and search
engines and there are plenty of bad actors willing to exploit this at the
expense of the ultimate victims - the poor, young and helpless trapped in grinding
poverty. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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While efforts have been focused
on making voluntary search filters available to users, it seems that the
problem is bigger than selective search filters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, Google’s “safe search” can be
applied and it will filter out explicit and obscene material with generally
good results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it is as simple
as changing a setting with one click to remove the protection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More
problematic still is that while we wish to avoid censorship and promote free expression,
the ability to embed potentially unlawful images in web sites and return them
in searches is a major concern, especially with respect to the exploitation of underage
children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is simply no means
available to validate whether an image is the product of exploitation, whether it
involves minors, unlawful imprisonment, coercion or other unlawful conduct. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, as a general question, we must ask
ourselves whether the content has any real value or legitimate public interest
when weighed against the risks and harms present to victims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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One possible means of beginning to
control this problem is by blocking key words associated with images that are
intended to convey or suggest illegal content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This would require search engines and ISPs to challenge the propriety of
content with a presumption that it should not be published if there is a
suggestion of illegal content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another
means of controlling proliferation of illicit content would be for search
engines to establish a database of illicit images and video content, and to
provide the public with a prominent way to report illicit or suspect
content.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Overall, general awareness is an important
aspect of reigning in this global exploitation problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While pornography has become increasingly accepted
and common place in our society, it has gained acceptance in the absence of
awareness of the human toll upon its victims in far-away places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps for those search engines that really desire
to make a difference, their advertising platforms could be harnessed to provide
counter-messages regarding exploitation, missing woman and other compelling
social messages that would make viewers think twice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
would seem that technology has created a supply side problem and it is fueling
demand and consumption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ability to
empower users to turn away by volition (through both blocking and informative technology)
will begin to put a dent in the global syndicates that derive financial reward from
these activities. Doing so is on our best interest because these global criminal
organizations and their increasing association with terror groups are ultimately
a threat to our own security. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-58310648758063834582013-09-24T11:39:00.000-04:002013-09-24T12:51:46.234-04:00Kenya Mall Terror Attack Reinforces a Disturbing Pattern<span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLPbEC249-UTNHG5sEhHb1n5CktgyBnd1KENObA9WUJSEtzeBoIo_2BjSeWV5YMjfbplmVTlRg_vppUpm-kM1rW5DjZ5IMZO3pCie-Ygjj3JseZzwjTcjdu2_8ESjndd3F2EUi011XwPA/s1600/mall+photo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLPbEC249-UTNHG5sEhHb1n5CktgyBnd1KENObA9WUJSEtzeBoIo_2BjSeWV5YMjfbplmVTlRg_vppUpm-kM1rW5DjZ5IMZO3pCie-Ygjj3JseZzwjTcjdu2_8ESjndd3F2EUi011XwPA/s320/mall+photo.png" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><strong>"Mall Security" Photo </strong>Attribution: Creative Commons - Share Alike 2.5</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span>By: Joe Mazzarella, S.V.P. & Chief Counsel<br />
<br />
The ongoing terrorist siege of a Kenyan Mall offers another clue in the evolving strategy of radical Islamist terrorists. As I have previously written, the Mumbai Hotel attacks represented an evolutionary step in terror thinking. With the hardening and increased security around air transportation, terrorists have changed tactics and moved to other more vulnerable civilian targets. Generally, places of routine mass public gathering are becoming more alluring targets because of the general ease of access, high concentration of potential victims and relative light security.
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While different from the multi-pronged coordinated Mumbai attack, the Kenyan Mall attack bears a similar signature because it was a commando style terror operation with reportedly up to fifteen well-armed terrorists. The attackers are members of Al Shabaab, a Somali terrorist organization linked to al Qaeda. Information is being reported that the attackers are multi-nationals, which includes United States and European persons. At least 62 are confirmed dead, and another 175 injured. As of this writing, Kenyan security forces are entering the fourth day of engagement and have not yet taken full control of the mall. An unknown number of hostages are being held which is undoubtedly complicating matters for security forces.
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As this gruesome terror event unfolds, several early key observations can be made. First, the attack carries another commando style signature with a large number of attackers applying overwhelming force to a public place. Any reasonable form of onsite security (whether armed security guards or local police presence) would have been outnumbered and out gunned. Second, the attackers employed a revenge based terror operation where death and mayhem is the aim in itself rather than hostage taking to achieve a worldwide political stage as was the predominant motivation in the last century. Hostage taking in this case, like Mumbai, was a secondary tactic to blunt a security response to the initial attack. Third, security forces again showed themselves unable to muster an effective early tactical response to the attack. The reasons for this remain unknown but we can suspect they are similar to past events where numerous local, regional and federal law enforcement agencies and military and special anti-terror organizations respond en masse but are unable to communicate effectively, lack information and lack command and control to organize and undertake a coordinated response. If anything, it is well understood that in the case of an active shooter scenario, time is of the essence and immediate engagement of attackers is critical to limit loss of life. In the case of active shooters in places of mass public gathering, it is necessary to quickly engage suspects with deadly force to deny freedom of movement and their ability to seek out and target more victims.
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In order to maximize quick response tactics, the ability to see and hear inside of the place where the attack is unfolding is crucial. A lack of information as to what is occurring, where is it occurring, and by whom and how many, creates indecision, delays in response and de-leverages response assets and personnel. In the Kenya Mall attack case, like in the Mumbai terror attacks, real time information from inside the mall was and is available from victims via mobile phones and other recording devices. Also, security surveillance cameras inside the mall can provide critical views of the scene inside. Being able to share this video on-demand with first responders is a critical tool in enabling a quick assessment of the situation, identifying potential suspects, assessing their weaponry, and locating and tracking their position and movements. Being able to seamlessly communicate among multiple responding security forces, and also to enabling communications between victims on the inside and first responders on the ground provides invaluable up to the minute intelligence. These capabilities are critical force multipliers and provide security forces with the ability to organize, gain tactical striking advantage and adapt in real time in order to bring maximum force to attackers and quickly size uncontested space and extend protection to those who may come under threat.
<br />
<br />
The ability to thwart a large scale command style attack on a public space may not always be preventable, but the ability to limit loss of life and subdue attackers more quickly and effectively is achievable. Placing adequate numbers of well-armed security personnel at every public gathering space is neither affordable nor practical. However, ensuring real time interoperable communications and multimedia sharing among security forces, emergency support agencies and critical infrastructure during a crisis can be achieved with minimal cost and can vastly improve response effectiveness.
For the United States, we must remain vigilant and prepare for attacks of this nature. It would seem to be only a matter of time before an event similar to the Kenyan Mall attack or Mumbai hotel attack will occur. The ability for a dozen or more foreign terrorists to enter into the country and bring high power, high capacity weapons undetected through our borders remains a serious threat vector. Once inside the country, the ability to plan and organize an attack becomes easier especially in larger metropolitan areas with diverse multi-ethnic and multi-national populations where residents are less likely notice the presence of foreigners as anomalous or unusual. Special attention should be paid to in-door malls and large scale hotels that have limited public access points and create bottleneck environments. One of the surest ways to reduce loss of life is to provide more means of quick egress. This notion is contrary to popular concepts of retail design where physical space and pedestrian flow is designed to keep shoppers inside the shopping space as long as possible before exiting.
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<br />
Because large scale malls tend to be in suburban metro areas, it is worthy to note that the quick reaction and special tactical units maintained by larger city police forces are not in immediate proximity to the mall and generally lighter armed, local area law enforcement personnel will be the first responders on scene. The ability to quickly gather intelligence from security guards inside the mall and from security cameras will be essential to maximize an effective immediate engagement and also allow for heavier armed and trained anti-terror personnel to respond as soon as they arrive on scene. Coordinating with local hospitals and trauma centers, EMS and emergency transport will also require coordination so that victims are quickly extracted, triaged and moved to the nearest hospitals. Even basic traffic control and securing unimpeded routes becomes a matter of life and death and requires coordination from the mall to medical facilities.
<br />
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In recalling the Boston Marathon bombing tragedy, it is widely recognized that emergency response was exceptional with marathon route areas quickly secured and bombing victims quickly attended to, stabilized and transported to local trauma facilities. But, we should not be deceived by this extraordinary response. In that case, emergency personnel were pre-deployed for the event. Medical staff was on hand. A large police and fire force was deployed on route, and massive emergency response pre-planning occurred, including event specific communications. The same will not be the case in the event of a large scale attack on a mall or public place of routine mass gathering. There are too many and they are everywhere. In these cases, should an unexpected large scale terror event unfold there will be a massive response that will follow and there will be a need to adapt to the place and events occurring on the ground. Flexible and agile seamless inter-agency communications and information sharing will be essential in organizing an effective response. Effective communications and accurate real time information sharing remains the linchpin to improved safety and security and an enhanced emergency response. The capability exists to enable what is needed to make our communities interoperable. Once again, another tragic incident reinforces the urgency of this need.
<div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-30698047387659077442013-09-23T14:02:00.001-04:002013-09-24T12:38:57.530-04:00Real Time Interoperability for School Safety - Active Shooter ResponseSchool safety remains a nationwide focus after the tragic events at Sandy Hook school in Newtown, Connecticut. Many jurisdictions are actively investigating various ways to improve and prevent similar events. As we all know, school related shootings are becoming an all too familiar event, and can happen in any type of community. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiieguFNmS5RywAvg6tSC3NY-8BXtVNKt_ho67aQCwNhZKrj83b_Xqt5hgmFKkS5xkoHscT3GfvqG0_EZ6hBB19eo9Cohtq3lgc-0wVBv-9KCDH01pM-z1OQNPBe45XWZ-W_WnGtdUCFDs/s1600/Hartfort+school+shooter+exercise.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiieguFNmS5RywAvg6tSC3NY-8BXtVNKt_ho67aQCwNhZKrj83b_Xqt5hgmFKkS5xkoHscT3GfvqG0_EZ6hBB19eo9Cohtq3lgc-0wVBv-9KCDH01pM-z1OQNPBe45XWZ-W_WnGtdUCFDs/s320/Hartfort+school+shooter+exercise.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><strong>Hartford School Active Shooter Exercise</strong> - All rights Reserved. Mutualink, Inc</span></td></tr>
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Mutualink participated in the first post-Sandy Hook active shooter drill, which took place in Hartford, Ct. This exercise involved the Hartford Police, a Hartford school, the Hartford EOC, Saint Francis Hospital and other agencies. Through Mutualink multiple responding agencies' and the school's communications systems were instantly bridged and video from inside the school was shared with both command and ground responders providing real time situational awareness. The exercise demonstrated how real time communications and real time video can be used to more effectively respond to an active shooter crisis. In these types of events, more information and quicker response can save lives. This capability should be an essential part of any modern school safety response framework.
An article regarding our School Safety - Active Shooter Exercise was published in Law & Order Magazine and also was submitted before Connecticut's School Safety Committee. Below are links to the article.
Law & Order Magazine - School Safety Article link is here: <a href="http://lawandordermag.epubxp.com/i/144260/17"></a>
Connecticut School Safety Commission Article link is here: <a href="http://das.ct.gov/images/1090/MutualinkCaseStudy.pdf"></a>
Should any one who is concerned about school safety be interested in learning more, please feel free to contact me.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-83100631880717282762011-06-28T23:35:00.006-04:002011-06-28T23:51:32.076-04:00Kabul Hotel Attack Reflects Emerging Terror Strategy<div><div><div><div><div><div><div align="justify"><font>Today’s attack on the Kabul InterContinental Hotel reinforces the assessment that terrorists are embracing Mumbai style commando attacks as an effective strategy. As previously discussed, it seems likely that commando style terror plots targeting hotel facilities in Europe and possibly the United States are on the horizon. See, <a href="http://preparednesstoday.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-terror-plot-raises-mumbai-security.html">New Commando Style Terror Plot Predicted in Mumbai Security Briefing – September 2010 </a>, and <a href="http://preparednesstoday.blogspot.com/2009/04/lesson-learned-from-mumbai-attacks.html">Lessons Learned from the Mumbai Attacks – April,2010</a>. <br /><br />As recently as a week ago, Fox News reported that intelligence obtained in Somalia pointed to a potential Mumbai style plot aimed at a luxury hotel in London. Earlier in May, 2011, Anwar al-Awlaki, a senior Al-Qaeda leader threatened Mumbai style attacks on Europe, as reported by The Sun, a U.K. based newspaper. Overall, the gestalt of the Islamic inspired terror network seems to be shifting towards this style of attack.<br /><br />As noted in past analysis, hotels, particularly luxury-style international hotels, are attractive targets. This is because of their symbolic representation as centers of western business and commercial interests, more affluent clientele and high value targets are present, and there is a cross section of various nationalities and religions peaceably coexisting in contravention of extremist ideals. Most significantly, hotels are soft targets.<br /><br />For all intents and purposes, hotels have no effective means of resisting or thwarting an armed assault. Further, hotels can be easily surveilled and penetrated, because they are generally open to the public and there are transient visitors. Militants can pose as guests with a minimum of suspicion, especially in international hotel venues where peoples of diverse origin are present. Finally, smuggling weapons into hotels is a low risk exercise because weapons can be concealed wiithin baggage without arousing suspicion, and groups can quietly build by staggering their check-ins, concealing their association.<br /><br />In terms of high impact and low personnel requirements, hotels offer themselves up as good targets as well. Hotels house large numbers of guests that are generally confined to floors with a limited numbers of exits and common egress stairwells. By controlling lower level floors, entire facilities can be effectively controlled with a limited number of militant personnel. Effective control can further be projected by detonating bombs or starting fires and maintaining fire zones at main doorways and entrances covered by shooters. Once control of the premises is achieved, members of the terrorist team are set up to sweep from the bottom to the top of the hotel facility executing guests, taking hostages and/or planting explosives.<br /><br />Once physical control over the facility and hotel guests is established, the terror group has achieved a position of strength. Efforts to dislodge hostile operators by direct assault become a high risk operation due to concerns about potential collateral losses, the use of human shields, and/or triggering a preplanned mass killing event. This psychological advantage is likely to be more effective in Western countries where both real time news coverage and more open government create intense political pressures not to place hostages and victims at further risk. This situation also plays into the hands of the terrorists by providing a global stage for protracted hysteria and attention.<br /><br />In both the Mumbai attack and Kabul Hotel attacks, the terrorists were wearing suicide vests and were operating to inflict maximum loss of life. Looking at other prototypical terror attacks such as the Beslan School incident and Moscow Theater attack, Islamic militants also intended to ultimately kill as many hostages as possible. Once they consolidated hostage groups, they extensively wired explosives in holding areas and detonated them.<br /><br />These behaviors speak to the need for Western police and anti-terror units to quickly respond to any attack and actively engage hostile actors to deny them the ability to establish control over the facility and interrupt or delay planned operations that can further entrench their position and/or gain mass killing opportunities. With regard to hotel facilities, it is nearly impossible to adequately secure these venues. Attentiveness on the part of Hotel personnel in identifying suspicious actors is essential. Hotel personnel must be capable of identifying anomalies such as unusual numbers of younger single men originating from suspect destinations checking in with overlapping stay dates. Persons who are overly protective of their baggage and refuse to allow others near it may be a sign of unusual activity. Persons that are evasive as to the purpose of their stay, that are secretive or avoid public interaction may be a sign of suspect activity.<br /><br />In addition to being alert, hotels must improve response coordination capabilities with law enforcement. In cases of an emergency, a rapid response aided by real time situational information that can assist a quick reaction force in effectively engaging and contesting militants. Allowing police to view the interior of the hotel through the sharing of security camera feeds would provide a tactical edge over the militants by enabling responders to identify militants, their positions and weaponry, command elements and monitor movements. Similarly enabling direct communication between on-scene responders and hotel staff and guests via cell phones, mobile chat, and even streaming video from smart phones, provides additional “eyes on” capability and situational awareness that can provide responders with a lifesaving edge.<br /><br />The threat posed by this new mode of terror attack is not insignificant and offers many challenges to homeland security and public safety agencies. While we hope plots can continue to be successfully detected and thwarted before they become real operational threats, we must be prepared to handle and respond to a commando style terror attack. Hotels can be better prepared for these security risk scenarios and should invest in concealed video monitoring systems, interoperable communications and video sharing capabilities so they are equipped to give responders the information they need should the quite thinkable occur. </font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-83657947975492127882011-03-22T15:48:00.005-04:002015-01-09T22:24:10.958-05:00School Emergency Preparedness Requires More Focus<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-QOU_exnRuQ6Cd7dHOLvVHDNUUMjPfw8WgkwdM3SNjciWEnHhEvuBuSSeyygrxZvkcaMXwWRNYuTZBlFDnW1-bSlTSBu4oQb7kzH9MiLxP01pjGOr_Ql2qF7-Kyey2HFvoMQ4O5IKhs/s1600/Japan-Quake.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-QOU_exnRuQ6Cd7dHOLvVHDNUUMjPfw8WgkwdM3SNjciWEnHhEvuBuSSeyygrxZvkcaMXwWRNYuTZBlFDnW1-bSlTSBu4oQb7kzH9MiLxP01pjGOr_Ql2qF7-Kyey2HFvoMQ4O5IKhs/s400/Japan-Quake.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587732898518054498" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 330px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 215px;" /></a><br />
What would happen if a major catastrophe like the Tsunami in Japan struck during schools hours in your community? Do you know what would happen? Would you know where your children are, how to get them or what their condition is? Is your school really prepared to really take care of your kids? <br /> These questions came to mind when looking at a picture from NBC news showing a mound of several hundred muddied and torn school backpacks collected in a pile in the midst of a devastated landscape. The caption for this picture read: <br />
“Schoolbags are recovered from Okawa elementary school in Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture on March 22. Only 24 of 84 schoolchildren and 13 teachers have been found alive so far. After the earthquake hit, all the schoolchildren and teachers prepared for evacuation in the school yard. Some children left for their homes with family members. While the rest of the children were waiting to be collected, the tsunami hit.”<br />
What struck me was the matter-of-factness of the numbers. Sixty children from an elementary are missing and presumably dead, but nobody can say with certainty. How many other school children suffered similar fates we do not know either.<br />
But as we contemplate the heap of lifeless school backpacks, each one recently attached to a child, I ask again is your school ready? Are we taking this kind of emergency scenario seriously enough? Here are some basic questions:<br />
<ul><br />
<li> Is your school capable of being an emergency shelter with ample food, water and electricity during a prolonged emergency?</li>
<br />
<li> Is your school earthquake proof? Is it hurricane proof? Is it in a flood zone?</li>
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<li> Where do the children go if they must evacuate the school during an emergency and shelter at another location? Do you know where it is? Would you know if they were moved?</li>
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<li>How will you be able to get information about your children’s location and health status? Is there multiple means of communication and information dissemination set-up? Do you know what they are?</li>
<br />
<li>Does your school have real interoperable communications with police, fire, ems and emergency management?</li>
<br />
<li>Who is in charge and what is the chain of command in emergencies? Are they trained to make critical assessments and handle emergencies? Are they certified in NIMS-ICS procedures?</li>
<br />
<li>Does your school have back-up satellite communications? If not, why not?</li>
<br />
<li>Is there an emergency store of critical medications that your child may need for prolonged sheltering? If not why not?</li>
<br />
<li>Is there a full time nurse on staff? If not, why not?</li>
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<li>Is there family disaster assistance plan for teachers and others who must take care of kids, or will they abandon your children if things really get bad because they must take care of their families?</li>
<br />
<li>Is there a system that will enable youngsters to communicate with parents during an emergency or while sheltering away from home?</li>
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<li>Is there a procedure for periodic roll call and status of students? How does the school monitor egress?</li>
<br />
<li>Is your school staff trained to handle and alleviate the psychological stress that young children will feel during an emergency?</li>
<br />
<li>If something happens to you in an emergency, does the school have alternate pick-up plans?</li>
<br />
<li>Can you pick up your children during an emergency or will you be locked out the school and be placed in danger? How does the school communicate that to you? </li>
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<li>Does the school have a policy making sure siblings are reunited and sheltered together?</li>
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<li>What plans are in place to deal with genders if sheltering in place is required? Will male teachers be left along to care for young girls? Should they?<br /><br /> </li>
</ul>
While school budgets always seem to be tight and many priorities must give way to others, there are many reasons why investing in emergency preparedness and resiliency must take a priority at local and state levels. We have seen the consequences of schools involved in major emergencies, whether it was in the China earthquakes, the Japan Tsunami, or the many unspeakable acts of terrorism committed against schools throughout the world. As a society and has parents, we have a duty to protect our children, and the complacency is frightening. <br />
There are few states that seem to be taking some important initiatives. In 2010, New Jersey passed a a law (New Jersey Statutes Section 18A:41-1) requiring that schools coordinate and work with emergency responders to implement and update school safety plans, and implement drill, management and emergency response procedures. The New Jersey law also mandates that full-time school employees receive training on school safety and emergency drills.<br />
In Colorado, a new bill (Colorado Senate Bill No. SB11-173, “Interoperable Communications in Schools”) concerning interoperable communications for Colorado schools is pressing forward. Sponsored by Senator Steve King, this bill should serve as a model for action in other states. Without robust interoperable emergency communications and real time information sharing between schools and first responder, emergency management and emergency support function agencies, the framework for ensuring coordinated and effective live saving response is missing. Simply using a public 911 emergency call mechanism during an emergency for a school is woefully inadequate for a myriad of reasons, including the basic fact that a major community resource with hundreds of at-risk children is competing for assistance and call time with the general public and repetitive and possibly flooded call banks. Moreover, a method of constant situational awareness and coordinated effort is required at the beginning, during and after an emergency. This communication capability also serves as a means for important tabletop and field exercises and training, so that the school staff is capable of responding appropriately and effectively during a disaster or emergency.<br />
At the end of the day, schools must be properly equipped, have practiced emergency plans in place, and the school staff must be trained and prepared to deal with large scale emergencies, because they can and do happen. Emergency preparedness and resilience requires an investment in time, focus and resources for unknown or unpredictable events. In many cases emergences are o remote that initiatives often lose their rightful priority until it is too late. Emergency preparedness is not attractive and sexy like sports and other popular school programs, but they are vital to the long term safety of our children. <br />
