Today's Top Stories
1. Senate subcommittee lambastes fusion centers
2. Senate subcommittee investigation provokes fusion center plaudits
3. OIG: Someone needs to coordinate DHS-wide efforts on border tunnels
4. TSA plans training to address insider threat
5. Veto halts California bill to deny Secure Communities requests Also Noted: OpenText
Spotlight On... Court stays injunction against NDAA's indefinite detention statute
Iraqi officials say U.S. citizen convicted of terrorism in Iraq; Drought worsens in some key farming states; and much more...  Follow @fiercegov on Twitter
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1. Opposition to cybersecurity executive order among Republican senators
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3. FDA should better tackle cybersecurity risks in medical devices, says GAO
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Today's Top News 1. Senate subcommittee lambastes fusion centers
 A Senate subcommittee says fusion centers haven't meaningfully contributed to federal counterterrorism efforts, and in some cases may have hindered or sidetracked those efforts. Also, analytical reports created by untrained federal employees stationed at fusion centers, which aggregate intelligence and law-enforcement information, have endangered civil liberty and privacy protections.
The report (.pdf), by the majority and minority staff of the permanent subcommittee on investigations within the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, examines a year's worth of intelligence reports sent to the Homeland Security Department Office of Intelligence and Analysis by DHS personnel stationed in those centers, which number more than 70 (the exact number, the report states, is uncertain). The analyses, dated from April 1, 2009 to April 30, 2010, were of uneven quality, investigators say. "Oftentimes shoddy, rarely timely...occasionally taken from already-published public sources, and more often than not unrelated to terrorism," is the verdict. During that year, federal fusion center field officers filed 574 unclassified reports, of which I&A reviewers canceled 188 due to lack of useful information or for containing inappropriate information on individuals. One DHS intelligence officer filed an ultimately canceled report about a Muslim organization hosting a day-long seminar on marriage--"constitutionally protected activities; no nefarious activity," noted an I&A reviewer. Reports not published due to civil rights concerns, although "canceled," remain within DHS information technology systems. DHS officials told subcommittee investigators they've kept the reports for audit and oversight purposes, but DHS doesn't have a policy of auditing fusion center reports, investigators say. Of the 386 unclassified reports that were published, only 94 were related in some way to potential terrorist activity, or the activities of a known or suspected terrorist. But, most of those reports were published months after they were received--and one appeared to have been based on a Justice Department press release. "In short, the utility of many of the 94 terrorism-related reports was questionable," the report states. Field officers filed 39 classified analyses, and about half of those appeared to contain no terrorism-related information, it adds. Fusion centers have expanded in scope over the past decade to an all-hazards model, but DHS describes fusion centers as vital to its counterterrorism mission. If in fact fusion centers are most useful for their contributions to other missions such as combating drug or human smuggling, it's unclear why DHS doesn't say so, investigators write. In addition, centers have made significant intelligence errors, the report says, citing as one example a November 2011 report from the statewide Illinois center claiming that a Russian hacker had gained access to the Illinois Curran-Gardner Public Water District's supervisory control and data acquisition system. In fact, as DHS officials from the U.S. Cyber Emergency Response Team determined, the "hack" was the remote logon of a contractor who signed onto the system while on a family vacation in Russia. -->READ THE FULL ARTICLE Related Articles:
Fusion centers pose privacy and civil liberties risks, says The Constitution Project
Harman: DHS should narrow its intel function
HSPI: Fusion centers too oriented toward law enforcement
All fusion centers should be 'all hazards,' says DHS OIG Read more about: cybersecurity, privacy
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2. Senate subcommittee investigation provokes fusion center plaudits
 A critical report on fusion centers released Oct. 4 by a Senate investigations subcommittee provoked its own torrent of criticism as Homeland Security, law enforcement and congressional officials sought to defend the centers.
