TSA Certifies Smiths Detection’s IONSCAN 600 ETD

Smiths Detection says that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has certified the company’s IONSCAN 600 explosive trace detection (ETD) system, demonstrating that the desktop unit meets detection standard. The certifications is the first of three phases in the agency’s qualification process to be placed on the Qualified Products List for ETD equipment. The IONSCAN 600 already meets the European Civil Aviation Conference standard for passenger and cargo screening and the Civil Aviation Administration of China standard for aviation screening. “TSA laboratory certification, along with meeting other international regulatory standards for passenger and cargo screening, shows Smiths Detection’s continued investments to help protect the traveling public,” says Neil Sandhoff, vice president of Sales and Business Development for Smiths Detection. “With this certification, IONSCAN 600 is ideally suited for installation at all major airports outside the United States, helping them meet the most stringent explosive detection requirements.”

Symantec To Acquire Israeli Cyber Security Firm Fireglass

Symantec [SYMC] has agreed to acquire Fireglass, an Israel-based firm that will strengthen the company’s position in secure web gateway and email protection in local networks and the cloud. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close during the third quarter of 2017, were not disclosed. Fireglass has 43 employees. Fireglass provides a threat isolation platform isolates attack vectors such as web sites, emails and documents, thereby eliminating malware and phishing, it says on its website. “Integrating Fireglass’ isolation technology with Symantec’s existing endpoint, email and secure web gateway solutions could reduce security events by as much as 70 percent, while virtually eliminating advanced threats caused by web browsing or email content,” says Greg Clark, CEO of Symantec. “Isolation will become a core component in the design of cyber defense architectures for the cloud generation who face the reality of an encrypted Internet and the crisis inherent in email and web-delivered attacks. The ability for the security team to take an aggressive stance on unknown websites and questionable attachments without causing chaos for a company’s users and IT help desk is now a reality.”

DHS S&T Tests Large-Scale Vehicle-Borne IEDs

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate, Explosives Division, recently conducted a series of explosives tests with varying charge sizes to learn more about mitigating these threats, based on the size and composition of the explosive device. The division’s Homemade Explosives program conducts large-scale vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices testing to mitigate the threat posed by massive car bombs and to ensure such attacks do not occur in the U.S. “The S&T HME Characterization program informs the explosives community on current material threats, explosive characteristics, and any potential data enabling mitigation measures such as the development of detection technologies and support those responsible for safety and security in the blast communities in order to prepare for, and prevent, such an attack in the United States,” says HME Program Manager Elizabeth Obregon. “The information generated from this testing will aid the Department of Defense and law enforcement communities by revealing data on the impact of a large-scale VBIED, enabling better protection for vulnerable targets.” The tests were conducted at Fort Polk, La.

Raytheon Launches Scalable Cyber Response Centers

Raytheon [RTN] in June unveiled its new Cyber Protection System with scalable Cyber Response Centers (CRC) for global defense, intelligence and commercial customers. The CRCs are tiered into Primary, Enterprise and National, and are pre-configured and provide intrusion detection, network analysis and incident response to proactively address cyber threats. They can also be customized with optional capabilities such as insider threat detection. The Primary Response Center provides monitoring and incident response capability as an extension of existing infrastructure, and can handle information flow and speeds up to 20 gigabytes per second for each connection. The Enterprise center extends the capabilities up to speeds of 100 gigabytes per second for each connection and incorporates analysis labs for malicious code and forensics. The National center scales to speeds greater than 100 gigabytes per second for each connection with additional features to ensure national level monitoring and response.