There is no single greater force for change than parents, and of all the issues confronting schools emergency preparedness and resilience should be front and center, because the lives of our children may depend on it.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-7186271296938802082011-03-17T13:31:00.010-04:002011-03-25T12:28:55.440-04:00Resiliency in the Modern Society: The Japan Earthquake Lesson<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">By: Joe Mazzarella, SVP and Chief Legal Officer, Mutualink, Inc.<br />March 17, 2011</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7cqgSlT7pZzEhgE6EoToDQHUD8kCty_tjJ1WewObO4NM7up8svYpTVBopbfG_wErKXGguUdgaPEWvNUuVneBI-H10j51cXeqvtihkcnlQzOjp_2MfUsS0GnFxIoWrtaGuQfZYXcd9zg/s1600/Japan-Quake-2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 310px; height: 249px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7cqgSlT7pZzEhgE6EoToDQHUD8kCty_tjJ1WewObO4NM7up8svYpTVBopbfG_wErKXGguUdgaPEWvNUuVneBI-H10j51cXeqvtihkcnlQzOjp_2MfUsS0GnFxIoWrtaGuQfZYXcd9zg/s400/Japan-Quake-2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588055237179592130" /></a>As Japan urgently struggles to combat the predations of a massive earthquake and tsunami, the forces of chaos have offered up another sober warning that societies are fragile. The everyday certainty and reliability experienced by citizens and leaders of modernized nations obscures the inherent vulnerabilities attendant to complex economies and societies functioning in a deeply interconnected and interdependent manner. The paradox that the Japan earthquake lays bare is that the very thing that creates a highly efficient and successful economy may well be the same thing that exposes us to catastrophic ruin.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />As the world has witnessed, Japan is suffering enormous devastation from a series of compounding events spawned from an initial large scale natural disaster. These secondary and tertiary events have cascaded like a series of invisible dominos spanning outwards in many directions from a single push of a finger. Japan’s emergency response and support infrastructure is being stressed beyond its capability to respond to all needs. From debris fields blocking search and rescue teams, heavy equipment and relief supplies being cut off from communities, to stranded people, trains and impassable roads, limited electricity from rolling blackouts, radiation clouds and evacuations, gas rationing, empty food shelves, insufficient numbers of body bags and decaying corpses due to a lack of refrigeration, and snow and cold freezing adding to the plight of millions of displaced people, the effects of mother nature’s wrath seems to know no bounds. As this is being written, the specter of a mass evacuation of Tokyo is not beyond the realm of the thinkable should Japan’s nuclear emergencies continue to worsen and become unchecked. The impact of evacuating 18 million people and the ensuing panic it will ignite, couple with overwhelming devastation from the earthquake could result in major collapses in critical sectors of their civil society.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Fortunately, Japan has an intangible advantage that may very well be the key to their short and medium term survival, the inherently cooperative, caring and self-restrained nature of the Japanese society. It is the culturally engrained resilience of the average Japanese citizen that will provide a vast network of local human support infrastructure that will enable them to prevail. The simple act of sharing a bottle of drinking water with a neighbor, sharing heat or shelter and food, instead of hoarding resources and closing out those in need may be essential difference between mass suffering occasioned by death and illnesses and great discomfort but survival. And, the reports of this type of behavior are not few or far between.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />On the other side of the equation, one can readily observe how the more sophisticated and complex societies become the more fragile they are in terms of their exposure to large scale disasters. As societies become more modernized, economic sectors becomes more specialized along verticals and more concentrated, becoming ever more efficient in production and streamlined in the delivery of services and products. Economies of scale are achieved through great volumes, and this has the practical effect of driving consolidation, cost reduction and lower prices and higher profit margins. Communications and digital information networks drive financial transactions and exchanges set prices and delivery of critical commodities. Electrical and hydrocarbon based energy systems power our communications and information networks as well as our factories, transportation, and nearly every appliance in our households. Food production sources are no longer local, and they crucially depend on transportation and refrigeration. Water and sewage treatment systems depend on power. Medical systems depend on specialized medications and equipment manufactured by a small number of facilities and delivered by transportation systems. Shipping requires fuel and functioning transportation systems and ports, and payment settlement systems. This litany of interlocking dependencies could be continued virtually ad infinitum with increasing granularity, but let the above suffice for sake of argument.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Where the old watch maker may have made his own parts or bought materials from locally produced resources, the new global watch company assembles much, makes little and consumes even less locally, preferring to depend and upon vast supply chains, special parts makers, and sophisticated just in time transportation networks to receive goods and ship them back out to the market. And so it is for a thousand, thousand other niches which make up our vast and complex economy. The same holds true for the individual, where once most households were highly self-sustaining entities, virtually nothing is produced in the household. We are dependent on the delivery of food, electricity, water, and heat to our homes. Whereas at one time nearly all food was produced and sold locally yet a pair of French silk stockings was a rare imported extravagance, today it is just the opposite. One would be more likely to find French made stockings in a grocery store than to find locally produced berries. Modern households are fragile and are deeply dependent on far reaching, often global, supply chains to perform.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><br />Simply put, a vast web of highly dependent connections produces the marvel that is our increasingly productive, specialized and hyper-efficient world. But when one thread frays and breaks, as in the case of a large scale power outage, the fabric can quickly unravel especially when pulled upon and stressed even by the smallest of forces. </span></div><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><div align="justify"><br />Perhaps one of the most astute initiatives of the Department of Homeland Security in regards to emergency preparedness is focusing on strengthening the resilience of communities. The introduction and promotion of this concept is essential to our security. Yet, its true implications may far exceed its intended import. It is one thing to have an all hazards coordinated public safety and emergency response structure that can scale and work with a unified purpose in times of disaster, but it is quite another to achieve a resilient society. In the first instance, much work is being done to plan for and be able to respond and recover from disasters through a better coordinated public emergency response agency structure and this will pay dividends. In the latter case, true community level resilience simply may be at odds with the forces of economic globalization. </div><div align="justify"><br />Resilience in terms of key infrastructure and critical resources requires more than redundancy. It requires diverse modalities with functional redundancies. By these terms, I mean using many different methods and ways to achieve the same or substantially same functions. On both accounts, global economic forces drive in the opposite direction. </div><div align="justify"><br />First, at a pure redundancy level, redundancy means necessarily having more of the same thing. By definition, this means having excess capacity. This is squarely at odds with competitive global economic forces that drive the cost of production down by eliminating excess or idle capacity. In the most efficient and productive market ideal, the productive capacity of an asset should be producing at full capacity up to the last marginal profit dollar. At anything less, it is not being used to its highest economic value. So, creating more idle capacity is at odds with market forces even if it is beneficial from a disaster perspective. Worse yet, productive capacity is often dislocated from local areas and moved to more cost efficient places, often in other parts of the world. But, the problem extends even beyond global market forces. In the case of large scale systems that present significant investments such as electrical transport grids, regulated monopolies replicate the same conditions of singular reliance without redundancy. In the United States, our electrical transport system is vulnerable to mass outages because of its spoke and hub topology and lack of real redundancy in transport. It is unlikely that rate payers will be willing to pay the cost for an abstraction called redundancy. So, in most cases the practical reality is most are unwilling to pay more to ensure resilience against a remote event whether it is indirectly through buying behavior or in the form of a direct cost. </div><div align="justify"><br />Secondly, pure redundancy (or more of the same) is not sufficient in terms of establishing true levels of resiliency. As was demonstrated in the Japan nuclear reactor failures, redundant cooling systems constructed the same way may reduce probability of failure but all are vulnerable to the same type of failure. So, if the causation event spans each system space (i.e., it is sufficiently large to span all redundant systems), the probability of failure is not lower as predicted, it is the same as having one. An analogy can be drawn to airplane hydraulic systems. Three redundant hydraulic lines running through the same harness is not redundant if a turbine blade from an engine breaches the plane and severs all three lines. Again, in the global economy, forces are at work that are driving towards commoditization and pushing against multi-modal diversity. Across virtually all industries the same or similar parts (and underlying designs) are often used by the same vendors. Lower prices attained through scale and volume drive homogenization at the component level and this even dictate similar outcomes at systems levels. Unique approaches in mechanical, operational and even software design are driven out of the system for routine but critical functions. </div><div align="justify"><br />So what is to be done? Certainly, the substitution of free market mechanisms with old style managed economies is unwise and proven to be a failure over the long term. But what is new is that global market forces are operating in ways that are asymmetric to sovereign interests. Once robust and competitive production assets are removed from the fabric of a nation (whether it is energy resources or raw and processed materials production, food production, core manufacturing capabilities, technological know-how), the overall resilience of that nation becomes dependent upon cooperative forces beyond its borders. Nations become subject to global supply chains and the competing interests and decisions of foreign entities and agnostic market forces. The ability to direct policies that create a robust and healthy production capability across vital domestic infrastructure segments is beyond the grasp. The ability to persuade or direct re-tooling, increased production, or the redirection or concentration of goods and supplies in response to a crisis for the good of the country is lost. Looking at the United States, a strong case can be made that it has become substantially more vulnerable over the past 30 years as its competitive industrial production and infrastructure has been dismantled and shipped overseas. Many of our critical resources, raw materials and finished materials are produced in foreign markets, and little domestic capability remains. While at advent of connected global markets have increased the diversity and supply of goods and services at lower prices under stable conditions, we may well have placed the core of our safety and security during major crisis into the hands of others in that exchange.</div><div align="justify"><br />We must begin to investigate and understand the vulnerabilities that are being created by complex interdependencies through economic globalization. There is a compelling case to be made that consolidation and elimination of domestic industries create additional vulnerabilities to large scale disasters and hamper recovery. It further can be said, the very nature of advancing economic realities are that all sectors are interdependent with others in one way or another. Resiliency requires investment in diversified redundant capabilities with back-up capacity in key sectors of our economy. Also, restoring and protecting competitive production capabilities across key sectors within domestic markets is vital to a resilient fabric. Perhaps the forces of globalization are so strong that it is impossible to restore local and regional resilience by reestablishing domestic competitive infrastructure. But knowing this fact compels us to seriously understand and evaluate the systems and delicate dependencies that are critical to allowing basic services to continue to function in times of large scale disaster and provide a path for recovery. It may be that basic policies at local, state and federal levels must serve to foster effective surrogate diversified redundancies so that we can achieve a counterbalance to the fragile environment we have constructed. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><br /><div align="justify">Finally, returning to Japan, perhaps when all else fails the last line of resiliency lies in the citizenry itself. Creating a culture of individual preparedness and fostering mutual care among neighbors during times of crisis might very well be the invisible thread that holds us together. </div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">***</div><div align="center"><br /></div><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;">Our sincere prayers and condolences go out to our friends in Japan </span></p><br /><br />A46ET9UEHZKJ</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-90413381501937713432010-09-30T00:39:00.008-04:002010-09-30T14:44:38.699-04:00New Commando Style Terror Plot Predicted in Mumbai Security BriefingIn December, 2008, I wrote an after action <a href="http://preparednesstoday.blogspot.com/2009/04/lesson-learned-from-mumbai-attacks.html">Mumbai Attacks Security Briefing </a>in which I advised that the public safety agencies and high risk/high impact targets should be prepared for coordinated multi-site urban terror assaults (commando style attacks) that are modeled after the Mumbai terror attacks. Specifically, I suggested that the operational signature of the Mumbai attacks provided important information that can assist officials in preparing for and responding to potentially similar events in the future. The recently reported terror plot which appears to have been foiled should serve as a stark reminder to our public safety and emergency response agencies that the specter of a large scale coordinated terrorist attack focused on multiple soft targets remains a major concern.<br /><br />Few details regarding the uncovered plot have been disclosed but some key information has been released, including the fact that the terror plot involved numerous operatives across Europe, attacks were to be coordinated and targets where possibly focused on hotels, malls and stadiums. This information suggests a fit with the Mumbai attacks. The significance of the Mumbai attacks should not be lost in that it represented a continuing departure from the historically favored terror targets of air and rail transportation, and a move towards commando style coordinated attacks. The Mumbai attacks were immensely “successful” from a terrorist perspective, causing large scale carnage and disruption across a major metropolitan region and “success” breeds emulation.<br /><br />The Mumbai attacks should be seen as part of a natural progression and continuing adaptation of tactics that are moving towards exploiting soft targets using commando like operations. Predecessor events pointed to this new type of threat. These include the savage Beslan School attack in Russia on September 1, 2004, where Chechen terrorists took more than 1,100 people hostage and 334 hostages (including 186 school children) were massacred when they detonated explosives inside the school building. The Beslan attack was preceded by a similar large scale soft target attack on the Moscow Theater on October 22, 2002. The Moscow Theater attack involved over 40 Chechen terrorists taking 850 people hostage. After a two day standoff, Russian security forces conducted a raid and 170 people died. In addition to large scale attacks on soft targets involving many operatives, terrorists have shown an increased attraction towards attacking hotels. Attacks include hotels in Bali, Egypt, and Israel. The Somali terror affiliate of Al Qaeda, Al Shabab, claimed responsibility for a recent August 24, 2010 military commando style attack on the Muna Hotel in Somalia where parliamentarians were meeting, resulting in the death of 31 people.