June 11 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

The following article was written by Nestor Arellano.

Reports that face and fingerprint matching scanners are being left unused by U.S. frontier guards prove biometric technology is not appropriate for securing high-traffic environments according to a Canadian security analyst.

American officials acted rashly in deploying biometric technology right after the 9/11 attack, and Canadians are in danger of taking the same route said Alicia Wanless, director of the Walsingham Institute, an independent Toronto-based security think-tank.

“Implementation of biometrics at border crossings was reactionary at best,” said Wanless.

Shortly after the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York on Sept. 11, 2001, the American government went into high gear commissioning security equipment for the country’s entry points.

Biometric-based systems were touted as a sophisticated means of thwarting illegal entry into the U.S.

Biometric authentication uses technology to measure physical characteristics of a person’s face, fingers, hands, eyes or voice as a means of confirming identity.

A recent newswire report, however, revealed biometric scanners deployed at the U.S.-Mexican border are almost never used, because to do so would generate a huge backup in an area known for traffic jams that last for hours.

The report said the U.S. government spent “tens of millions of dollars” on issuing some 9.1 million visa cards to Mexican visitors that were embedded with the holder’s photo and fingerprint, but only about two per cent of the card holders are subjected to biometric screening.

The “laser visas” have an optical memory stripe that contains the personal identification information, a digitized photo and two fingerprints of the holder.

Cardholders crossing the border may be asked to press their finger against a lens and pose for a photo, while border inspectors swipe the visa through a machine to call up the holder’s personal data and photo.

The photo and fingerprints are automatically checked against a watch list for terrorist and criminals. The process takes approximately 30 seconds per person.

Members of Congress who voted for the system in 1996 said the original intention was to use biometric screening for all entrants, according to the report.

Wanless said the deployment was done without adequate planning, and the negative press the U.S. government is getting over the implementation is giving biometric technology a “bad name.”

However, she said the technology is good, if used in the right way.

According to the security expert, devices currently available are designed for scanning only a limited number of people and not the volumes normally encountered at border crossings or airports.

Ideally, biometric scanners should be employed in offices and government buildings.

“Authorities are using biometrics as they would a border guard – to determine a person’s identity based on the documents he or she carries and information the system has in its database.”

Canada, Wanless said, is deploying similar systems aimed at speeding security checks.

More than 5,000 people have signed up for the Nexus Air Card, which allows quick access to U.S.-bound flights through the Vancouver International Airport. The joint project of the U.S.-Canada immigration departments, employ cards that contain a digitized image of the holder’s eye.

A kiosk-based machine scans the person’s iris and matches it with what is contained in the database.

The iris scan is stored jointly by U.S. and Canadian authorities. The service is open to American and Canadian citizens with at least three years of permanent residency.

Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport recently introduced the Clear Card program.

The card holds fingerprint and iris scan images, but the concept is similar to that of the Nexus program. The card was developed by Verified Identity Pass Inc. of Palm Coast, Florida.

Most biometric authentication methods, however, are flawed according to Wanless. “These fast-track kiosks and scanners run the risk of creating security breaches themselves.”

For instance, she said facial recognition devices are notorious for high error rates since the technology is not yet at a level where it is able to give accurate readings.

Most operators are also not adequately trained to handle situations arising from false positive scans, she added.

The two biggest drawbacks of biometric devices, according to Wanless, are the “fluid nature of identity” and the technology’s “failure to detect intent.”

She said there are a multitude of ways available for a determined person to create or obtain false personal information and documents.

The information can be easily slipped into government databases to thwart biometric scanning devices. “The ability to authenticate identity to an irrefutable degree is non-existent.”

Despite years of development, technology can not determine a person’s intentions, according to Wanless. “A machine can’t tell you if a person passing through airport security intends to blow up a building two weeks from now.”

“We still need properly trained border guards and security personnel who can detect subtle hints in body movements or speech that might betray possible harmful intent.”

Instead of spending millions of dollars in biometrics, Wanless advices that governments give more attention to improving border guard training, upgrade databases, as well as enhance information gathering and sharing.

