Newly Appointed Secretary Napolitano Issues Additional Action Directives

DHS issues press release this morning on increasing Cybersecurty and Northern Boarder Security.

Full Text below.

Secretary Napolitano Issues Additional Action Directives on Cyber Security and Northern Border Strategy

Release Date: January 23, 2009

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today issued a second round of action directives on cyber security and the northern border strategy.

These action directives instruct specific offices to gather information, review existing strategies and programs, and to provide oral and written reports back to her by mid February. In the coming days, Secretary Napolitano will continue to issue additional action directives focused on the missions critical to the department: Protection, Preparedness, Response, Recovery and Immigration.

"This continuing evaluation will unify our shared efforts and help me assess where improvements need to be made," said Secretary Napolitano.

The full action directives are below:

• Cyber Security. Given the increasingly sophisticated number of threats to all areas of national cyberspace and considering the authorities provided by the Homeland Security Act, the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, and Homeland Security Presidential Directive 23/National Security Presidential Directive 54, what are the authorities and responsibilities of DHS for the protection of the government and private sector domains, what are the relationships with other government agencies, especially the departments of Defense, Treasury, and Energy, and the National Security Agency, and what are the programs and timeframes to achieve the department’s responsibilities and objectives? An oral report is due by Feb. 3, with a final report due Feb. 17.
• Northern Border Strategy. The northern border of the United States has become, since 9/11, important to our national security. As we have designed programs to afford greater protection against unlawful entry, members of Congress and homeland security experts have called for increased attention to the Canadian border. What are the current vulnerabilities, the overall strategy for reducing those vulnerabilities, the requirements, the programs, the budget, and the timeframe for improving security along this border and what level of risk will remain once the programs are completed? An oral report is due by Feb. 10, with a final report due Feb. 17.

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This page was last reviewed/modified on January 23, 2009.

Fire At Mount Sinai Hospital, 600 Patients Moved

As reported in the New York Post, a fire occurred last night at Mount Sinai Hospital, causing the hospital to move 600 patients after smoke started to fill the Emergency Room.

Six firefighters suffered minor injuries, but no patients or hospital staffers were hurt.

The fire started at 6:30 p.m. and was under control two hours later.

Nothing about the fire appears on the hospital home site as of this posting.

Salmonella Outbreak, Product Recall Grows

The Salmonella outbreak and product recall continues to expand. It now includes pet foods, fruit, and vegetable products.

Currently all consumer based peanut butter in jars are considered safe.

For a complete listing of the products go to Peanut Butter Product Recalls

Currently a total of 486 people have been sickened in the outbreak, with six deaths. 65 people have become ill in Ohio, with 62 reported in California.

U.S. Navy Intercepts Arms Shipment From Iran

The U.S. Navy has intercepted an arms shipment from Iran, believed to be for Hamas.

The search turned up ammunition that included artillery shells. But one official said that since Hamas is not known to use artillery, officials are now uncertain who the intended recipient was. They're asking Egypt to do another search when the ship arrives in port.

Al-Qaeda Experiments with Weapons of Mass Destruction Goes Badly, Kills Operatives

UPDATE: In the post I put up yesterday Plague Killing off Al-Qaeda Terrorists it appears that as I suspected it may have been a botched case of Al-Qaeda experimenting with unconventional weapons.

Though unconfirmed reports are now coming in stating that it is not plague, it only states that it was either biological or chemical in nature, but intelligence sources are unsure of the exact nature of the agent.

We will update this story further as information becomes available.