<br /><br />In retrospect, it comes as little surprise that the Mumbai attacks represented an adaptation and progression of tactics which emulated components of previous attacks. The focal point of the Mumbai attacks was the Taj Hotel, in keeping with predecessor hotel bombing attacks. Borrowing from its Chechen counterparts, the Mumbai terrorists employed a commando style bloody hostage taking assault, and in keeping with Al Queda’s coordinated attack signature adapted further by undertaking coordinated attacks across 10 locations striking key response infrastructure.<br /><br />There is little reason to doubt that similar plans were underway in this most recent terror plot. In terms of the future, it would seem likely that a domestic terrorist attack will be a coordinated and distributed commando style attack aimed at soft targets and possibly first responders and support response infrastructure. The likely targets appear to be schools, hotels, stadiums and high capacity facilities. Among these targets, hotels remain the most likely target because they are uniquely open to transient traffic, they house large numbers of people, and the ability to surreptitiously smuggle weapons and explosives in luggage as guest is relatively easy. Further, the rooms at the hotel become ideal operational bases from which operatives can meet, prepare and deploy to designated targets. Further, removing and transporting weapons is easy because the can be transported in innocuous looking luggage. Finally, operatives can check-in to rooms at varying intervals to appear unrelated to other conspirators and can request rooms at strategic locations where they can wire explosives and incendiary devices.<br /><br />Hotels that are most a risk would appear to be larger hotel facilities which are located in metropolitan areas with more diverse populations that include Middle Eastern and African immigrant populations, so that terrorists can more easily blend in to the population. Thus, hotels in localities that serve as gateways for international air traffic like Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Washington DC, would seem to be more at risk than others. Among these, smaller cities would seem to carry a possibly higher t risk because they have less resources and security assets at their immediate disposal to combat an attack. This would make Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Miami and San Francisco possibly more attractive potential targets. This pragmatic consideration, however, may be offset by the desire to attack a more significant and symbolic city.<br /><br />Among types of hotels, skyscraper style hotels would seem to be more at risk than those that are more campus oriented and have more distributed entrances and exits, because it is easier to control the entire hotel facility with many floors by controlling a ground floor with limited entrance and exits. Additionally, traditional American associated brand hotels would seem to be more likely targets because of their symbolic value.<br /><br />In addition to hotels, large elementary and middle schools in metropolitan areas appear to be potential targets of concern. Generally, these facilities are not well protected against sudden commando style raids. Attacking grade school level facilities also offers terrorists distinct advantages, including a hostage population that will be unable to resist in early stages of an operation, and adults who will be over taxed in attending to children. Further, great political pressure will be placed on officials to avoid any action on the part of public safety and security forces, yet it will command and tie down considerable resources due to the nature of the event. Attacking this target in concert with others will place tremendous stress on available response resources, thus giving terrorists more opportunity to inflict large scale carnage and damage at secondary targets.<br /><br />As a final note, from a historical perspective it appears that early and aggressive action on the part of security forces would appear to be appropriate. The longer that time passes, the more terrorists are able to entrench, wire explosives and prepare for an assault. In most instances of radical Islamic terrorist attacks, the record indicates it is unlikely there will be a peaceful conclusion and that negotiation merely affords terrorists time to prepare for final acts of mayhem and martyrdom.<br /><br />Strong emphasis should be placed on building regional terror response teams capable of responding with military like force and special operations capabilities. Response time to the scene should be gauged in minutes, not hours or days. The sooner responding forces can insert into a scene the more they can take advantage of a chaotic and unstable environment. In order to effectively deploy these types of capabilities, tools that provide real time situational awareness are key. These tools include ensuring that advanced interoperable communications and information sharing are in place. This includes enabling communications between hostages and field level responders, sharing video and communicating across multiple responding agencies.<br /><br />While we all are relieved that a serious terror plot may have been stopped, we all know this is not the last in a determined effort by increasingly worldwide fanatical terror networks to strike a devastating blow against the West.<div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-52445063777483171862010-03-25T13:56:00.013-04:002010-03-29T14:47:03.780-04:00Pandemic Preparedness & Crisis Management in the Media Age<div align="justify"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">This is a reprint of a feature Article published with </span><a href="http://www.emsresponder.com/"><span style="font-size:85%;">EMSResponder.com </span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">in March 2010. All rights are reserved to EMS Magazine and the author, respectively.</span></em></div><div align="justify"><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div align="justify"><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em></div><div align="justify"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">By: Joe Mazzarella. Chief Legal Counsel, Mutualink, Inc.</span></em></div><div align="justify"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Date: March 26, 2010</span></em> </div><p align="justify" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The initial stages of the HINI flu virus raised much alarm due to the real fear that it could turn into a major health disaster. Although widespread, it has fortunately proven to have limited lethality thus far. Nonetheless, the H1N1 pandemic stressed and continues to place heavy demands on our public health response systems, and it demonstrates that we need to remain vigilant and ready to act, because the next pandemic is surely around the corner, and its severity and impact could be much worse. The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 killed an estimated 20 to 50 Million people worldwide may seem anachronistic because modernity offers us advanced medical care, the modern environment offers new challenges in disease transmission through a a highly mobile world where a single infected individual in Hong Kong can infect hundreds in New York in less than 24 hours. Much like a category 5 hurricane that looms offshore ready to potentially strike, public health and civil emergency preparedness organizations need to be prepared for the potentially catastrophic effects of a major pandemic that is highly contagious and lethal. In any large scale pandemic with significant lethality, there is a low, but nonetheless real risk that basic social systems may unravel through a series of cascading and interdependent events. While the health care system remains ground zero in any pandemic outbreak, other sectors of society that provide essential services can be significantly impacted or disrupted in major outbreak. Major civil strife can be triggered when a critical mass of individuals no longer trust that the basic support mechanisms of civil society will protect them and they begin to change behavior and challenge public order because it is in their best interest to do so. Public information officers are front in center in preempting these events before they reach an unmanageable and self reinforcing state. While public officials struggled to communicate with large portions of the population in 1918, the opposite problem exists today. Ironically, the virulent and uncontrollable virus which could be the catalyst for major disorder is not the actual virus itself, but our modern viral communications environment. The Internet and a 24x7 news media culture enable sensationalism, misinformation and distortions to be quickly and uncontrollably and indiscriminately spread far and wide. Social media sites, blogs, email, and text messaging are power mediums that allow individuals to quickly disseminate and propagate information, opinions, and speculations. With the increasing presence of mobile cameras coupled with web enabled publishing and viewing forums, inflammatory content can be captures and instantly broadcasted throughout cyberspace. The opportunity to instill fear, insight panic and instigate hostility has never been greater for so many with such little consequence for so few, whether they are willful or sadly in error. Additionally, due to the legacy of Hurricane Katrina, today’s citizenry is conditioned to embrace messages that affirm a view of the government which is dispassionately incompetent in handling large scale emergencies. Consequently, the pervasive modern digital media environment has made communications ground zero for public information officers and liaison officers. Improved communications and sophisticated dissemination strategies must be used to effectively combat and counteract disinformation, and ensure vital public information reaches its audience. At the core of the of this effort, emergency response planners and officials must pro-actively manage and disseminate information, enlist and collaborate with key community representatives and groups, and anticipate and seek to mitigate inaccurate information before its emerges with irreversible momentum. The recommendations listed below are not exhaustive (fn 1), but serve to demonstrate the many issues and dynamics that come into play when a major pandemic or mass health crisis strikes. Pandemic planning must be comprehensive and take an expanded view of the social dynamics and impacts that occur at both the community and individual level when engaging in disaster communications. The audience, substance, truthfulness, timing, consistency, frequency and method of delivery are all important factors in successfully achieving an effective and sustained communications initiative. It might be that a few well placed words could be the difference between devolution into chaos or a quieting refuge that safely weathers the storm. </span></p><p align="justify" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">H1N1 Pandemic Flu Public Safety Preparedness and Communications Management Tips</span></strong></p><p align="justify" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>1. Frontline Multi-agency Communication and Information Sharing.</strong> Basic, accurate and consistent health information should be shared among all agencies and their personnel. Information includes facts about prevention and precautions, symptoms, treatments, recovery rates, high risk groups, and fatality rates. Agency personnel that interface with the public must project confidence and a general command of the subject matter. </span></span></p><p align="justify" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>2. Cross Agency Collaboration and Policy Consistency.</strong> While agencies may serve different functions, they will intersect and overlap in key areas and interdependent ways. Ensure that each agency’s policies and procedures dovetail with one another in collaborative response scenarios. Agencies that are subject matter experts within their functional domain should take the lead in establishing recommended inter-agency policies coordination, and judgments should not be supplanted by non-expert agencies. For example, disorderly conduct and civil control should be established by law enforcement professionals, while first aid response and emergency medical treatment procedures should be established by medical professionals. Although expert agencies should take the lead, expert agencies need to collaborate and refine procedures to deal with unique concerns or issues that may be raised other agencies in relation to the particular health emergency circumstance. </span></span></p><p align="justify" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>3. Interoperable Emergency Communications.</strong> Key agencies such as public health agencies, hospitals, EMS, Offices of Emergency Management, and police should have effective real time interoperable communications and information sharing systems in place. </span></span></p><p align="justify" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>4. Engaged Public Information Management.</strong> Proactive and engaged public information out reach is necessary to educate the citizenry and also preempt and combat misinformation and distortions. Engaged public information management includes: </span></span></p><blockquote style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>a. Educating and Preparing Public Leadership.</strong> Ensure the timely dissemination of official positions and policies among chief executives and other public officials that may interact with the media or public. Information should be updated frequently and address evolving issues and circumstances. Officials empowered with information will pre-empt speculative, conflicting or speculative commentary which may raise uncertainty among the public.</span></span></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">b. Deal Straight with the Public.</span></strong></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>i. Truth and Accuracy.</strong> Provide truthful, accurate and complete information. Withholding, minimizing or slanting information will be quickly exposed and undermine public confidence and fuel anxiety.</span></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>ii. Use Plain Language.</strong> Use plain language, data driven facts, be explanatory and avoid jargon. If medical terms or jargon must be used, explain it. </span></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>iii. Explain Your Policies and What People Can Expect.</strong> Explain your health emergency policies, activities and policies, and the rationale for them in advance. By explaining your rationale in advance it will diffuse misconceptions and potential claims of bias, arbitrariness or insensitivity. Also, describing what people can expect when interfacing with the public health system will help alleviate anxiety.</span></span></p></blockquote></blockquote><p align="justify" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span><blockquote style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>c. Modernize Your Communications Strategy</strong> </span></span><p></p><blockquote><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><strong>i. Communicate Routinely and Frequently.</strong></strong> Merely establishing a web site, even if it is chock full of information and updated often, is still a passive form of communication. It requires individuals to consciously seek out and choose to visit on a repeated basis. Officials should use multi-channel strategies to disseminate information that leverage and reinforce one another, including methods that push information to subscribers. Routinely providing updates is an important strategy to maintain the public’s attention and establish an ongoing conversation. </span></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>ii. Proactively Engage Traditional Media.</strong> Make access easy for traditional news media by updating journalists and reporters on a frequent basis, and making sure key representatives are available to speak with them. A public media relations officer should be designated as a single point of contact to disseminate news briefing information and assist journalists in establishing contact with various representatives. Requests that are received by operational officials should be directed back to the central point of contact to eliminate confusion, eliminate overlap and distractions, and improve resource and time efficiencies. </span></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>iii. Proactively Use New Media Venues.