10 Most Secure Locations on the Planet

From: http://www.brownsafe.com/

They say safety is relative. Some people go their entire lives and NEVER feel safe. Others take incredible precautions to protect both themselves and their loved ones from anyone and anything that may seek to cause them harm (babyproofing anyone?).

Where are you most safe? Are you thinking about places where you can retreat and hide from the world? If so, here are the 10 Most Secure Locations on the Planet that are considered the safest, for various reasons.

1. Fort Knox

Located in Kentucky south of Louisville, Fort Knox is home to the United States’ monetary assets, said to hold tons of gold – 5,000 tons at last estimate (equal to about 2% of ALL Gold ever mined from the Earth). To make it safe enough (if the location surrounding by the military camp isn’t enough) there is a bank vault within a deep basement of the building that has a 250 ton door marking its entrance.

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2. Cheyenne Mountain

This is also in the United States, located just outside of Colorado Springs, CO. It is the command center and control, communication and the intelligence center for both the United States Space Command missions and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Built at the height of the Cold War, the facility is said to be sturdy enough to survive a multimegaton nuclear detonation within 1 nautical mile (1.9km) of it’s center. It has blast doors that each weigh, individually, 25 tons.

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3. Haven Co

Located in the Sealand in the North Sea, about six miles off the coast of Britain, this location is a company base founded in 2000. The company provides data protection. The only way you can get in is if you are an authorized staff member, an investor in the company or you are a Royal Family member. Although services for HavenCo ceased without explanation in 2008, it’s an example of the type of “island data haven” that is very secure do to it being SO HARD to get to traditionally.

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4. Area 51

The famed stories be true or not, this area in the remote deserts of Las Vegas is more than just strange. It is also one of the most secure locations on the planet. It is a United States military base ( a detachment from Edwards Air Force Base in CA) where no one knows what’s occurring, except those that work there and the President. Known by many names (Groom Lake, Dreamland, Paradise Ranch, etc.) Area 51 is believed to be a testing ground for advanced and experimental aircraft.

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5. Air Force One

One of the most well built planes in the world and what many consider the world’s most secure moving location, Air Force One has plenty of security. The United States President travels in a modified Boeing 747-200B series aircraft. It has the world’s most advanced flight avoidance, air-to-air defense, and electronics technology packages available anywhere in the World, all for the protection of the Commander-in-Chief and his entourage.

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6. ADX Florence Prison

The Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX for short) is a supermax prison (for men) in Colorado housing the baddest of the bad. These criminals are considered the most dangerous cons in the US and has earned the prison the nickname of “Alcatraz of the Rockies.” Described by one former ADX warden as “a cleaner version of hell”, security measures at the prison include attack dogs guarding the area between the prison walls and 12 ft. high razor wire fences, 1,400 remotely controlled steel doors, motion detecting laser beams, pressure pads and cameras. Current residents of the prison include infamous “Shoe Bomber” Richard Reid, 9/11 terrorist mastermind Zacarias Moussaoui, and Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols among many, many others.

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7. The 1960’s Bar

Located 100 feet underground within Britain’s secret subterranean Burlington bunker complex in Wiltshire, England, the 1960’s Bar is a recreation of a pub popular with British Government officials. This top secret base was first constructed during the Cold War and designed to be a refuge for the higher-ups to reconstruct Britain in the event of a nuclear attack…needless to say they figured they would need a few pints to wait out the radiation.

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8. Bold Lane

Located in Derby, England, this car park is multi-story stronghold for 440 cars. First conceived and designed by an agricultural engineer after he had the window of his car smashed and his radio stolen while in an airport parking structure. Sophisticated security measures include CCTV cameras, panic buttons, bar-code scanning entry doors, and advanced sensors controlled by a central computer that detect any and all movements of each car. Although, at over $30 dollars an hour, keeping your auto safe in the UK isn’t cheap.

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9. Deposed Iraqi Leader Saddam Hussein’s Baghdad Bunker

The 2,150 square-yard bunker was originally designed to withstand the blast of a nuclear bomb and house 50 people. Located nearly 100 feet underground, security measures for the Dictator’s refuge included three-ton Swiss-made doors, 5ft-thick walls, a 6ft-thick steel-reinforced concrete ceiling, and two escape tunnels. The bunker survived seven American dropped bunker busters and 20 cruise missles during the war. Unfortunately, it couldn’t survive looting and was picked almost completely clean during the last days of the war by Iraqi soldiers.