The report, issued by the majority and minority staff of the permanent subcommittee on investigations within the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, quickly gained the disavowal of the main committee's chairman and ranking member, Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). "Fusion centers have stepped up to meet an urgent need in the last decade," Lieberman said. DHS spokesman Matt Chandler said in an emailed statement that the report relies on obsolete data. "Much of what it identifies as problematic had been identified and rectified by DHS prior to their investigation," he wrote. He also said the report "fundamentally misunderstands the role of the federal government in supporting fusion centers." The subcommittee acknowledged in the report that its investigation was limited to fusion centers' role in counterterrorism. A set of DHS talking points obtained on condition of not posting them online also said the report overlooks the "far more significant" role fusion centers play "by receiving classified and unclassified information from the federal government and assessing its local implications to in turn inform state and local law enforcement prevention and protection activities." Also releasing a joint statement against the report was a bevy of state and local law enforcement associations and the National Fusion Center Association. "These are concrete--and recent--facts that demonstrate the value of the fusion centers to national counterterrorism efforts," the statement says, without naming any. The National Fusion Center Association has a small walk-on role in the report. Investigators say the association, led by a former DHS grants official and funded by corporations that seek to do business with fusion centers, gave "authorization" for DHS to give the subcommittee a 2010 center assessment produced by the Information Sharing Environment program management office. "In an interview with the Subcommittee, the group's director, W. Ross Ashley III, said he no longer stood by the language in his letter. 'Maybe the term "authorized release" wasn't appropriate,' he said, calling his phrasing 'a little boisterous on our part,'" the report states. The report found some defenders, for example in Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), reports The Hill. McCain used the occasion to also criticize cybersecurity legislation and a possible executive order that would increase DHS's role in the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure. "The report should make clear why I and many of my colleagues are unwilling to entrust the [DHS] with the vital task of protecting our nation's cybersecurity," McCain said. Meanwhile, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) also issued a statement, stating that he agrees with Lieberman and Collins "that the subcommittee report issued this week paints with too broad a brush an incomplete picture." For more:
- download the report, "Federal Support For and Involvement In State And Local Fusion Centers" (.pdf)
- download exhibits that accompany the fusion center report (.pdf)
- read a statement from Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on the report Related Articles:
Senate subcommittee lambastes fusion centers
Fusion centers pose privacy and civil liberties risks, says The Constitution Project
Harman: DHS should narrow its intel function
HSPI: Fusion centers too oriented toward law enforcement Read more about: Joe Lieberman, fusion center
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3. OIG: Someone needs to coordinate DHS-wide efforts on border tunnels
 Some authority needs to coordinate efforts at the the Homeland Security Department to detect cross-border tunnels, the DHS office of inspector general says.
Within the department, Customs and Border Protection is looking to expand its efforts to find tunnels under the southwestern border. In a report (.pdf) dated Sept. 26, the OIG says CBP's efforts could interfere with those of other DHS components. For example, CBP has been trying since 2008 to find technology that can detect tunnels. That technology may have to be covert so criminals don't become aware of the presence of law enforcement investigators. The report says CBP is creating a program to address its counter-tunnel capability gaps, but it hasn't shown how it will consider the needs of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations component. It's the department's job, ultimately, to make sure CBP considers the needs of other agencies, the report says. The OIG recommends that DHS designate an authority to coordinate counter-tunnel policies and procedures. In response, DHS said it would make sure its office of policy addresses the issue. The report says the recommendation will remain unresolved until a counter-tunnel authority is established. Law enforcement officials have found more than 140 tunnels across the southwest border since 1990, and the report says tunnel activity is up 80 percent since 2008. The tunnels, which criminals use mainly to transport drugs, have in some cases extended for more than 2,000 feet. Without detection technology, CBP routinely looks for sinkholes and other signs of rudimentary tunnels. It also has teams of agents who patrol for illegal activity in existing storm drain and sewer infrastructure, which some cross-border tunnels connect to. To gather intelligence, CBP has worked with Homeland Security Investigations. The report says the agency is evaluating commercial and Defense Department detection technologies in pilot programs, but even if one proves effective, CBP doesn't have a program in place to procure it. For more:
- download the report, OIG-12-132 (.pdf) Related Articles:
Border security reaches point of diminishing returns, says report
Southwest border counternarcotics strategy calls for increased prevention
