November 6th, 2009

Human x-ray machines: Coming soon to an airport near you

Posted by Doug Hanchard @ November 6, 2009 @ 5:00 AM

Categories: Canada, Congress, FAA, Government technology, Homeland security, Intelligence, International, Justice, Law enforcement, Privacy, Public health, Science, Security, Transportation, UK

Tags: U.S., Canada, Airport, Transportation, Security, Doug Hanchard

In the movie Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger (Gov. of California) runs through a security check point corridor operating using X-Ray technology. That film was released in 1990. Today that technology is being installed around the world at airports, border check points, marine ports and high risk security environments such as court buildings. They are currently being assessed or used in Canada, the U.S., U.K., Russia, Japan, and Australia. Some countries, such as India, have outright rejected them based on privacy and considered too offensive to passengers. Significant concern is being raised as to the long term medical impacts to humans going through the devices.

In Canada, the Canadian Air Transport Security Agency (CATSA) organization has completed some field trials at smaller airports (Kelowna, B.C.) and is looking to purchase a half dozen of the machines to continue further assessment. There are approximately 18 airports in the U.S. using them. In the U.K. several airports now have them including Manchester. Testing in several countries has been going since 2004. In the U.S. the Transportation Security Administration began field trials in 2007. The technology offers security details to process passengers quickly and determine if weapons or other contraband is on a person without doing physical body search. Such technology would significantly improve the detection of hidden materials. Read the rest of this entry »

February 10th, 2009

FAA computer breached: 45,000 names accessed

Posted by Richard Koman @ February 10, 2009 @ 7:35 AM

Categories: FAA, Security

Tags: FAA, Computer, Aerospace & Defense, Productivity, Social Security, Manufacturing, Government, Richard Koman

Here’s today’s government security breach: Someone hacked into a Federal Aviation Administration computer last week and accessed the names and Social Security numbers of 45,000 employees and retirees, AP reports.

The FAA said in a statement:

Two of the 48 files on the breached computer server contained personal information about more than 45,000 FAA employees and retirees who were on the FAA’s rolls as of the first week of February 2006.

The server that was accessed was not connected to the operation of the air traffic control system or any other FAA operational system, and the FAA has no indication those systems have been compromised in any way.

Employees weren’t too happy. Tom Waters, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3290, told AP:

These government systems should be the best in the world and apparently they are able to be compromised. Our information technology systems people need to take a long hard look at themselves and their capabilities. This is malpractice
in their world.

Waters said that although the FAA claims this is the first breach, the union had complained previuosly about members receiving anti-union mail using addresses seemingly purloined from agency files.

October 10th, 2008

America's airways ready for NextGen

Posted by Richard Koman @ October 10, 2008 @ 9:08 AM

Categories: FAA, Government technology

Tags: FAA, Air Traffic Control, Greenhouse Gas, Aerospace & Defense, Manufacturing, Richard Koman

It’s time – long past time – to upgrade the U.S. air traffic control system. The current system, designed during World War II, contributes mightily to flight delays, customer dissatisfaction and a massive energy wastefulness. But a GPS satellite-based system, on the drawing board for more than a decade, has languished, AP reports.

The cost of an upgrade? $35 billion. The payoff? Triple the air traffic capacity, delays reduced by half if not more, and improved safety, fuel savings and greenhouse gas reduction.

The FAA projects airlines would save $10 billion a year by 2025, largely by avoiding the current system of single-file zig-zag routes that cause airlines to fly cross-country in sweeping arches across the north or south of the country.

It’s “the equivalent of using an electric typewriter when others are using computers,” said David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transportation Association. “It’s a huge, huge drag on productivity.”

Switching to “NextGen” is no small undertaking: It’s “one of the largest project management challenges the federal government has had since we put somebody on the moon,” according to the FAA’s head of the air traffic system.
But is FAA up to the task? A recent GAO reports said the government suffers from a lack of the highly skilled managers needed to see the project through. But the current administration has never fully supported the transition, critics say.

“The next president needs to make the NextGen initiative a national priority and ensure that it is given the resources, management attention and sense of urgency that it warrants,” said Rep. Bart Gordon, a Democrat from Tennessee and chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee.