Terrorism News

Maryland is getting ready to host the G-8 Summit. Dozens of world leaders will come to Camp David to discuss the economic crisis in Europe and the war in Afghanistan, among other issues.  Mike Hellgren has a look at the final preparations.  Thousands of protesters will descend on Thurmont and security will be tight.  The massive G-8 Summit will bring crowds to Thurmont, near where eight of the world’s most powerful leaders will meet in secret at Camp David for high-level discussions on everything from world hunger to events in the Middle East.

The more remote Camp David will provide a shield from media and protesters, including Occupy Baltimore.  To get its message out, one anti-hunger group began painting messages on Route 77.  Summits of world leaders in urban areas have sparked violence in the past.  The public won’t be allowed near Camp David.

Read more: CBS Baltimore

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is challenging a new law that allows the indefinite detention without trial of suspected terrorists, even U.S. citizens seized within the United States.  The unusual coalition of Democrats, libertarians and tea partyers on Wednesday unveiled an amendment to the 2013 defense budget that would end the indefinite detention.  The House was scheduled to begin debate on the overall defense spending blueprint late Wednesday and probably will consider the amendment Thursday.

Last year, Congress passed a far-reaching defense bill that includes a provision denying suspected terrorists, including U.S. citizens seized within the nation's borders, the right to trial and subjects them to the possibility they would be held indefinitely.  In the months since, however, members of Congress have faced a backlash over the detention language.  Conservatives fear that it could result in unfettered power for the federal government, allowing it to detain American citizens indefinitely for even a one-time contribution to a humanitarian group that's later linked to terrorism.

Read more: Associated Press

Yemen military officials say the latest fighting to uproot al-Qaida from the country's south has killed 13 militants, as well as four soldiers and two militiamen fighting alongside the army.  The officials say the 13 al-Qaida fighters died Wednesday as they tried to recapture a strategic hilltop overlooking the town of Lawder in Abyan province from where they were driven out a day earlier.  The two militiamen died in that battle.  Yemeni officials say U.S. troops are for the first time helping direct a four-front assault on al-Qaida strongholds launched Tuesday.

Al-Qaida militants seized Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province on the Arabian Sea coast, last year while the country was mired in the political turmoil of the popular uprising against then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh.  The militants also took control of several other nearby towns.  Tens of thousands of residents fled the area.

Read more: Fox News

McAfee announced a collaboration with Intel to better protect the world’s energy utility ecosystem, including generation, transmission and distribution, from increased cyber attacks.  The two companies have provided a blueprint for a comprehensive solution of multiple products that create layers of security and operate together without great complexity or without impacting availability.  Solutions from McAfee and Intel deliver a variety of technologies for securing the energy infrastructure environments, decreasing chances of malicious attacks, increasing uptime and decreasing resource-intensive responses to fix and update systems. 

The complexity and diversity of the electrical power delivery systems make protecting them from cyber attacks very difficult. Energy provider’s infrastructure is comprised of a diverse set of networks that cannot be effectively secured by simply adding technologies designed for typical enterprise IT environments.  Many of the power grids’ aging assets predate the internet revolution and are particularly vulnerable from attack and unable to identify or report malicious activity up the network chain.  Substations, known as one of the most vulnerable parts of the smart grid, are particularly at risk from attack.  Meanwhile, hackers have grown more sophisticated, increasing the need to defuse or deter zero-day and more sophisticated attacks.

Read more: Bloomberg

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) operatives know they're being watched in Yemen by U.S. intelligence and are taking specific steps to stay alive.  Those steps, outlined in the electronic brochure "Expectations Full," include, "not traveling outside the base, speaking in a low voice, not shooting your gun and not using the cellphone."  "One of the methods of the enemy is that they will employ a spy plane to hover over your location for a period of time," author Samir Khan wrote for aspiring terrorists who want to join the terror organization.  In the pamphlet, readers are warned that foot soldiers should prepare for isolation, long periods with no electronic communication and constant surveillance, among other things.  Avoiding drones is paramount to AQAP after almost a dozen operatives were wiped out in two weeks.  "Al-Qaida is petrified of drones," says Phil Mudd, a former CIA analyst.

Read more: WTOP