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10. Granite Mt. Mormon Church Records Facility

The records storage of the Mormon Church is a massive vault encased in rock at Granite Mountains, Utah first opened in 1965. Armed guards waving metal detector wands usher visitors into a concrete bunker before swinging open metal gates to a tunnel entrance. Excavated 600 ft inside the mountain, the vault features state-of-the-art environmentally controlled document storage chambers as well as administrative offices, shipping and receiving docks, a processing facility and a restoration laboratory for microfilm.

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These are just a sampling of some of the world’s most SECURE locations. With the near daily unrest that occurrs even in developed countries today, there has been a lot of discussion about how secure any location really is. However, chances are good that if you are deep within these systems, you will be safe at least for some time.

Taiwanese Animation: TSA’s Enhanced Security Spurs US ‘Airport Rage’

Hilarity ensues

UAE crackdown on BlackBerry services to extend to foreign visitors

From: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

Video

Video: UAE, Saudi Arabia to block BlackBerry features

The UAE said it will block key features on BlackBerry smart phones, citing national security concerns because the devices operate beyond the government's ability to monitor their use. Saudi Arabia quickly indicated it planned to follow suit.

» LAUNCH VIDEO PLAYER

By Associated Press

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- The United Arab Emirates' crackdown on BlackBerry services will extend to foreign visitors, putting the government's concerns over the smartphones in direct conflict with the country's ambitions to be a business and tourism haven.

The UAE's telecommunications regulator said Monday that travelers to the city-state of Dubai and the important oil industry center of Abu Dhabi will -- like 500,000 local subscribers -- have to do without BlackBerry e-mail, messaging and Web services starting Oct. 11, even when they carry phones issued in other countries. The handsets themselves will still be allowed for phone calls.

UAE authorities say the move is based on security concerns because BlackBerry transmissions are automatically routed to company computers abroad, where it is difficult for local authorities to monitor for illegal activity or abuse.

Critics of the crackdown say it is also a way for the country's conservative government to further control content it deems politically or morally objectionable.

About 100,000 travelers pass through Dubai's airport each day, making it the busiest airport in the Middle East. The new restrictions could leave time-pressed business travelers hurrying through, many of them changing planes for other destinations, without access to their e-mail or the Web.

In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley called the restrictions "a move in the wrong direction."

Flying Pasties hide your privates from full body scanners

by Mike Barish

from: http://www.gadling.com/

We've covered the issue of full body scanners in airports pretty extensively here at Gadling. More and more airports are implementing the security devices and more people are crying foul as they fear that their right to privacy is being disregarded. Now, a creative company has introduced a product to protect travelers' privacy, modesty and genitalia. Flying Pasties (some images potentially NSFW) are rubber pads that you place over your nether regions so that anyone reviewing your image on a full body scanner doesn't see anything that you wouldn't want to expose without first being taken out for dinner.

Flying Pasties aren't stickers or paper cut-outs. They're 2mm thick pieces of rubber that adhere to your skin to cover your breasts and genitalia. According to the manufacturer, when your image appears on the full body scanner monitors, areas of skin covered by the Flying Pasties will not be visible to the security agent.

The pasties come in sets for women including two breast pasties and one bottom and one bottom piece for males. They are emblazoned with text such as "Private" and "Only my husband sees me naked." The company does offer the option to customize the message your pasties.

Flying Pasties sets for women retail for $24.99, but the company is offering an introductory rate of $16.99. Male bottoms are $9.99 and a set for a man and woman is currently $19.99 instead of $29.99.

Would you wear rubber pasties to hide your naughty bits? Have you been exposed by a full body scanner? Share your thoughts in the comments.

MasterCard trialling smart credit cards with display & keypads

By Chris Davies
From: http://www.slashgear.com/

MasterCard has announced that it will be rolling out new credit and debit cards with integrated display screens, in an attempt to further prevent bank fraud. The cards, developed by NagraID Security, resemble their regular counterparts, but – when an integrated button is pressed – display a one-time passcode that can be used to authorize online and phone transactions.

In addition, more complex versions of the cards can include a 12-digit keypad, and be used for electronic signature and authentication modes, as well as to enhanced security features such as challenge-response applications and PIN code card protection. MasterCard even envisage being able to show customers their current balance on the card’s display.

Pilot schemes with the cards are kicking off in association with a Turkish bank, and if successful MasterCard are looking to spread the use of the technology to other countries. The real irony is, in the middle of writing this article, my own bank called to say my card had been cloned – I guess these new display cards can’t come soon enough!

