The nation’s first Secretary of Homeland Security went public today with his new global security consulting business, which focuses on everything from special event security to cyber security and technology integration.

This is the Ridge Global corporate video that I produced for him under the banner of Red Team Productions - ...

Following up on a recent interview I did with analysts from market research firm INPUT, who concluded that nationwide interoperability for first responder communications systems is likely still a decade away, I spoke with Cisco Systems’ Director of Homeland Security Chris Josephs.

Josephs agrees progress has been slow. But he says ...

A few weeks after former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge told me that the biggest deficiency in homeland security is public safety communications, analysts at market research firm INPUT released a report that says nationwide interoperability for first responder communication systems is probably 10 years away.

Here’s an interview with ...

Identity management isn’t just about network access anymore. It’s quickly become one of the most important aspects of overall homeland security. In this mini-Webumentary, I talk to several experts about the role of identity management in homeland security and where the technology is going in the future.

This is a Red ...

This is a trailer for a Webumentary I’m producing for HSToday Magazine. It looks at the current state of homeland security preparedness in New York City six years after 9/11. The program airs on 9/17 at www.hstoday.us, and shortly thereafter right here on PodTech.

In the wake of the deaths of two New York City Fire Fighters at an abandoned building near Ground Zero, the issue of interoperable broadband communications for first responders has once again taken center stage. But some are asking why it is still an issue six years later.

To get some ...

Here’s a 90-second trailer for a video I’m producing for HSToday Magazine, titled “ID Confirmed: The Role of Identity Management in Homeland Security.” The video will cover homeland security issues ranging from biometrics to identity management.

Former FEMA chief, Michael Brown, talks to Homeland Defense Week about his new role as a corporate advisor to InferX Corp., a developer of data mining technologies for homeland security and critical infrastructure operators, and his view of homeland security today.

This edition of The Listening Post from Homeland Defense Week focuses on the latest news surrounding the security of electronic voting systems.

I’ve covered e-voting for more than three years, going back to my news reporting days and the first revelations that electronic voting systems were wide open security nightmares waiting ...

The FBI recently used spyware to track down a bomb threat suspect. And while it did so under the guidance of a court order, the bureau has refused to comment on the precise capabilities of its spyware application, known only as the Computer Internet Protocol Address Verifier.

This raises a number ...

Sentrillion is a new company that has some big homeland security responsibilities, like upgrading and maintaining the technology used to secure both the northern and southern borders of the U.S.

In this episode of Homeland Defense Week’s Listening Post, I talk with the Reston, Va.-based company’s CEO, Jack Larmer, and its ...

Cybersecurity research and development at the nation’s top R&D oranization in the Department of Homeland Security gets 1 percent of the budget. And the DHS acknowledged today that it doesn’t even have an innovation program focused on cybersecurity R&D.

Will accountability and national cyber security ever meet?

This is the first installment of a new video column I’m producing for Homeland Defense Week.

Organized cybercrime groups, particularly the merchants of spyware, have become really organized in the last few years — as in punching a virtual clock from 9 to 5. And according to Symantec Corp.’s Kevin Richards, an increasing percentage of spyware and other forms of malware that security researchers are discovering ...

It’s been called an unfunded mandate and a train wreck, but Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (a.k.a. HSPD-12), which makes it the policy of the U.S. government to conduct background checks on all employees and issue a common access smart card for both physical and network access, is likely to foster one of the most significant improvements in security in the last decade.

Sean Farazad, CEO of COMDEX Inc., says the future of the IT security and homeland security market is in the Middle East. And so this socially conscious business executive is helping countries in the region tackle everything from oil exploration to secure visas and passports.

I caught up with Pat Schambach, the former CIO at the Transportation Security Administration who now works for Nortel Government Solutions, at the recent GOVSEC show in Washington, D.C.

We talked information sharing, security since 9/11, and other good stuff. This interview was filmed at the HSToday booth. This is a ...

This is Google with brains — Agent Logic, an Arlington, Va.-based company supported by the CIA’s venture capital firm, In-Q-Tel, was born from a very simple idea: can Web page update alerts be automated?

Well, of course they can. But Agent Logic took the concept to a new level, delivering alerts ...

Alion Science and Technology Corp. is launching a push to expand its presence in the school security market by offering first responder organizations and school officials its Response Information Folder System (RFIS).

The company has been working for the past year with universities and high schools in Virginia, and plans to ...

The following fashion show took place between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. at the recent GOVSEC Expo in Washington, D.C.

Here is a lighter look at government homeland security.

Marcus Sachs is the deputy director of SRI International’s Computer Science Laboratory. In that role, he directs the operations of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Security Research and Development Center.

On May 1, I met with the former White House Director for Communication Infrastructure Protection in his Arlington-based office overlooking ...

The IT security industry, represented at the recent CSIS Conference on 9/11 legislation and the private sector, told staff members of the House and Senate homeland security committees that allowing the Department of Homeland Security to set preparedness standards — particularly Internet security standards — for private companies — would be a big mistake.

Following up on the April 24th CSIS keynote presentation by the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and the subsequent panel discussion on Congress’s intent to create voluntary preparedness standards for the private sector, I talked with Tiffany Jones, senior manager of government relations, Americas, at Symantec Corp.

I asked ...

Since 9/11, authorities have linked approximately 5,000 murders in the U.S. to people who suffer from the most severe mental illnesses. That’s 5,000 more deaths in the U.S. than have been attributed to our most-feared terrorist enemy, Al-Qaeda.

In this episode of The Big Picture on Security, I talk with Mary ...