</strong> Use real time notification technologies and new social media venues to quickly disseminate important information. Email, SMS, MMS, and RSS subscription based alerting should be routinely employed to push out informational alerts with embedded HTML links to informational landing pages with more information. Using share enabling and viral bookmarking and tagging tools should also be employed like Digg, Del.icio.us, Furl, and Reddit, StumbleUpon. Social media venues like Twitter, FaceBook, and MySpace should also be employed. </span></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>iv. Disinformation Management.</strong> Another important strategy that can pay dividends is actively monitoring popular internet gathering places and communities for information and rumors that are erroneous or distorted, and taking steps to disseminate corrective or clarifying information. Simple methods such as using Google Alerts with custom key words can help bring new information to your attention. Similarly, establishing a Twitter Account and following parties with relevant topical or subject matter interests can also provide an automated way to check the pulse of public concerns in near real time. Formally designating a member of your public information office to undertake these efforts is recommended.</span></span></p></blockquote></blockquote><p align="justify" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span><blockquote style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>d. Establish Advisory Communications with Frontline Clinical Health Points. </strong>Establish known and repeatable methods of communication for information updates and advisories for all frontline health care professionals, such general practitioners, pediatricians, visiting nurses and emergency room personnel. Advisory information should extend to best practices for waiting room management and segregation, updates on symptoms, treatments, public health reporting, monitoring, testing and hospitalization. As noted previously, employing email alert blasts and other push oriented information delivery methods should be used. </span></span><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></blockquote><p align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">e. Establish Outreach and Communications with Key Groups:</span></strong></p><blockquote><blockquote><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>i. Critical Infrastructure and Key Business Assets.</strong> Officials should establish key sector outreach representatives to interact with large business, critical infrastructure entities and other important community assets. (fn 2) Pandemic planning documents should be made available to assist business leaders and facilities operators in handling an outbreak and ensuring continuity of operations. Additionally, functional capacity and operational impact reporting should be considered so that public emergency management officials can monitor potential interruption or degradation of key services due to workforce impacts. Areas of monitoring include utilities, particularly field technicians and facilities repair personnel, municipal and regional transportation operators and personnel, such as bus drivers and train operators, law enforcement and fire personnel, acute and primary care facilities. Additionally, specific communications channels should be opened for all mass gathering facilities such as stadiums, theaters, malls and similar venues. </span></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>ii. Historically Underserved Populations.</strong> Officials should actively engage community leaders, including churches, educators, and neighborhood advocacy groups, to explain policies and procedures, shares information and resources, and provide an official liaison contact to mitigate any problems with access and delivery. </span></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>iii. Aged, Handicapped and other Vulnerable Populations.</strong> Officials should actively engage group homes and retirement communities to explain policies and procedures, shares information and resources, and provide an official liaison contact to address elderly issues. Special emphasis should also be placed on establishing methods of communication for the blind and hearing impaired. </span></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>iv. Schools and Universities. </strong>Officials should actively engage with schools and universities (fn 3), both private and public, to regarding recommended prevention, response policies and procedures, monitoring and reporting. Grade schools should also be used as a vehicle to disseminate information back into community households. The state, regional and local education officials should be continually collaborating with public health officials, means for advisory communication and updates should be established and an official liaison contact should be provided. </span></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>v. Immigrant and Multilingual Populations.</strong> As our society has become increasing diverse and mobile, officials should be aware that there are many non-English speaking residents and visitors, and all critical materials and instructions should be accessible in all major languages represented within the community. Appropriate emergency staffing and response should also include multi-lingual speakers and translators.</span></span></p></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><p align="justify" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>5. Monitoring and Preempting Escalation.</strong> Officials should be vigilant in monitoring trends in behavior, particularly any rise in occurrence of acts of public disorder and the circumstances under which and places where they are occurring. As discussed, potential flash points are emergency rooms, inoculation centers and dispensaries, among others. Threats and incidents that have any reasonable nexus to the pandemic should be reported into a central repository for analysis and establishing prevention and mitigation strategies. For example, if significant potential for disturbances are occurring at hospitals, then deploying uniformed law enforcement personnel at these locations may temper behavior, but also help contain any disturbance. Implementing real time interoperable communications between security personnel and law enforcement and establishing video monitoring at key locations with real time video sharing with law enforcement is also be a good strategy for force multiplication, situation awareness, and reducing response times.</span></span></p><p align="justify" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>6. Legal Services Collaboration.</strong> Pandemics impact not only the sick, but also their families and care givers. Many people do not have the basic legal documents in place to effectively manage and care for incapacitated family members and friends, such as healthcare proxies to make medical decisions and durable powers of attorney to handle financial affairs. Even worse, the restrictions imposed by medical privacy laws, such as HIPPA, in many cases denies care givers, family members and friends access to important information about their loved one’s medical condition and even works to block information from being given regarding the admission status of a patient at health care facilities. It is essential that individuals be properly advised regarding the need to establish HIPPA privacy waivers for their friend and relatives. Moreover, many have not attended to fundamental matters regarding estate management, particularly if they are younger individuals. In the event of a major pandemic, officials should be working with state and local Bar Associations and other legal profession organizations to build a network of available support advocates for patients and families. The recommendations listed above are not exhaustive (fn 4), but serve to demonstrate the many issues and dynamics that come into play when a major pandemic or mass health crisis strikes. Pandemic planning must be comprehensive and take an expanded view of the social dynamics and impacts that occur at both the community and individual level. In the age of real time electronic and social media, there are opportunities to improve effective communication and planning, but there is also a potential downside. These powerful technologies can act as a major catalyst for panic and social disorder, and emergency response planners and officials must pro-actively manage and disseminate information, enlist and collaborate with key community representatives and groups, and anticipate and seek to mitigate behavioral risks before they emerge and gain irreversible momentum</span></span>.</p><p align="justify" size="11px" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><em>Footnotes:</em> </p><p align="left" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">[1] There are a significant number of resources available from international, federal and state agencies covering a broad array of planning issues. The following informational guide is directed specifically at information officers: Effective Media Communication during Public Health Emergencies, WHO Handbook (2005). Ref. at: </span><a href="http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/WHO%20MEDIA%20HANDBOOK.pdf"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/WHO%20MEDIA%20HANDBOOK.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also created an online instructional course for public information officers called “Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication Training “. It is located at: </span><a href="http://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/CERConline/index.html"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">http://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/CERConline/index.html</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">. </span></p><p align="left" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">[2] For a comprehensive resource guide, please see Pandemic Influenza, Preparedness, Response and recovery, Guide for Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources, Department of Homeland Security (2006). Ref.: </span><a href="http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/pdf/cikrpandemicinfluenzaguide.pdf"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/pdf/cikrpandemicinfluenzaguide.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">. </span></p><p align="left" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">[3] See, CDC Guidance for State and Local Public Health Officials and School Administrators for School (K-12) Responses to Influenza during the 2009-2010 School Year at </span><a href="http://pandemicflu.gov/professional/school/schoolguidance.html"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">http://pandemicflu.gov/professional/school/schoolguidance.html</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">. For universities, see, CDC Guidance for Responses to Influenza for Institutions of Higher Education during the 2009-2010 Academic Year at </span><a href="http://pandemicflu.gov/professional/school/higheredguidance.html"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">http://pandemicflu.gov/professional/school/higheredguidance.html</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">. </span></p><p align="left" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">[4] There are a significant number of resources available from international, federal and state agencies covering a broad array of planning issues. The following informational guide is directed specifically at information officers: Effective Media Communication during Public Health Emergencies, WHO Handbook (2005). Ref. at: </span><a href="http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/WHO%20MEDIA%20HANDBOOK.pdf"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/WHO%20MEDIA%20HANDBOOK.pdf</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also created an online instructional course for public information officers called “Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication Training “. It is located at: </span><a href="http://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/CERConline/index.html"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;">http://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/CERConline/index.html</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:85%;">.</span> </span></p><blockquote><p align="left"></p></blockquote><p align="left"><br /></p></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-58376881979252542552009-09-03T13:46:00.005-04:002009-09-03T14:00:49.333-04:00Navigating HIPAA and FERPA in an Interoperable Emergency Communications World<meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" 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mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} /* List Definitions */ @list l0 {mso-list-id:1852333930; mso-list-type:hybrid; mso-list-template-ids:1306430234 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;} @list l0:level1 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:1.0in; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:Symbol;} ol {margin-bottom:0in;} ul {margin-bottom:0in;} --></style><b style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;">By: Joe Mazzarella, Chief Legal Counsel<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The current United States homeland security and national emergency response policy as reflected in the National Response Framework (NRF), National Emergency Communications Plan (“NECP”) and National Incident Management System (NIMS) is correctly focused on implementing a scalable and cohesive “all hazards and all disciplines” emergency planning and incident response capability across all levels of government.<span style=""> </span>The implementation of this policy is facilitated through a seamless interoperable communications continuum and information environment.<span style=""> </span>Through this environment public safety agencies and other critical or key community assets can collaborate and coordinate in real time during incidents to achieve force and resource multiplication, greater situational awareness and enhanced response.<span style=""> </span>In this world first responder agencies are linked with important community assets including schools, hospitals, utilities and other key private entities.<span style=""> </span>The implementation of such a cohesively linked emergency communications sharing environment (which is nothing short of essential to improving overall national emergency preparedness and response capabilities to deal with an increasing array of natural and manmade incidents) must also coexist within a framework of privacy laws such as the Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”).<span style="">
<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style=""></span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">HIPAA is designed to protect medical privacy of individuals and limit the unnecessary sharing and disclosure of personal medical information through or by covered groups that routinely house, access and transmit health information, such as hospitals, medical facilities and medical clearinghouse and billing services.<span style=""> </span>Yet, hospitals and medical facilities play vital roles in emergency incident response and crisis recovery efforts.<span style=""> </span>FERPA, like its HIPAA counterpart, also is a privacy law which is directed at protecting privacy of students and their educational records.<span style=""> </span>Notably, student educational records often contain important family and health information.<span style=""> </span>Like hospitals, schools (albeit for different reasons) are also at the center of emergency planning and response initiatives.<span style=""> </span>It is well recognized that school populations are high priority, vulnerable community assets and close coordination and communication between schools and public safety agencies is essential to improving overall emergency readiness.<span style=""> </span>In both cases, we see two key participants in the overall homeland security and emergency response landscape that have unique information privacy laws that may limit the disclosure and sharing of important information in the event of a crisis.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Fortunately, however, this is not the case.<span style=""> </span>Simply put, neither HIPAA nor FERPA interfere with or hamper emergency response efforts.<span style=""> </span>In fact, in each case, they are narrowly drawn in this area and provide ample room to enable both public and private emergency response entities, including “covered entities”, to communicate and share necessary information to carry out emergency response and crisis management functions.<span style="">