Press Release:

MASTERCARD and NAGRAID Security Introduce new Display Cards with Extended Features for Secure Banking Applications

NagraID Security developed a new family of MasterCard financial cards with integrated display screen allowing:

Optimized security for online transactions thanks to strong owner authentication
Display of the card balance on the card’s screen

La Chaux de Fonds, Switzerland, 10th June 2010 – NagraID Security, a subsidiary of the Kudelski Group (SIX:KUD), is pleased to announce that its families of display cards passed MasterCard’s (CSI – Card Structure & Integrity) approval process, thus demonstrating the required levels of durability, safety and compliance to ISO standards required for the commercial launch of banking cards and the introduction into MasterCard’s brand standards and rules.

The innovative Debit and Credit MasterCard Display Card looks and feels like a normal credit or debit card but comes with an additional small display and a button that enables card holders to use the same card for standard banking payment functionality and to generate second-factor one-time passwords (OTPs), thereby providing strong authentication.

The cards are very reliable and extremely simple to use. They offer optimal security to achieve banking transactions outside payment terminals using one single device.

This password generation technology complies with the requirements of MasterCard’s 3D Secure Chip Authentication Program (CAP). Optionally, a touch-sensitive keypad with twelve keys permits access to advanced functionality such as electronic signature and authentication modes, as well as to enhanced security features such as challenge-response applications and PIN code card protection.

Historically, banking institutions who protected access to their services with a One-Time Password required the use of a separate cumbersome token.

“Cards were born from cardboard, they’ve been ‘mag striped’ and ‘chipped’ and now we enter their silicon age, with an LCD display and touchpad opening up a multitude of possibilities. With NagraID’s recent achievements to demonstrate compliance to industry standards, the stage has well and truly been set to deliver the next generation consumer’s card proposition” says Eric Tomlinson, MasterCard Europe.

“This display card is designed to provide a very high level of security and reliability as well as ease of use. Users simply press a button to generate an OTP for secure access to their online services,” commented Philippe Guillaud, Executive Vice President and CTO of NagraID Security. He also added “The programmable nature of this platform makes it future proof and one can expect to see even more exciting and fantastic functionality in the near future.”

MasterCard directed promotional initiatives and large scale roll-outs will ensure that market price expectations are achieved. “As the world evolves towards increasing online and cashless transactions, the timing of our partnership with MasterCard is ideal, as it enables the growing security expectations of a rapidly expanding base of digital technology users to be quickly addressed via a secure, reliable and unified solution in a familiar and convenient form-factor.” said Cyril Lalo, President and CEO of NagraID Security.

Cell Phone Security

Posted by: admin
From: http://cellphones.org/

With the increased capabilities and conveniences of today’s cell phones comes the increased risk of viruses, malware and identity theft. While some mobile operating systems are more secure than others, the level of security can be easily increased when users take precautions such as downloading security software, being aware of cellphone scams and password protecting their cell phones.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Video Surveillance deployed inside London Public Bathrooms

Is nothing sacred anymore!

By jheary
From http://www.networkworld.com/

You can imagine my surprise after I paid my 50pence to use the public bathroom, walked in and found myself staring at not just one but three ceiling mounted video surveillance cameras. I had to get real close to their enclosures to convince myself that I wasn't seeing things. Not only was it really there, but it was a Pan-Tilt-Zoom model with a microphone to top it off. Must get some great noises coming from there. It has also been reported that London officials are now installing cameras with speakers to allow them to talk as well as see and listen. Perhaps its just me, but I had absolutely no idea that this was legal anywhere, let alone in downtown London, UK. Sure I knew that London has more cameras per square mile than any other country on the planet, but in bathrooms?! How are they getting away with that one? It is appalling!

According to the London Assembly of Liberal Democrats, London has been outfitted with over 500,000 surveillance cameras. Other put the number much higher at 1.4million cameras but nobody is telling what the real number is. Another few 10,000 cameras have been installed in taxis and police cars as well.
Sounds a bit big brother to me folks, downright scary in fact. Now it gets scarier when you consider that the vast majority of these camera feeds are not sent encrypted across the wire. This makes hacking these video feeds trivial, just a simple wire tap.

Here's a scenario, I wake up, walk out of my hotel room and see a camera in the hallway watching me. I get into the elevator and look up to smile at the camera there, I walk through the lobby and out to the street. Along the way half a dozen cameras watched me walk less than 200ft. I get in my cab and the camera in there watches me all the way to my destination. I walk into the building followed by 4 cameras. I use the public restroom, 3 cameras watch me in there. I head up the elevator to my office on the 2nd floor and smile at the camera there. I walk down the hall to my office while under surveillance the whole way. I close my office glass door. Turns out the camera in the building has a vantage angle through my glass door and the outside camera on the opposite street corner pole has a clean shot into my office through the windows. I'm feeling a lot of love right now. So I logon to the internet and start surfing. Hmmm. Now I guess they are watching physical me and virtual me at the same time as they inspect the bits and bytes I send ripping around the network.