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June 11 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

Here is an incredibly timely and interesting article on the state of the US dollar from Rediff News. Unfortunately, it is a topic most care to disregard as an impossibility.

The skew in the global financial system — commonly called ‘global imbalance’ — seems to be fast spiralling out of control.

For some time now economists have been engaged in the mother of all debates: whether the US dollar would collapse by as much as 40% when compared to other currencies (some are even betting on the US dollar going belly-up) or whether there would be an orderly devaluation — that is, a gradual revaluation of other currencies vis-a-vis the US dollar.

In effect, the question that is confronting us is not ‘whether’ but ‘when’ and by ‘how much.’

This global imbalance can be understood in economic terms by simply examining the massive size of America’s twin deficits — trade and budgetary. Put modestly, Americans have been living way beyond their means, consuming much more than what they could possibly afford and, in the process, borrowing far beyond their capacity for too long. Click here for more.

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June 11 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

Here is an interesting article from The New Zealand Herald regarding the potential inequalities of flu vaccine sharing on an international basis written by Michael Richardson:

Health ministers, officials and medical experts around the world have reached a potentially important accord. They agreed to share samples of influenza viruses and to provide poor, as well as rich countries, with vaccines if the bird flu strain continues to cause deaths among humans and poultry in Asia, and changes into a form that can pass easily from person to person, triggering a global pandemic.

They asked the World Health Organisation to establish an international stockpile of vaccines for the virulent H5N1 bird flu strain and other influenza viruses that could sweep around the world.

This all sounds promising. The WHO estimates that each year, seasonal flu alone causes between 3-5 million cases of severe illness, and between 250,000 to 500,000 deaths, worldwide. It has warned that another outbreak of pandemic flu could have far more devastating consequences on public health, economic growth and social stability than seasonal flu. Click here for more.

Posted in Health Preparedness | No Comments »

June 5 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

The following article from The San Francisco Chronicle details a Mexican-U.S. plan to expand Mexican wiretapping capabilities. What is perhaps most interesting is the amount of money referred to - an incredibly low amount in terms of the costs for expanding wiretapping capabilities…

Mexico is expanding its ability to tap telephone calls and e-mail using money from the U.S. government, a move that underlines how the country’s conservative government is increasingly willing to cooperate with United States on law enforcement.

The expansion comes as President Felipe Calderon is pushing to amend the Mexican Constitution to allow officials to tap phones without a judge’s approval in some cases.

Mexican authorities for years have been able to wiretap most telephone conversations and tap into e-mail, but the new $3 million Communications Intercept System being installed by Mexico’s Federal Investigative Agency would expand its reach. Click here for more.

Posted in Surveillance, Politics | No Comments »

June 5 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

It’s not a matter of if, experts say, but when. No one knows which virus will trigger it, but preparation is essential.

The following is an informative overview of a possible flu pandemic from The L.A. Times. Given changes to our environment, we should be concerned about the spread of existing and mutated viruses and diseases. Unfortunately, it is hard for many people to imagine what has not yet happened.

A year ago, concerns about pandemic flu were running high, with the threat of an outbreak making newspaper headlines and television newscasts. Now the specter of this threat has largely faded from the public mind — as if the risk has passed. But public health experts remain as concerned as ever about the possibility of an outbreak.

“We can’t predict when an influenza pandemic will occur or which virus will cause it,” says Nancy Cox, director of the influenza division at the CDC. “However, we can be almost 100% certain that there will be one.”

It’s that kind of conviction that’s prompting public health experts to encourage people to prepare for an outbreak. Complacency needs to be replaced with knowledge and action. Click here for more.

Posted in Health Preparedness | No Comments »

June 5 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

Here is an interesting perspective on the obesity pandemic in Australia. Of course, similar thinking could (and should be) applied elsewhere in the world:

Reflecting on the federal government’s implicit obesity strategy - most clearly revealed in the ongoing debate over whether to regulate advertising of junk food to children - of advocating personal responsibility, one might wonder why we would expect any progress on the obesity epidemic at all.

