Slovak News Agency Reports That Smuggled Enriched Uranium Has Been Seized in Operation in East of Country

Slovak and Hungarian police have seized a kilo of radioactive material and arrested three people in a joint operation on 28 November, according to a report in the Irish Times.

Slovak police spokesman Martin Korch said the material was being examined and did not confirm a report carried by the Slovak news agency SITA that it was enriched uranium. "This one kilogramme should have been sold for $1 million US dollars," spokesman Martin Korch said. The spokesman said the police raid took place along the eastern part of the two central European countries' common frontier, near their borders with Ukraine. "Three people have been taken into custody, two in Slovakia one in Hungary," he said. "Further information will be provided tomorrow."

Uranium enrichment can yield either fuel for nuclear power stations, or be used for nuclear warheads.

For an informative report on the smuggling of nuclear material, including case studies, contact David.

Click here to learn more about the potential effects of a crude radioactive dispersal device.

Handhelds, Laptops Increase IT Security Worries, Survey Finds

The increasing mobility of workers is creating big security headaches for information technology staffers, according to a new report. Portable devices, especially personal digital assistants and laptop PCs, are the leading concern, the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) found in its study, released Nov. 5.

Approximately 60 percent of the organizations surveyed said security issues related to the use of handheld devices for data access and transfer have increased during the past 12 months.

Organizations that do not train their mobile workers in security fundamentals are doing themselves a great disservice. Nearly 90 percent of organizations that have implemented awareness training for remote and mobile workers believe that the number of security breaches they’ve encountered has been reduced.

Read on here.

To discuss information secuity awareness seminars and workshops for your staff, please contact Janet.

How to Terror-Proof Shopping Centres and Other Buildings (According to BBC News)

Cannons to stop potential vehicle bombs in London?

Technology that screens people walking into airports, to tell in a split second whether an individual carries explosives or traces of explosives?

Protective water walls that spring up from the pavement?

Click here for more.

Security Management Training

This week has seen the 16 delegates attending the university accredited Security Management Stage 1 Course move into the more intensive period of the training programme.

While week 1 focussed on the core issues of security risk management, security operational management and physical security design, week two has included a day-long workshop on Protection against Explosive Devices, Crisis Management, Special Event Security, Security Investigations, Drug and Alcohol Misuse, and Leadership.

In addition, delegates have been engrossed in a detailed security design project, which will culminate in simulated management presentations on Friday.

The nest Security Management Stage 1 Course takes place 31 March – 11 April 2008. Contact Janet for details.

Insider Fraud - The Enemy Within

Some key findings of Experian’s latest report into insider fraud:

Of 127 organisations surveyed by CIFAS, the UK's fraud prevention service, only two had not experienced insider fraud.

Organised criminal gangs are increasingly involved in cases of insider fraud. Their activities include convincing or coercing existing employees to act on their behalf, or infiltrating the organisation with an inside person, often a temporary worker. They are particularly interested in compromising the organisation’s customers.

Criminals have been known to hang around pubs and cafes near target organisations seeking disgruntled employees, while ‘smoke free’ legislation has had the unfortunate effect of providing gangs with the opportunity to target staff taking cigarette breaks on the street.

The lack of employee recruitment checks and controls in some organisations lies at the heart of the employee fraud problem. The research showed the importance of companies ensuring that the checks they carry out on potential employees are more rigorous than those they undertake when opening new accounts for customers.

The full report can be downloaded here.

"MI5 - Not Nine to Five"

The BBC has been given unprecedented access to speak to real spies about their jobs. Click here to read more.......

Laptop Theft - A Recovery Solution?

Millions of people worldwide have had their data potentially compromised by laptop thefts in recent months. It is now impossible to ignore the growing identity theft crisis, much of it caused by laptop thefts from high profile corporations, government agencies, universities and healthcare institutions.

A multi-layered security strategy is required to protect computer hardware and the data on it. With a few proactive data security steps, organizations can avoid the potential lawsuits, fines, public scrutiny and loss of business that a lost or stolen computer can cause.

Over 97% of stolen laptops are never recovered, but Absolute Software have come up with what seems to be a reasonable solution, by configuring laptops so that, if stolen, they broadcast their location as soon as they are reconnected to the Internet, allowing law enforcement to take action to recover the equipment.

Absolute Software’s site provides some useful general tips for better laptop security. Click here.