Just in the last couple years, U.S. cities (like my hometown of Denver) have begun installing their own public video surveillance systems in a big way. Now I need to check and see if U.S. cities are also watching you in the public bathroom.

Here is a shot I took in a London public bathroom. Notice the two cameras on the ceiling. Another one was behind me on the other wall facing towards these cameras. They had all of the angles covered that’s for sure. Don't want to miss any of the action.

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Full-Body Scanners 101: How Naked Is Full-Body Scan Naked?

by JetSetCD

[Photos: Ideaion, Xinhua/Reuters, CBSNews/ateedub]

Wooo! Naked sexy lady! ...or not.
There's going to be a lot of talk about full-body scanners in 2010, we can tell. So in an effort to help you understand what airports will have them, what happens when you use them, and your rights, we're dedicating this week to explaining it all in Full-Body Scanners 101.
So now that we've told you at what airports to watch for full-body scan machines and how both types of available models actually work, it's about time we discussed the most important question when it comes to this new security procedure: how naked do you look in a full-body scan?
The answer might surprise you, because although many people are really enjoying making a fuss about privacy and morals with this magical way to see underneath your clothes, the resulting images resemble something more morbid than sexual.
See what we mean after the jump...

What we do know about full-body scanners is that you can wear whatever you want to try and evade the prying eyes of the TSA—heavy wool sweaters, pleather pants, and even the finest vicuña coat—but the machines will display all your naughty bits to whoever is on duty. For this reason, the UK is understandably upset that full-body scanners violate child pornography laws, since they essentially reveal genitalia. Thus, passengers under the age of 18 are exempt from full-body scans while the matter undergoes further discussion by the airport council.
This got us thinking—how dirty are these full-body scan images, anyway? Armed with the full power of Google Image search, we set out to find the nakedest, most revealing full-body scan pictures available on the web—which are probably TSA testers anyways. And below are the results...

Bum pics! Look at those big ol' butts! What's more, look at that big ol' gun and that big ol' knife

Ooo yea, look at how hot and sexy this naked man is! No, he's really not, is he?


To tell you the truth, the above images remind us more of CSI-type stuff, like chalk outlines and autopsy photos than sexy pictures. Going through airport security is not a who's hotter naked contest; it's a who's carrying the most dangerous items contest, and full-body scanners are calibrated to pick out knives and not G-strings (although they will see a switchblade in your G-string). And if it's an issue of making passengers embarrassed and developing a bad body image, well that's what we have magazines for!

Don't Be Afraid: Passengers Break into "Hey Jude" During Newark Scare

In the key of Terminal C

By HASANI GITTENS

From: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/

YouTube

 

A traveling guitarist is becoming viral sensation after leading a group of passengers in a rousing round of the Beatles' classic "Hey Jude" while stuck at Newark airport over the weekend.

Guitarist Josh Wilson posted the video on his YouTube channel following the security debacle at Newark Liberty when a security breach caused Terminal C to be shut down for over six hours.

Wilson leads the group of dozens of tourists, families and even some disinterested onlookers through the song, giving prompts through he verses and getting more clapping and encouragement during the chorus.

The video is titled: "Stuck in Newark Airport (With Total Strangers):

A second video from a different angle was posted by a friend of Wilson's who wrote: "Josh just couldn't take it anymore and broke into song. A few shaky moments but the "Na Na's" saved him. Powerful Catharsis but the line was unmoved. We're still just sitting here an hour later. Going to South Asia today? Doubt it."

The delay was caused on Sunday when someone picking up a passenger told an officer guarding the exit that he thought he saw a man enter through the doors Sunday, TSA officials said. TSA reviewed surveillance video before sweeping the airport, she said.

The video confirmed the man had entered through the exit, and officials made passengers leave the terminal and be rescreened, which caused massive delays.

Authorities found nothing suspicious when they searched the terminal after evacuating passengers. They are still trying to determine the man's identity.

Terminal C, where the security breach occurred, is used mostly by Continental Airlines.

Wilson did not return a request for comment -- hopefully he finally made it to South Asia.

Dutch, Nigerians to use full body scans for air travelers

From: http://us.cnn.com/

A staff member demonstrates a full body scan at Manchester Airport in the UK.