While our government may seek to convince you that obesity is really a private thing, a matter of “character” - and that you need to smarten up, eat less and get more exercise (a message of “If you are fat, get thin!”) - this unravels when you ask; how many people who are fat “choose” to be so, and if the number is high, why do all the diet companies do so well? As with smokers, the majority who are fat wish to quit their habit, but cannot.

There is no doubt that the problem is big: overweight and obesity afflict around two thirds of the Australian population and Access Economics estimated the total financial cost of obesity in Australia in 2005 to be nearly $4 billion. Yes, we should all do our bit but our federal government, and its loyal opposition, should smarten their act considerably as well. Neither has taken this pandemic seriously despite government action being essential to a solution. Click here for more.

Posted in Health Preparedness | No Comments »

June 5 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

The following is an article from Sky News regarding the growing tensions between Russia and the West. What is most unfortunate (beyond the continued aggravation of a situation that need not be so tense) is the lack of reporting on other European perspectives surrounding topics such as the unlikely U.S. defence system in the Czech Republic. There is no logical reason for another Cold War beyond bad politics and slanted reporting.

Britain has warned Moscow it must decide whether it wants a “constructive relationship” as tensions continue to rise between the two countries.

It comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to target Europe with nuclear weapons and ahead of this week’s G8 summit.

Mr Putin says US plans to locate anti-missile bases in the Czech Republic and Poland were targeting Russia, not rogue states, as US President Bush has claimed.

Russia and the UK are already at loggerheads over the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in November last year. Click here for more.

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June 4 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

Here is an interesting article from The Boston Globe by Charlie Savage. Worst case scenario plans are particularly interesting when considering what constitutes a worst case scenario and who has the power to decide this.

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is writing a new plan to maintain governmental control in the wake of an apocalyptic terrorist attack or overwhelming natural disaster, moving such doomsday planning for the first time from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to officials inside the White House.

The policy requires all government agencies to have clear lines of succession if top officials are killed and be prepared to operate from a new headquarters within 12 hours of a catastrophe. They must be prepared “to lead and sustain the nation during a crisis” — a charge ranging from “providing leadership visible to the nation and the world” to “bringing to justice perpetrators of crimes or attacks.”

The policy replaces a Clinton-era “continuity in government” post-disaster plan. The old plan is classified, but security specialists and administration officials said the new policy centralizes control of such planning in the White House and puts a greater emphasis on terrorism spurring the catastrophe. Click here for more.

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June 4 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

More than half of London pupils surveyed have posted information that puts them at risk.

A survey covered in The London Free Press suggests that many young people are sharing personal information online - although less at risk, many adults are doing the same. At some point the individual will have to become more responsible for his or her own security. The state safety nets just are not capable of protecting all of us all the time. Issues in cyber crime seem only to highlight this fact.

A shocking number of London kids are making themselves easy targets for sexual predators who cruise the Internet, an informal survey has found

The alarming figures suggest one in four children 11 to 14 have met face-to-face with strangers introduced only online.

Despite years of warnings about stranger-danger, more than half of them have put identifying information such as phone numbers and addresses on public-access websites, youth workers say.

“We were shocked,” said Shannon Liddington, outreach worker with RISE for Youth, a project that aims to reduce sexual exploitation.Click here for more.

Posted in Identity, Cyber Crime | No Comments »

June 4 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

Here is an interesting article on cyber crime growth as a result of increased online banking published in The Brisbane Times: 

The rapidly expanding ranks of people banking online has raised questions over whether consumers are armed to deal with the growing threat from cyber pirates.

In the past year alone, the number of online bankers in Australia has swelled by 1.3 million, to 8.2 million, according to a survey by the Commonwealth Bank, accounting for 52 per cent of the population.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia acting head of retail banking Ross McEwan said ease of access to personal computers at work and at home meant more people were now doing more things online, including their banking. Click here for more.

Posted in Economic Issues, Cyber Crime | No Comments »