<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style=""></span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Within the context of interoperable communications systems the operative function and effect is to enable many diverse parties to communicate and share information across boundaries.<span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span>In the minds of some, this aspect of multiparty participation raises the concern whether participants within a communications group may not be privy to private or protected information and disclosure within this context raises the potential for inadvertent violation of these laws.<span style=""> </span>This question naturally leads to the next.<span style=""> </span>Do these laws require authorization levels to be established to ensure only certain participants join in group communications where certain types of protected information are to be shared? Further, must the type and scope of information that may be shared or disclosed be tailored based upon the identity of the parties that are participating in joint communication session?<span style=""> </span>Thankfully, the reality is that these questions and concerns are implicitly handled in emergency contexts, assuming covered entities under HIPAA employ standard operating policies that they already have in place and good faith reasonable judgment is used by all in light of the circumstances at hand. <span style=""> </span>As a general proposition, neither privacy law restrains or prevents the flow of important information where it will protect the health, welfare, or safety of the subject individual whose privacy is being protected or those in logical and circumstantial proximity to the individual.<span style="">
<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style=""></span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;">HIPAA</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.<span style=""> </span>HIPAA, along with imposing uniform data coding practices, generally prohibits the unauthorized electronic disclosure of a patient’s protected health information (PHI).<span style=""> </span>This prohibition is comprised of two main thrusts, one aimed at transactional privacy, and the other at ensuring data security.<span style=""> </span>The rules in this area are manifold and complex.<span style=""> </span>However, HIPPA is limited only to “covered entities” and there are safe harbor exceptions for various circumstances where the public interest outweighs individual privacy.<span style="">
<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style=""></span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Generally speaking, covered entities are hospitals, medical facilities, health providers, and medical billing entities.<span style=""> </span>HIPAA does not apply to public safety responders and agencies, including <st1:place st="on">EMS</st1:place> (however private ambulances and those owned by, or affiliated with, a covered entity are subject to the law).<span style=""> </span>Non-health care related entities and schools (except in limited cases of on-site school health clinics) are not covered.<span style=""> </span>Moreover, entities that may store medical information as part of their overall function, such as independent living centers, social agencies, public health care agencies, transit organizations, and non-governmental organizations like the Red Cross, are not covered entities.<span style=""> </span>Thus, most participants within any community-wide or pervasive interoperable communications environment are not subject to HIPAA. <span style=""> </span>Yet, as noted, health and medical entities do play a major role within the emergency response environment and are covered by HIPAA.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Covered Entities.</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <span style=""> </span>Given that many covered entities would participate within an interoperable emergency response communication system, an issue that does arise is how covered entities can participate without running afoul of HIPAA.<span style=""> </span>The most likely circumstance where concerns would arise is in the case of emergencies or incidents where responding or participating parties may be requesting medical or health status information on one or more individuals from a covered entity (such as a hospital or medical provider).<span style=""> </span>However, HIPAA makes provision for the disclosure of necessary information in emergencies.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p>
<br /></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;">HIPAA Safe Harbors for Emergencies.</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /><b style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><u><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Disclosure During Emergencies</span></u><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.<span style=""> </span>The Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), the agency responsible for the administration and enforcement of HIPAA, has reaffirmed its position that HIPAA does not prevent the disclosure of medical information in the case of severe emergencies in order to enable necessary medical treatment and related logistical matters.<span style=""> </span>The applicability of HIPAA became a significant issue during Katrina, and HHS acted swiftly and with clarity to provide guidance that HIPAA does not compromise emergency response and relief efforts.<span style=""> </span>Specifically, HHS has articulated the following guidelines:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p>
<br /></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><u><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Treatment Information</span></u><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.<span style=""> </span>Patient medical information may be shared in times of serious emergency</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;">with other medical providers (hospitals, clinics, etc.) to aid in the delivery of treatment,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Symbol;"><span style=""> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">- to enable patient referral and linking with available treatment centers, and</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1in; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt;">to coordinate care with emergency relief workers.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<br /><u><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"></span></o:p></span></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><u><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;">
<br /></span></o:p></span></u></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><u><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Notification</span></u><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.<span style=""> </span>Patient information may be shared as is necessary to enable family members, guardians and others charged with the care of an individual to be identified, located and notified of that patient’s condition and whereabouts.<span style=""> </span>However, to the extent verbal permission can be obtained from the patient, it should be obtained. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p>
<br /></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><u><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Imminent Danger</span></u><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.<span style=""> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Providers can share patient information with anyone where it is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health and safety of a person or the public -- consistent with applicable law and the provider’s standards of ethical conduct.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">See, Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Human Rights, <i style="">Hurricane Katrina Bulletin: HIPAA Privacy and Disclosure During Emergency Situations</i>, Sep. 2, 2005, and <i style="">Hurricane Katrina Bulletin 2: Compliance Guidance and Enforcement Statement</i>, Sept. 9, 2005</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;">
<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Hospitals and health care providers, however, should take note that emergencies do not relieve covered entities from establishing appropriate agreements in advance with respect to its business associates (i.e., agents) that house, store, maintain or administer information on its behalf.<span style=""> </span>The HSS makes it clear that business associates and covered entities, must have a business associate agreement in place to ensure general compliance with HIPAA privacy requirements.<span style=""> </span>Within these agreements provision and consideration can be made for information sharing in cases of emergency.<span style=""> </span>HHS has published a sample business associate’s contract that may be used and adapted to meet the relationship that may exist between the covered entity and its business associate. </span><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; color: black;">See 45 CFR 164.504(e)(2)(ii)(D).<span style=""> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black;">The sample contract can be found on the internet at:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; color: black;"><a href="http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/special/emergency/enforcementstatement.pdf">http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/special/emergency/enforcementstatement.pdf</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt; color: black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style=""> </span>Accordingly, as part of any hospital’s or other health care provider’s emergency preparedness efforts, appropriate due diligence should be undertaken to identify whether any third party agents hold or provide information that may be required to be disseminated or shared during a crisis, and make sure a business associate’s agreement is in place to avoid a possible disruption or delay in furnishing key information during an emergency.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;">FERPA</span></b></st1:placename><b style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <st1:placename st="on">Safe</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Harbor</st1:placetype></span></b></st1:place><b style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> for Emergencies<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p>
<br /></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">While HIPAA governs protected health care information, it does not cover health care information that is part of a student’s educational records.<span style=""> </span>Health care information that is stored and maintained by schools (with the exception of on-site health clinics which process and seek insurance payments), although medical in nature, is considered part of a student’s “educational records” under FERPA rather than HIPAA.<span style=""> </span>See, Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Education, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Joint Guidance on the Application of the </span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act </span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(</span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">FERPA</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">) And the </span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 </span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">(</span><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">HIPAA</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">) To Student Health Records, Nov., 2008.<b><span style=""> </span></b>Consequently,<b> </b>one must look to FERPA in regards to disclosure of student information in times of emergency.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Again, like HIPAA, under FERPA the disclosure of information within educational records to appropriate third parties is permitted without any consent in connection with an emergency.<span style=""> </span>The information that is permitted to be disclosed however must be necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals. See 34 <i>CFR </i>§§ 99.31(a)(10) and 99.36.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style=""> </span>See, also, <a href="http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/coveredentities/hipaaferpajointguide.pdf">http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/coveredentities/hipaaferpajointguide.pdf</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="">
<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Conclusion</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.<span style=""> </span>Overall, neither HIPAA nor FERPA offer any serious obstacles to the implementation of cohesive, real time interoperable communications and information sharing systems for emergency preparedness and response and can coexist quite well with the broad goals of pervasive interoperable communications collaboration envisioned within homeland security and emergency preparedness realms.<span style=""> </span>Express safe harbor provisions are made to accommodate the reasonable disclosure and sharing of information among entities that are participating within the context of an emergency incident.<span style=""> </span>In each case, the protection of the health and safety of individuals under the exigent circumstances of an emergency is the operable standard by which agencies and participants may collaborate.<span style="">
<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style=""></span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As is the case with any subjective standard regarding what circumstances constitute an “emergency” and “necessary” information, good faith and reasonable judgments must prevail.<span style=""> </span>In this regard, for entities that are covered under HIPAA and in the case of student educational records, establishing clear guidelines and policies that assist in evaluating a request for information within the context of any emergency is important. <span style=""> </span>Integrating these policies into an emergency preparedness and response plan may help to support any subsequent challenge to the necessity and propriety of any disclosure by showing they were undertaken based on a well reasoned policy and on a good faith belief that the disclosure was appropriate and necessary.<span style=""> </span>Perhaps even more importantly, in times of emergency the effective mitigation of harm and a successful aid response may turn on the speed with which critical information is shared with responding parties.<span style=""> </span>Delays in responding to information requests caused by uncertainty or time consuming ad hoc legal or unplanned administrative reviews could adversely impact a timely emergency response effort.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Overall, while participants should be vigilant and make proper efforts to prepare for emergencies and integrate sound and lawful information sharing policies into their plans, it should be fundamentally recognized that neither FERPA nor HIPAA should serve as any obstacle to hospitals and schools participating in an interoperable emergency communications platform with other critical community participants.<span style=""> </span>In fact, based upon the prevailing emergency preparedness and homeland security recommendations and policies, the failure to reasonably do so may be viewed as unreasonable in light of generally accepted standards of good security and emergency preparedness practices to the extent participation is available within your community.<span style="">