(CNN) -- The Netherlands and Nigeria will begin using body scanners on airline passengers following the attempted terrorist attack on a U.S.-bound flight on Christmas Day, authorities in both nations said Wednesday.

The millimeter-wave body scanners will be in place at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport in about three weeks and will be used on all passengers traveling to the United States, Dutch Interior Minister Guusje ter Horst told a news conference at The Hague.

"We've escaped a very serious attack with serious consequences, but unfortunately in this world there are individuals who do not shy away from attacks on innocent people," she said.

Nigeria did not say when it would begin the new scans. "In combating the new threat of terrorism as unfolded recently, Nigeria will be upgrading its security screening system to 3D Total Body Imaging Scanner," the country's airport authority said in a statement. It gave no further details.

Do new rules make you feel safer? Share your airport experiences.

Nigerian suspect Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, 23, is accused of trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane going from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, with explosives that had been concealed in his underwear. He is charged with attempting to destroy an aircraft.

The militant group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the December 25 plot.

Dutch authorities have already said they were confident in the security measures that were carried out when AbdulMutallab transferred to the Detroit flight from an earlier flight from Nigeria.

A source in Lagos, Nigeria, with connections to the aviation industry told CNN that AbdulMullatab arrived in Nigeria from Accra, Ghana, on December 24. He flew in on a Virgin Nigeria flight, arriving in Lagos about 7:30 p.m. local time (1:30 p.m. ET), about an hour before he checked in for a KLM flight to Amsterdam. He checked one bag, the source said.

Video: Dutch to use body scanners

Video: Netherlands now uses body scan

Video: Inside the X-ray

Ter Horst said that security measures in place in Amsterdam were metal detectors and X-ray machines, and admitted they could not have picked up the explosive material that AbdulMullatab was allegedly carrying.

"The introduction of these body scanners would certainly have helped in detecting that he was carrying something on his body," she said. "We know that metal detection does not help to detect non-metal explosives, and these millimeter-wave scanners can do this, which would mean that this would be an improvement."

One passenger on same plane as AbdulMutallab told CNN's "Larry King Live" that the security checks at Schiphol were not as stringent as those she is used to in the United States.

"We walked through and did not have to take our shoes off," said Wisconsin native Richelle Keepman. "Also, my mother had a water bottle in her bag that she'd completely forgotten about. And it went right through and we didn't realize it until we were on the plane."

Ter Horst acknowledged that the systems currently in place are "not watertight," which is why the body scanners are being introduced.

As to privacy concerns -- namely that the scanners could pick up private features of a person's body -- ter Horst said the scan results would first go through a computer, which would then flag any suspicious items to a human.

The scanners will be permanent at Schiphol, and any passengers bound for the United States who do not go through them will be body-searched, ter Horst said.

Erik Akerboom, the Dutch national coordinator for counterterrorism, said part of the investigation is looking at whether the explosives were brought into Schiphol by someone else for AbdulMutallab to pick up later.

Dutch authorities are also looking into whom he was in touch with while at Schiphol awaiting his connecting flight. They are combing surveillance camera footage from the connections hall, Akerboom said.

Asked about reports that AbdulMutallab paid for his ticket in cash and was flying only with hand luggage, Akerboom said neither would have necessarily raised any alarms.

"There are several travelers who do this," he said.

AbdulMutallab's name had come to the attention of U.S. authorities before the attack, sources have told CNN in recent days.

His father talked twice about his son's extremist views with at least one CIA representative at the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria and a report was prepared, but the report was not circulated outside the agency, a reliable source told CNN's Jeanne Meserve on Tuesday.

Had that critical information been shared, the man might have been denied passage on the flight, the source said.

A U.S. intelligence official said AbdulMutallab's name, passport number and possible connection to extremists were indeed disseminated. But the official added, "I'm not aware of a magic piece of intelligence -- somehow withheld -- that would have put AbdulMutallab on the no-fly list."

CIA spokesman George Little defended the agency's actions regarding AbdulMutallab, but also said the agency is reviewing data to ascertain whether more could have been done.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said department staff did what they were supposed to by sending a cable to the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington about the matter. Kelly said any decision to revoke the suspect's visa would have been an interagency decision.

Ter Horst said Dutch authorities did not know that AbdulMutallab had raised any security flags, and she called for a global watch list for all suspect travelers in the future.

Predator drones use less encryption than your TV, DVDs

Militants have been recording video from US Predator drones in Iraq and Afghanistan using laptops and $30 software, thanks to a total lack of encryption.