Leverage technology to secure U.S.-Mexico border, says report Read more about: cross-border tunnels, CBP
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4. TSA plans training to address insider threat
Airport security threats that come from within the ranks of the Transportation Security Administration remain unaccounted for in agency training, the Homeland Security Department office of inspector general warns in a report (.pdf) dated Sept. 25. The OIG says TSA's workforce may not currently even know how to recognize insider threats, or how to respond to them. TSA says it will probably train its workforce in the future on how to do so through an online system. For now, the agency has a telephone hotline and email address where people can report possible insider threats. Agency officials also told the OIG it plans to put posters and brochures with insider threat information in its headquarters and field locations. Insider threats can include releasing security information, corruption, impersonation, theft, spying, smuggling and actual acts of terrorism. The group within TSA in charge of the training includes personnel from TSA's office of chief counsel, office of security operations and office of information technology. Until TSA has agencywide training, policies and procedures to address the insider threat, there are two steps it can take now to at least protect sensitive information, the OIG says--though TSA rejected both ideas. The OIG says TSA should disable USB ports on computers for employees who don't need them for work. But TSA said that wouldn't be feasible because it relies on USB devices for its operations. Still, the OIG says it disagrees and believes it would be feasible, though much of its explanation was redacted. TSA might also restrict the size of files attached to emails, but the agency told the OIG that doing so wouldn't stop insiders from transmitting sensitive information. They could send smaller email attachments, print out information or copy it by hand. Regardless, the OIG maintains that limits on email attachments could still be effective to some extent. Plus, most of TSA's workforce is made up of security officers who have little need to send large files over email, so a size limit wouldn't get in the way of their work. For more:
- download the report, OIG-12-120 (.pdf) Related Articles:
New TSA supervisor training will address misconduct, public image
TSA promises improved system for giving airport employees security badges
DHS launches new nationwide training to counter violent extremism Read more about: counterterrorism, DHS OIG
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5. Veto halts California bill to deny Secure Communities requests
 California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) has vetoed a bill that would have forbade state officials from complying with some federal requests to detain suspected illegal immigrants.
The bill, known as A.B. 1081, would let law enforcement comply with federal requests if the person arrested was charged with a serious crime or convicted of one before. The problem, Brown said in his Sept. 30 veto message, is that the bill's language omits crimes such as selling weapons and child abuse that he said are serious too. Brown said he agreed with the goal of the bill--"federal agents shouldn't try to coerce local law enforcement officers into detaining people who've been picked up for minor offenses and pose no reasonable threat to their community." He pledged to work with the legislature to produce a version he'd be willing to sign. When local authorities arrest someone, they send the person's fingerprints to the FBI for criminal records checks. The FBI passes them along to the Homeland Security Department, which checks them against its immigration database. Through its Secure Communities program, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a DHS component, then can ask local law enforcement to hold people in local jails if ICE suspects they are illegal immigrants. California's bill criticizes the program because ICE does not need a warrant before it issues a request. U.S. citizens and legal immigrants have been detained erroneously, the bill says. The program also makes immigrants less likely to report crime or cooperate with law enforcement and doesn't reimburse law enforcement the full cost of responding to a request, the bill says. For more:
- go to A.B. 1081
- go to Gov. Brown's veto message Related Articles:
Backgrounder: Secure Communities, ICE's program for deporting criminal immigrants
ICE drops Secure Communities agreements with states, says participation is mandatory
Pig's breakfast of a Secure Communities IT modernization effort Read more about: illegal immigration, California
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SPOTLIGHT ON... Court stays injunction against NDAA's indefinite detention statute The fiscal 2012 national defense authorization act statute that allows indefinite detention of terrorism suspects is enforceable again. The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Oct. 2 ordered (.pdf) a stay of a lower court's decision to block enforcement. The U.S. government has clarified that journalists and activists, the plaintiffs in Hedges v. Obama, are in no danger of detention, say Judges Denny Chin, Raymond Lohier, and Christopher Droney. The order also says the NDAA statute does not affect U.S. citizens. > Iraqi officials say U.S. citizen convicted of terrorism in Iraq, sentenced to life in prison. Article (WaPo)
> Drought worsens in some key farming states. Article (AP via ABC News)
> Experiment crowdsources public in emergency response decision-making. Article (HS Today)
> Employers in a bind over deferred action. Article (HSNW)
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