<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style=""></span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Special Note.</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style=""> </span>This article is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice upon which a reader may rely.<span style=""> </span>Interested parties are encouraged to consult with their legal advisers.<span style=""> </span>FERPA and HIPAA are not the only privacy laws which may be applicable to you.<span style=""> </span>Many states also have privacy laws which may apply to you.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-63526151628827554962009-04-28T14:47:00.002-04:002009-04-28T14:51:25.703-04:00Twitter® for Public Safety & Emergency Management<div align="justify">By Joseph Mazzarella, Chief Legal Counsel<br />April 28, 2009<br /><br />In the world of public safety, obtaining and communicating important information in real time can save lives. In this regard, new communications tools are continually be deployed to improve emergency preparedness and response capabilities within a collaborative “all hazards, all disciplines’” paradigm that implicitly requires coordinated planning and response among responders, supporting agencies and other critical assets. These communications improvements range from employing mass alerting and reverse 9-1-1 solutions to advanced multi-agency communications interoperability solutions that link together an array of disparate systems and equipment. While the emergency management sector forges ahead with innovation, the world at large is also blazing new paths and ways of communicating through internet and mobile data driven social networking utilities. Despite the natural temptation to dismiss them as pedestrian at best and frivolous at worst, these social networks may offer something of value to the public safety and emergency management sector. After all, literally millions of users cannot be all that wrong. One of the fastest growing social networking utilities among them, and the focus of this article, is Twitter®, which may offer emergency management and public safety organizations with another potentially powerful and effective communications utility to add to their communications tool chest.<br /><br />Twitter® is a deceptively simple, yet powerful social networking based communications tool. As described on its web site, “Twitter is a service for friends, family and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?” See, http://<a href="http://mail.travelsciences.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.twitter.com/" target="_blank">www.twitter.com</a>. With Twitter®, people can follow one another and receive messages from their network of friends in real time. What makes Twitter powerful is it that it links people together around a topic, cause or person, and it provides an easy way to quickly disseminate and share messages among “followers” in the listening group. It is proving to be a popular and particularly attractive communications medium because it intersects with the “always on and available” status created by data enabled consumer mobile devices. Availability or presence is not limited to whether a user logs on to his or her computer anymore. You are always within range of your friend’s “tweet” (Twitter parlance for a message) courtesy of your Blackberry®, iPhone®, cell phone or other mobile device strapped to your hip.<br /><br />Before you dismiss its potential utility, consider that Twitter is already being used in certain public safety contexts in both planned and spontaneous ways. This April, the Garden City, Kansas Police Department started using Twitter as a free public messaging tool to send out information on events, missing persons and other community advisories, as did the Franklin, Massachusetts Police Department some 1,000 miles away a few days later. In fact, a recent search of Twitter® reveals over 200 police related Twitter® micro-blogs, the largest being the Boston Police Department with over 2,100 followers. Additionally a number of local and state Offices of Emergency Management have rolled out their own Twitter alert based sites, such as Oregon OEM and University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey’s (UMDNJ) Office of Emergency Management to name a few. Beyond state and local agencies, even federal agencies have jumped on board. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has its own Twitter® micro-blog which is used for news and announcements, and another micro-blog at <a href="http://twitter.com/LLIS">twitter.com/LLIS</a> for its Lessons Learned Information Sharing web site (www.LLIS.gov) which is a community repository of best practices information for state and local homeland security and emergency response personnel. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) Emergency Preparedness and Response site uses Twitter as a mass communications tool and has over 2,000 followers. Similarly, the FDA has employed its own Twitter feed at twitter.com/FDARecalls to alert over 3,000 people of its recall of salmonella-tainted pistachio products. See, “Twitter to the rescue: Agencies apply high-tech tools in crisis response” by <a href="mailto:ecastelli@federaltimes.com?subject=Question%20from%20FederalTimes.com%20reader" target="_blank">Elise Castelli</a>, Federal Times (April 06, 2009). While overall use as measured by followership remains relatively small, most of these initiatives are new and they will likely gain popularity as Twitter® becomes better known as a community alerting and information dissemination point.<br /><br />While mass outbound public communication is a natural use for Twitter®, it may also serve potentially other equally useful purposes. Twitter® is not a one way conversation utility. Namely, it is a tool for information gathering and quick interactive information updating. Followers can send messages too. In fact, Twitter® was reportedly used in the aid of a Swiss Alps mountain rescue operation. As the Alpine rescue unfolded, members of a snowboarding party were sending “tweets” to friends who were, in turn, passing on information to aid in finding their location and providing updated status details regarding their condition. See, “Mountain rescue played out on Twitter; 1 dead”, Associated Press (March 3, 2009). In one the earliest celebrated cases of “Twitter to the rescue”, it was widely used during the 2007 Southern California wildfires to track and report fire movements in real time and alert people of potential oncoming danger. See, “California Fire Followers Set Twitter Ablaze” by Michael Calore, Wired Blog Network (Oct. 2007).<br /><br />In this vein of emerging communications and cooperation, it is worth noting one particular Twitter micro-blog that is very interesting – twitter.com/HoustonFireDept. The Houston Fire Department is sending out incidents generated from its CAD system as “tweets” with hypertext linked mapped location information. It is quite easy to imagine extending this type of alert into an interactive web based information gathering portal through which the public can contribute information, and also follow incident updates at an incident defined level. <br /><br />The above examples provide a glimpse into the potential utility that Twitter® may offer in the realm of emergency response and public safety. Imagine what thousands of eyes and typing hands can do to provide important information to public safety agencies during a large distributed, evolving crisis such as a natural disaster. Or, perhaps what a handful of people in the right place and at the right time can offer in the case of a manmade disaster or terrorist attack. In the case of Citizen Corps, 2,342 local councils have formed across that United States. These Corps are local citizen based civic emergency preparedness organizations designed to assist local communities with civilian emergency planning and response. Twitter might play a constructive role in providing quick updates to diverse members. Or, consider how Twitter® or a secure private Twitter-like service might be used for NIMS Incident Command System (ICS) communications functions for providing quick updates from branches, divisions, tactical units or groups. Each of these applications presents potentially useful benefits. Like any good communication tool, it has the ability to act as a force multiplier by increasing information flow and raising real time situational awareness. <br /><br />As is the case with many new communications tools, functional or pseudo-functional overlap with legacy systems is not uncommon. In the area of crisis information management, for example, there are a variety of web-enabled emergency operations center solutions which purport to offer real time information sharing for emergency management personnel. These solutions range from highly sophisticated environments with extensive integrated data views to rudimentary topic driven message boards, many of which purport to comply with Incident Command System (ICS) and Emergency Support Functions (ESF) standards. However, in reality, ICS and ESF are not technology standards or explicit functional requirements inasmuch as they are organizational and process frameworks with rules meant to rationalize and organize command and control, drive coordinated planning, foster continuing training, prompt exercises, assess results, and make improvements, all within a uniformly understandable and scalable way. In this regard, any system claiming or asserting ICS standards compliance (and by implication “completeness or suitability”) misses the mark in that the very essence of the thing they purport to meet contemplates a dynamic and continuing cycle of evolutionary improvement towards an increasingly better state of active preparedness. Improving, replacing and supplementing legacy communications systems and methods to advance efficient, cohesive, real time coordinated communications and information sharing is a core principle of NIMS and ICS. So, the mere fact the there may exist other modalities of communication in use providing “similar” functions should not necessarily preclude an examination as to how the overall environment can be improved by cohesively integrating or introducing new modes of communication such as micro-blogging capabilities.<br /><br />Of course, integrating Twitter® or a Twitter-like capability into a public safety or emergency management environment raises unique suitability considerations based upon its use context. These considerations include security and privacy, user identity management and authentication, evidence preservation and chain of custody, and practical possession and control matters. In the context of public alerting, for example, maintaining a permanent record of the alert content, its time of dissemination and the party who sent it are all important. These records must be maintained in a secure and controlled environment to ensure their integrity in the event of subsequent litigation or an investigation. Moreover, as with any alerting mechanism, the actual credentials and permissions of the person authorized to send alerts must be carefully managed. While external threats and breaches from hackers may permit unauthorized users to send out fraudulent alerting messages, unauthorized messaging can also occur from within the agency through lax credentials access and control procedures. <br /><br />Finally, as with any official public communications outlet, an integrated administrative review and approval workflow component is important to ensure that appropriate quality control standards, legal review requirements, and internal policies are followed, obtained and recorded. In the case where Twitter® might be used to collect information from the public, concerns are present that are similar to those that arise in the context of tip lines and other inbound telephone calls. Chiefly among them is being able to process potentially large volumes of information that may be submitted as well as being able to determine its relevancy, verify or assess its likely accuracy and truthfulness, and assess its actionable value in a timely manner. Finally, in the case of internal communications for crisis or emergency management purposes, a broad array of considerations are at play, including the security, authentication and records management issues previously described along with evidentiary and chain of custody matters associated with communications logs. Finally, the use of third party systems where the agency is not in possession and control of its communications data records also leaves the information vulnerable to legal discovery. If information resides in another party’s possession, the agency may have no or limited opportunity to contest or challenge a demand for disclosure, particularly since the party in possession of the data may have no duty to notify the agency, or worse yet, voluntarily chooses to disclose data without due consideration for the agency’s rights or concerns.<br /><br />Finally, beyond these particular considerations, there are more rudimentary issues that must be addressed when dealing with public safety communications, namely reliability. As this article was being written, Twitter served up a page at 9:39PM EST on April 19, 2009 stating “Twitter is over capacity. Please Wait and try again”. In the public safety, those aren’t welcome words. <br /><br />Notwithstanding the above, it is reasonable to expect the use of Twitter® to continue to rapidly grow within the public safety and emergency management space primarily as an adjunct to existing mass alerting modalities. It is further likely that Twitter® can and will be used by innovative agencies as a means to enhance information gathering through public participation - in essence enabling “virtual neighborhood watch” capabilities. However, it is very unlikely Twitter® could be adopted for any internal public safety and emergency management communications use because of the additional security, data integrity assurance, information management and control, and most importantly, reliability needs. Instead, it is more likely that private, in-house “Twitter-like” communications utilities will be created that are more suitable for public safety needs that could augment existing internal communications and information management environments, particularly where resources and assets are geographically diverse. But even within a more robust private framework, the public Twitter® environment still can play an important role as a public interface through integration and the application of appropriate information vetting and verification filters to allow relevant two-way information sharing. <br /><br />Do these things like Twitter® matter? You bet. For someone, somewhere it just might make all the difference in the world. Here is one of my favorite tweets which came from the Oregon Office of Emergency Management (twitter.com/BailyJN):<br /><br />“Here's the scenario - You are at work, kids at school. Big earthquake. No phone service or power. Roads closed. Tell me your plan.” <a href="http://twitter.com/Baileyjn/status/1323854025">3:46 PM Mar 13th</a><br /><br />Post Script: As this article was completed and waiting for general publishing, Microsoft announced a beta release of Vine, a new Twitter-like service for emergency communications. As they say “timing is everything” but then again there is a certain obviousness for the reasons described above. See,<br /><a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/163974/microsofts_vine_emergency_social_networking.html">http://www.pcworld.com/article/163974/microsofts_vine_emergency_social_networking.html</a><br /><br />*****************************************************************************<br />The author is not affiliated with Twitter, and the assessments and characterizations made within the article reflect the author’s opinions and do not constitute any endorsement of Twitter or its suitability or reliability for public safety or any other use. Neither the author nor publisher of this article asserts any claim or rights in or to the trade names or marks of Twitter, Inc., all of which are expressly reserved to Twitter.