By Nate Anderson

What three-letter Internet acronym best fits the bizarre news out of Iraq and Afghanistan that militants there have been intercepting US Predator drone video feeds using laptops and a $30 piece of Russian software: LOL, WTF, or OMG?

Actually, all three are appropriate for something this farcical, horrible, and brain-numbing. The reason that the transmissions could be picked up easily by a cheap satellite recording program? They were broadcast in the clear between the drone and ground control. That's right—no encryption was used.

Perhaps, you might be thinking to yourself in a mental bid to make the military seem competent here, no one could have suspected this would happen. But they did suspect it, because it had been happening for a decade already. The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story, included this tidbit in its report: "The potential drone vulnerability lies in an unencrypted downlink between the unmanned craft and ground control. The US government has known about the flaw since the US campaign in Bosnia in the 1990s, current and former officials said. But the Pentagon assumed local adversaries wouldn't know how to exploit it, the officials said."

After finding various laptops containing hours of recorded drone footage, the military has at last moved to encrypt the downlink between the drone and ground control, but there are problems. Not with encryption technology, which is robust, but with the fact the military 1) did not use encryption at the beginning and retrofitting is hard, and 2) the Predator's maker uses some proprietary communications gear, so off-the-shelf encryption tools don't all work.

The sad but inevitable comparison has to be drawn here with consumer electronics. Blu-ray discs, which use the AACS control scheme, feature a new DRM scheme of bewildering complexity in an attempt to thwart pirates.

Encryption, Hollywood style

Operating system vendors have built entire "protected path" setups to guard audio and video all the way through the device chain. TVs and monitors now routinely use HDCP copy protection to secure their links over HDMI cables. Game consoles are packed with encryption schemes to prevent copied games from playing. Microsoft even goes out of its way to add encryption when Windows Media Center records unencrypted over-the-air TV content. Even the humble DVD, with its long-since-breached CSS encryption, offers more in the way of encryption.

But US drones, which spy on militants and rain down death from a distance, have none. The mind boggles, as it seems like the situation should be totally reversed: no encryption on legally-purchased content, more encryption on devices designed to watch and kill human beings.

Airport scanner 'shows passengers naked'

An X-ray machine which produces ''naked'' images of passengers has been introduced at Manchester Airport, enabling staff to instantly spot any hidden weapons or explosives.

The full body scanner, which is being trialled, will also show up any breast enlargements, false limbs, piercings, and a clear outline of passengers' private parts.

Some travellers might not want to be scanned because of the graphic nature of the images, bosses admit.

They can refuse to undergo the virtual strip search at Terminal 2, opting for the traditional ''pat down'' search instead.

But the black and white image will only be seen by one officer in a remote location before it is deleted, Sarah Barrett, head of customer experience at the airport, said.

''Most of our customers do not like the traditional ''pat down'' search, they find it too intrusive, but they still want to be kept safe.

''This scanner completely takes away the hassle of needing to undress. The images are not erotic or pornographic and they cannot be stored or captured in anyway,'' she said.

The scanner, made by the firm RapiScan Systems, makes the check-in process much quicker for passengers, who will not have to remove their coats, shoes or belts.

Frequent fliers do not need to worry about radiation from the low-level X-ray, she said, and a dental X-ray transmits 20,000 times more radiation.

''Passengers can go through this machine 5,000 times a year each without worrying, it is super safe and the amount of radiation transmitted is tiny,'' Ms Barrett said.

The scanners, which cost £80,000 each, were also trialled at Heathrow Airport in 2004. The Department for Transport will decide whether to install them permanently at the end of the trial, which is expected to last for a year.

Electromagnetic waves are beamed on to passengers while they stand in a booth, and a virtual three-dimensional ''naked'' image is created from the reflected energy.

Security officials in the United States have pioneered their use at New York and Los Angeles airports, and they are gradually being rolled out in other airports in the country.

Bernie's Madoff Jail Cell

Here's where Bernie Madoff sleeps tonight:

Here's where he slept last night:

Top Army Biowar Lab Suspends Research After Toxin-Tracking Concerns

When the Pentagon needs to handle the deadliest biowarfare threats, it turns to the labs of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Maryland. It's the only place in the American military complex equipped to handle the worst of the worst diseases -- those that have no cure and can are transmissible by air. Which makes it extremely unnerving, that the place had to suspend biodefense research on Friday, "after discovering apparent problems with the system of accounting for high-risk microbes and biomaterials."

