Non-stop Action!

It was a big day...so go use the bathroom, grab a snack, and buckle up, cuz it's a long blog!

Well today was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity. We had a "Homeland Security and Emergency Management Symposium" at IUPUI from 8-4. We had some pretty awesome speakers. First up was Sam Nunn. He's one of the profs @ IUPUI and is the Director of the IUPUI Center for Criminal Justice Research...he's a big terrorist pro. He gave us a big overview of terrorism and talked about weapons of choice and types of targets for some of the biggest terrorist organizations. We then went through the Mumbai attacks of 11/08 in pretty good detail. It's amazing the damage that can be done in 3-4 days with guns and explosives.

Next up was Brigadier General Cliff Tooley of the Indiana National Guard. He is the Commanding General of Muscatatuck Center for Complex Operations. Basically, it's a 21st century training facility for military and civil organizations. And when I say facility, I mean, they've built their own little town with housing, buildings, stores, offices, sewage, etc. And soon to come...a high school! Muscatatuck sits on 1,000 acres in Butlerville, Indiana, with it's "town" being on 318 of those acres. Best of all, he invited us all down to come check it out...so I'm hoping for a field trip!

Mike Russo, Deputy Director of Global Security for Eli Lilly came and spoke on Corporate Security. It was really interesting to hear and learn about what they do and some of the illegal drugs that are floating around out there. They cracked a case where a group reproduced the pills, put them in the sealed packets like tablets come in, reproduced the boxes the pills are sold in, and even reproduced the seal that shows that the box hasn't been tampered with. His security team was tipped off to a freight container that might be containing the counterfeit drugs. Sure enough, they found the container and inside, boxes of televisions. And inside those 20+ boxes?? Probably thousands of those counterfeit drugs. The counterfeiters would then (well, would have) sell this to companies, individuals, etc. and make some great money off of it.

Then for lunch we had the keynote speaker. General Gene Renuart, US Air Force. He's a 4-star, which is pretty high up there :) and is the Commander of the US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD, yes, they are in charge of tracking Santa's sleigh!). He talked about the mission of NORTHCOM and NORAD in defending and protecting the US. Both missions include "guarding what you value most", which would entail our freedoms, our country, and everything else that makes the US AWESOME! When he took control of NORTHCOM he changed their mission statement to include "anticipation" because THAT is one of the most important things in their line of business. You MUST be ready for anything that might come your way. He mentioned that protecting the homeland is not just the job of the Department of Defense (DoD). He said it's also up to local and state agencies, such as police, fire, etc. and even you...yes, whoever you are...the communities of America are responsible in helping protect the greatest country to live in. I've heard the same thing from all my profs, but to hear the 3rd in the chain of command for the DoD say it, then you know it must be true. And just to ease any worries you may have, he said that the US is much better at preventing 9/11 type attacks than we were in 2001. The amount of successful attacks has dropped since 9/11/01...whether you liked G.W. Bush or not, I can assure you that he responded very well to 9/11 and was very successful in helping thwart future attacks. Interesting stat: there are 11.5-12 million illegal immigrants in the US...which is costing us around $11 BILLION (with a b) in taxes each year...you want an economic stimulus package?? Get rid of illegals!!!!! Just had to throw that out there...Oh, and yea, I got up the nerve to go meet this guy after he spoke! I mean, this guy puts Chuck Norris to shame :D You'd think someone of his caliber would be "too good" for a college junior, but he talked to me and classmates like we were just another co-worker!

After lunch Fred Cate, Director of the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research spoke on, of course, cybersecurity. Here are some stats that might make you throw out your computer! The amount of Malware, which is software designed to get into your computer and get info about you, increased 400% (yes, four-hundred) from 2007-2008! He said that a computer is attacked within the first MINUTE of plugging it in! So, when you come home from Best Buy, take it out of the box and plug it in to the internet and go to download your anti-virus software, chances are, you've probably already been attacked before the download ever happens! Many wireless routers are made overseas, and some have been found to contain malware inside them!! In October of 2007 there were over 140,000 groups/individuals who tried to hack into U.S. intelligence. In November of 2005, there were 79,000 attempts to hack the Pentagon's network...13,300 of those, were successful! And you thought your computer was safe!

Finally, Joe Wainscott, Director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS) came and spoke about the 2008 floods and tornadoes. 2008 was the worst in Indiana history. 82 of the 92 counties were (at least once) under Presidential Declaration of Disaster. Around 400,000 sandbags were placed to help prevent flooding and over 1,400 were placed in temporary housing...some are still living in that housing as repairs are still being done. And the total financial impact for the 3 events of 2008? $1,904,022,000!

Well, that was my day...made some new contacts with agencies that can probably get me somewhere if I need to! Exciting stuff, if you're into that kinda stuff! That's all for now!