<br /><br />You can follow the Author’s updates and commentary on Twitter at “@Interoperable”. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-32932994328840862732009-04-23T22:17:00.003-04:002009-04-23T22:36:21.419-04:00Public Safety Agencies and School Emergency Communications Connected under NIMS<div align="justify">Reprinted from Preparedness Today February 2009</div><div align="justify"><br /><em><blockquote><em></em></blockquote>"NIMS Implementation Activities for Schools and Higher Education Institutions’ presents a set of key school and campus emergency management activities that will enhance the relationship between schools and campuses, their respective local governments, and their community partners as they communicate, collaborate, and coordinate on these NIMS activities." - <strong>US Dept. of Education Announcement – NIMS Implementation Activities For Schools and Higher Education Institutions</strong></em></div><strong><em></em></strong><div align="justify"><br />In central Connecticut, steps are being taken to establish comprehensive communications interoperability between schools and local public safety response assets. The Rocky Hill, CT. Police Department, Cromwell, CT. Police and Fire Departments, and Berlin High School and Berlin, CT. Police Department have deployed Mutualink’s communication resource sharing platform, enabling seamless, real-time interoperable communications among all of the network participants. This effort is a major step towards an emergency preparedness and response communications capability that meets the collaborative “all disciplines, all hazards” approach established under the National Response Framework (NRF), and enabling a National Incident Management System (NIMS) compliant environment with an institutionalized and operational understanding of the Incident Command System (ICS).</div><div align="justify"><br />Schools of all levels are encouraged to be ready to handle emergencies, and the US Department of Education (ED) has issued important guidance to assist educators and administrators in implementing NIMS compliant preparedness and response programs. As part of its effort, ED has established the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance Center. The REMS resource center can guide schools in emergency preparedness activities and also assist them with funding applications under the ED Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) and Emergency Management for Higher Education (EMHE) Discretionary Grant Program.</div><div align="justify"><br />In addition to the programmatic drive to achieve a higher state of preparedness and response readiness, the practical imperative interoperable communications between public safety agencies and schools as a pragmatic step to improved safety has been further magnified over the past decade by a series of high-profile tragic events such as the ones that occurred at Columbine High School and Virginia Tech University. In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech tragedy, the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA) published an analysis and blueprint for safer campuses. In this report, the IACLEA reaffirmed the importance of interoperable communications for effective critical incident response. </div><div align="justify"><br />In preparation for the operational deployment and use of Mutualink between the schools and police and fire departments, personnel at Berlin High School and Berlin Police Department have worked with Mutualink on completing FEMA Incident Command System, ICS-100 certification. In January, all participants will begin taking part in routine check-in exercises. We invite your jurisdiction to take the next step in making community-wide emergency preparedness and response a reality.</div><div align="justify"><br />Below, we have compiled a guide of key Emergency Management and Response resources for schools and higher education institutions. </div><p align="justify"><strong>NIMS & Emergency Management Related Resources for Schools:</strong></p><strong></strong><ul><li>Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) and Emergency Management for Higher Education (EMHE) Discretionary Grant Program - <a href="http://www.ed.gov/programs/emergencyhighed/resources.html">http://www.ed.gov/programs/emergencyhighed/resources.html</a> </li><li>US Department of Education – Emergency Management for Schools- <a href="http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/emergencyplan/index.html">http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/emergencyplan/index.html</a> </li><li>US Department of Education- NIMS Implementation Activities for Schools and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) - <a href="http://rems.ed.gov/index.cfm?event=NIM">http://rems.ed.gov/index.cfm?event=NIM</a> </li><li>Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance Center-<a href="http://rems.ed.gov/index.cfm">http://rems.ed.gov/index.cfm</a> </li><li>The Idaho Emergency Operation Planning Guide For Safe and Secure Schools*-<a href="http://www.sde.idaho.gov/site/safe_secure/">http://www.sde.idaho.gov/site/safe_secure/</a><br /><br />*Editor’s Note – a wonderfully concise and well organized web guide for school administrators and emergency personnel.</li></ul><div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2387593904591796373.post-35159727304496063272009-04-23T21:55:00.003-04:002015-01-09T22:26:43.047-05:00Lesson Learned from the Mumbai Attacks<div align="justify">
<em>Reprint from December 2008 Article - Preparedness Today<br /><span style="font-size: 85%;">By: Joe Mazzarella, Chief Legal Counsel, Mutualink, Inc.</span></em><br />
While the precise details of the November 30, 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai, India continue to emerge, there is enough information available to provide a portrait of events that can offer many valuable lessons for public safety and security leaders. We tread lightly to avoid any notion of opportunism, however, as dedicated public safety communications professionals, the Mumbai attacks reveal the fundamental importance that a real time, community-wide incident based emergency communications sharing platform can play in effective emergency preparedness and response. </div>
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Without reproducing the event timeline in detail, the operational signature of the Mumbai attacks provides important information that will assist in preparing for and responding to potentially similar events in the future. As history amply demonstrates, terrorist groups tend to copy and emulate methods that they deem to be successful. Law enforcement and security professionals should recognize that the “success” of the Mumbai operation will provide both a strategic and tactical template for others. The Mumbai attacks are the realization of a predicted security threat scenario – coordinated multi-site urban terror assaults.<br />
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In this attack, we note that a massive and multi-faceted emergency response effort unfolded. It included local police, anti-terrorism police units, military units, fire rescue, bomb detection units, medical response, port authority, traffic control, and railway and airport transportation authorities. We can only speculate about the level of cohesive and interoperable communications that existed, however, the response efforts as reported appear to have been chaotic and nominally coordinated. This condition reduced and impaired force effectiveness. It also is apparent that poor and/or delayed communication and information sharing limited situational awareness, response assessments and planning. </div>
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Based upon publicly available information, we make the following observations for future emergency preparedness and response planning efforts:</div>
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<strong>Multiple Site Coordinated Attack</strong> – Coordinated urban attacks occurred at 10 separate locations, with 8 being within an approximately 4 mile area and the others occurring approximately 15 miles away near the Mumbai international airport. The effect and impact of the operation was catastrophic, spanned 3 days and paralyzed a major financial center with over 12 million people. Yet, it was carried out by a relatively small number of actors, consisting of an operational cell of 10 to possibly 18 people. Identifying that the singular attacks were part of an orchestrated whole took several hours.</div>
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<strong>Key Infrastructure and Community Assets Targeted</strong> – Key community assets were targeted or played important roles in the attacks. The targets appear to have been consciously chosen in advance of the operation. The assets were: Hospitals, Police Stations, Railways Stations, Airport Facilities, Port Facilities, Hotels, Cinemas, Cafes and Religious Sites.</div>
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<strong>Targeted Sites Served Multiple Reinforcing Objectives</strong> - The choice of sites provides valuable information in assessing the nature and type of facilities that may make attractive targets for future coordinated multi-site urban assaults. Specifically, we note the following:</div>
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<strong>Police Stations - Public Safety Command and Control</strong> – Attacking this facility type slows down the security response apparatus and provided other actors time to execute their objectives in other locations. It should be noted that the Security Chief and other high ranking counter-terrorism officers were essentially targeted and assassinated. This tactic appears to have been designed to disrupt command and control, and hobble security response effectiveness.</div>
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<strong>Hotels – Hotels are emerging as high risk terrorism targets.</strong> Security personnel should be focusing on vulnerability assessments and preparedness and response plans.<br />
Hotels, which are historically publicly open environments with a transient guest population, are emerging as preferred targets. The Mumbai hotel attacks were patterned off the success of an earlier Marriott Hotel attack in Karachi, Pakistan. However, interest in tourism related sites and hotels extend back much further, including the Bali hotel bombing in 2002. </div>
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The Mumbai Hotel attacks reveal a variety of valuable information and insights:</div>
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<strong>Symbolic Buildings.</strong> The multiple hotel buildings that were targeted had a symbolic purpose from a historical and socio-political aspect.<br />
Staging Points. The hotels themselves were used as planning, staging and storage points for weapons caches in anticipation of the attack. Some the terrorists were guests.<br />
Bottleneck Control. Once the public access floor was under control, the remaining floors were effectively controlled and a mass hostage opportunity arose. </div>
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<strong>Identifying Friend from Foe.</strong> External security personnel had a difficult time identifying the actual terrorists and clearing the hotels. Only a few video shots of terrorists’ faces were shared through conventional electronic distribution means hours after the event unfolded. </div>
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<strong>Closed Circuit Video Feeds.</strong> Closed circuit video feeds were limited and in most instances unmanned. Real time feeds could not be shared.<br />
Layout Plans. Hotel layout plans were not available for response teams. This lack of information undoubtedly hindered planning and delayed a tactical response effort. </div>
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<strong>Mass Communication.</strong> Communications to hotel guests stranded and barricaded in their rooms were handled from within the hotel by hotel personnel over the telephone. Mass communication and updates could not be delivered through the system by outside responders. </div>
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<strong>Inside Intelligence.</strong> Despite ongoing firefights, Hotel guests were actively texting and communicating with family members from mobile devices within the hotels. This represented a valuable intelligence information gathering opportunity that could have been leveraged and shared with responders. </div>
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<strong>Hospitals</strong> – Attacking these targets helped to further impair public safety response efforts and cause mass casualty response coordination to be more complicated. It also created psychological fear by attacking a facility which is universally accepted as a place of safety and care.</div>
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<strong>Airport Facilities</strong> – A taxi was blown up at one of the main roadways leading to the Mumbai International Airport. This tactic had the effect of creating a disproportionate resource response and diversion, because airports have received the lion’s share of security focus due to their status as classic terrorism targets. Assaults on airport related facilities may be used in a diversionary fashion, particularly in urban areas that host nearby airports which rely upon local emergency response assets. </div>
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<strong>Cinemas and Cafés</strong> – These targets are attractive mass casualties’ opportunities and create general mayhem. They instill immediate fear in the civilian population. In the United States, malls, cineplexes and similar predictable and routine gathering locations would be prime targets. </div>
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<strong>Ports</strong> – The use of water ports as a covert means of entering a targeted environment raises new concerns. Small vessels provide the ability to surreptitiously move material and men with a minimum of risk of detection by the general public. Cities with navigable water bodies that provide quick access to key parts of an urban environment should be aware of this vulnerability. </div>
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<strong>Railway Stations</strong> – Railway stations provide large masses of people in transit and make an attractive target for causing mass casualties. It also is an attractive site for early engagement because it creates general transportation chaos, provides a good environment to blend in with other transient people carrying articles and baggage, and makes identification and apprehension difficult. </div>
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<strong>Religious Targets</strong> – These targets are attractive for their political and religious value and are usually designed solely to send a message and create terror. The last targets occupied in the Mumbai attacks were religious in nature and it is possible to assume that terrorists seeking a final glorifying act will move to these symbolic targets as their last place of defense and final mayhem. Being able to quickly identify, notify and communicate with these vulnerable targets early in an unfolding attack of this nature may save lives.</div>
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Overall, we have no doubt that continued and careful study and examination by security assessment professionals and strategists will yield important and valuable preparedness and response practices. Even absent those forthcoming insights, the Mumbai attacks clearly demonstrate the significant value that cohesive and adaptable community-wide emergency communications and information sharing capabilities can offer in events of this nature. </div>
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1<em> The information used for this article was gathered from generally available public news sources, including reports published by the BBC News, Times of India, New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal.</em></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">The content of this article represents the opinion of the author, and all errors, inaccuracies and ommissions are disclaimed.</div>Emergency Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09199200238833260333noreply@blogger.com0