That's the scoop from the new ScienceInsider blog, which notes that "the lab has been under intense scrutiny since August, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation named former USAMRIID researcher Bruce Ivins as the perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax letter attacks."

The concern this time is that the lab may not be accurately tracking the use and storage of all of its biological organisms in an internal government database -- leaving the door open to misplacement, mishandling, or worse. According to an internal memo obtained by ScienceInsider, "any materials found without a corresponding record in the database must be reported to the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army."

"I believe that the probability that there are additional vials of BSAT [biological select agents and toxins] not captured in our … database is high," institute commander Col. John Skvorak wrote.

This is not a good thing. After all the hullabaloo surrounding the Ivins case, it's a little surprising to find Army researchers reluctant to toe the line on biosecurity issues. It's not clear right now whether the issue is new regulations that need to be fine-tuned -- or scientists not worried enough about prudent security regulations. Whatever the case, we ought to expect the Army's premiere Army biodefense research lab to be leading the private and academic institutions in sound security practices. Over the past year or so, the Army has been leading the development of regulations to better safeguard its research facilities. Ironically, now that the regs are completed, it's USAMRIID itself that still needs work on tightening up its shop.

-- Jason Sigger and Noah Shachtman

Security at Obama inauguration is tight and high-tech

Email Picture

Charles Dharapak / Associated Press

A U.S. Secret Service agent stands watch by a presidential limousine parked under a security tent in front of Blair House, at the White House, in Washington today.

Officials say that a lone wolf could still slip through protective measures and cause chaos but that contingency plans would keep Obama safe.

By Josh Meyer

Reporting from Washington -- As the multitudes arrive for the historic inauguration of Barack Obama, the most high-tech security bubble ever created is in place to protect the incoming president from any foreseeable act of God, nature or man.

But authorities say they still dread the "X factor" -- intangibles that they cannot control and that could upend their most carefully laid plans by panicking the immense crowd.

Inauguration parade route

At the top of that list, they say, is the lone-wolf individual or small group capable of slipping through the intelligence and security net. A burst of gunfire or an explosion, they know, could cause significant casualties or pandemonium.

That is considered extremely unlikely. Law enforcement and intelligence officials say they have seen nothing to suggest the president-elect or his inauguration are being targeted.

Still, they say, no one can know for sure. And the inauguration of the first black president -- coming in the first White House transition since the Sept. 11 attacks and about two months after the terrorist strike in Mumbai -- poses special concerns, U.S. law enforcement and security officials say.

"We can prepare and we can prepare, but there are always variables," said one senior FBI official involved in the planning. "It only takes one person to come in and cause havoc."

Many disgruntled individuals fly under the radar, officials say, keeping violent thoughts and plans to themselves and out of Internet chat rooms that have been monitored for years by undercover agents.

And they easily could hide among millions of visitors expected to overload transit systems and wedge into every nook and cranny of indoor and outdoor space, straining crowd-control measures.

By most accounts, the Secret Service has done everything possible to safeguard not only the president-elect and his entourage, but the parade route, the National Mall and other locations that will be part of Obama's short but symbolic path to the swearing-in.

For instance, Obama will be riding in a new limousine -- nicknamed "The Beast" -- considered the most secure ever, virtually impervious to chemical and biological attacks and rocket-propelled grenades.

And as in all major events, the Secret Service has spent months working with dozens of local, state and federal agencies on security, crowd control and logistical support.

Thousands of extra police officers and military troops are being brought in from around the country, and measures to protect against chemical and biological attack will be in place, along with decontamination tents.

At least 150 multiagency "intel teams" will deploy throughout the region so that undercover FBI agents and other behavior analysis specialists can look for trouble. Of particular interest: individuals or small groups of men with backpacks lurking in large crowds, or entering the Metro from distant suburban stations -- a pattern similar to the deadly attacks in London's subways in 2005.

In some areas, Washington will look like an occupied city. Sharpshooters will be on virtually every building. Law enforcement and intelligence nerve centers and mobile command posts are sprouting. The FBI is deploying a scary-looking armored assault vehicle and a weapons-of-mass-destruction response truck.

The military, supporting civilian authorities, is using sophisticated surveillance systems developed for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to monitor the Mall. A P-3 Reconnaissance plane will fly above the Mall to collect information that can instantaneously be transmitted to the ground in the event of a threat. The high-tech system is known as "Rover."

The Pentagon also will station cameras and other detectors on buildings around the Mall on Inauguration Day to ensure a constant picture, Defense officials said.

Officials familiar with the military surveillance efforts say they will be able to do much more than watch the crowd. They can sense radiation associated with a dirty bomb and in some cases detect a conventional explosive device.

In addition to response, officials have worked on prevention. Authorities have been scouring the Internet and other extremist gathering places to look for signs of trouble. So far, they say, they aren't seeing any.

Domestically, white supremacists have discussed Obama in threatening terms since early in his candidacy. Threats increased after Obama won the Democratic primary and again after he won the election.

Obama has been a lightning rod not only because of his race, but due to what extremists believe to be his ties to Islam, perceived sympathy for Israel and even support for gun control measures.

But in recent weeks, the threatening "chatter" has died down, according to law enforcement officials and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is active in tracking U.S.-based extremist activity.

Yet current and former security specialists say that such screening procedures usually can't catch the kind of zealots Obama might attract.

"He brings dynamics into this that we haven't seen before. And they can't be taken lightly," said Joseph J. Funk, a former top Secret Service official who spent eight years protecting Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Obama will remain safe even if some event causes a stampede during his inauguration or along the parade route, said Funk, whose U.S. Safety & Security firm headed Obama's campaign security until spring 2007. The incoming president will have secure escape routes and other contingency plans.

The Secret Service took over security for Obama in May 2007, at the earliest stage ever for a presidential candidate.

"Your concern is the person who wants to make a statement, the person who wants to use this as the day to 'make myself famous,' " Funk said. "You can't get to the president to cause harm, but you can hurt a lot of other people and cause an embarrassing situation. You know there's enough media here, and you think, 'Watch this.' "

Few protections exist against such assailants, Funk and others said.

Metal detectors will screen ticket holders to events. All inaugural personnel -- even waiters and doormen -- undergo criminal background checks. But there are always last-minute replacements and changes in plans.

There will be pressure for security to be unobtrusive, and to avoid aggravating long waits, especially where VIPs are concerned.

At that, most would-be assassins of political figures -- such as John W. Hinckley Jr., President Reagan's assailant -- would have passed background checks anyway, because they had never done anything wrong before.

Authorities warn that attackers could also strike soft targets that are virtually impossible to protect, such as hotels, mass transit and large crowds at inauguration-related concerts and other events.

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security warned of such Mumbai-style attacks on the inauguration in a recent confidential Joint Threat Assessment, portions of which were leaked to reporters.

"How do you predict what is in a person's mind?" said FBI spokesman William Carter. "A person who sits in their basement and self-radicalizes or has some type of grievance and decides to take some action -- that is part of the makeup of the lone-wolf individual. They fall below the radar."

josh.meyer@latimes.com

Times staff writer Julian E. Barnes in Washington contributed to this report.

NYPD Wants to Jam Cell Phones During Terror Attack

By Noah Shachtman

The New York Police Department wants to be able to shut down cell phones, in case of a terrorist attack.

During last month's massacre in Mumbai, terrorist handlers over micromanaged via mobile phone the assaults on the hotels, train stations, and Jewish center that killed more than 170 people.

In testimony today before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly (pictured) said he wanted to take out that "formidable capacity to adjust tactics while attacks are underway."

We also discussed the complications of media coverage that could disclose law enforcement tactics in real time. This phenomenon is not new. In the past, police were able to defeat any advantage it might give hostage takers by cutting off power to the location they were in. However, the proliferation of handheld devices would appear to trump that solution. When lives are at stake, law enforcement needs to find ways to disrupt cell phones and other communications in a pinpointed way against terrorists who are using them.

For now, Kelly said, the NYPD is taking a whole range of measures to stop another Mumbai-style spree -- from working with private businesses to interdicting boats to training recruits in heavy weapons to installing a spycam network across downtown Manhattan.

But Charles Allen, the Department of Homeland Security's top intelligence official, confessed to the Senate panel that "response to a similar terrorist attack in a major U.S. urban city would be complicated and difficult."

The chaos the attacks created magnified the difficulty of mounting an appropriate response. First responders, in order to deal with such a crisis, must first and foremost have adequate information on what is occurring as well as the capability to mount a rapid and effective response that minimizes the impact of the attack. In Mumbai it was not immediately clear to authorities whether there were multiple attack groups or a single group. The attackers were able to exploit the initial confusion because of the indiscriminate firings to move on to new targets. While preparedness training for this type of attack may not have prevented it, the effects likely could have been mitigated and reduced if authorities had been prepared and had exercised responses to terrorist attacks across all levels of government. Within the United States, our national exercises incorporate not only federal interagency participants, but also include regional, state, and local authorities, in order to identify potential gaps in our responses.

[Photo: NY Daily News]