Cell phones outfitted with nanotube hazmat detectors to detect toxic airborne substances, can then transmit data to analysts at NC4. NC4 analysts are trained to quickly assess the incident, correlate it with other real-time information and contact first responders or other organizations - all within minutes of initial detection.
NC4 chief security officer George Johnson will be the feature keynote speaker at the upcoming NJIT Counter-Terrorism Symposium on November 5th. NJIT and the New Jersey United States Marine Corps Reserve Association will co-host this daylong cyber-terrorism symposium, looking at proactive approaches to counter-terrorism.
In collaboration with other technology vendors, the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Los Angeles Fire and Police Departments, NC4 participated in last week's Cell-All demonstration. Cell-All is a unique environmental sensor and application for cell phones that enhances personal and public safety. Cell-All detects and alerts individuals and public-safety authorities to the release of specific toxic chemicals into the environment, putting environmental threat detection within reach of anyone who has a cell phone.
Cities and counties across the country are able to reap the benefits of technologies to increase productivity and effectiveness, and do more with less. Applications used for gathering, sharing and disseminating information, combined with smart phone and computer technologies, ease viewing and manipulation of the information by the user community.
With support from NC4, the Afghan Trusted Network communicates through a secure portal and through symposia to exchange ideas, foster new initiatives, avoid redundancy and launch pilot projects to increase the quality of life and livelihoods for the people of Afghanistan.
How would you know, on an immediate basis, if conditions at your destination, en route or at your present location have changed or are unstable and which conditions could present a known or potential security hazard to you, your co-workers, assets or facilities?
A well-stocked emergency “go kit,” experts say, can arm a traveler with tools that may help keep a bad travel situation from turning into a full-blown disaster... “A good police whistle, two glow sticks, a small roll of wide adhesive tape to prevent hotel doors from closing, and $100 in local currency in small denominations,” said Noel Koch, senior director of travel intelligence for the travel risk management company NC4.
"...external information allows them to keep track of things on a real-time basis and get early warning of an event and react quickly to it,” Montagnino said. Providing such a technology solution to fusion center and emergency operation centers means that different agencies can share information, deploy resources and can have a robust common operating picture of events occurring, he said.
Creating a common operating picture for all responders in an emergency is essential to taking appropriate action and keeping everyone safe. In late July, Los Angeles County tested its Operational Area Response and Recovery System, a Web-based system that allows them to wirelessly share situational response information for a common operating picture.
"NC4 is proud to have been chosen by AlliedBarton as a strategic partner, following their comprehensive and objective evaluation of our situational awareness solutions," said NC4 President and CEO Jim Montagnino. "The integrated solution -- Security Center -- will benefit AlliedBarton prospects and customers by giving them access to NC4's technology and resources around all-hazards incident monitoring and analysis. We are excited to be able to reach a broader audience of security professionals to help them improve their capabilities in monitoring, analyzing and responding to risks that threaten their organization's well-being."
Managing the safety and security of employees located around the country, as well as around the world, is a monumental task and one that takes a considerable amount of corporate teamwork. Wellpoint Inc. uses the services of NC4 to enhance its real-time awareness of incidents occurring around its national and international facilities.
A sound investment in information technology services that provide pin-pointed intelligence where you need it can improve an organization’s peripheral vision, giving companies a competitive advantage.
This case study examines how Navistar's corporate security team protects its network of manufacturing facilities, warehouses and sales offices in 90 countries worldwide.
Lojack Supply Chain Integrity has formed a strategic partnership with NC4 to provide an even depth of vital, real-time information to Lojack SCI customers. LoJack SCI will integrate NC4’s External Situational Awareness (ESA) incident monitoring service into its SC-ISAC, the only government-sanctioned Supply Chain Information Sharing and Analysis Center.
Now is the perfect time to look at technologies with multiple uses that can bring in the benefits of risk mitigation and safety for employees and operations while leaving your resources to focus on other apsects of the business.
AAA has two offices near the wildfires, one in downtown Santa Barbara and the other less than 30 miles away in Ventura, Calif. Even with the fires being nearly 80 percent contained, AAA continues to monitor its status. In addition to information from local news outlets, they receive regular updates from NC4 about the location and movement of the fires as well as evacuation status and other pertinent information.
Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, plans were put into place to develop a way to share information among agencies at the local, state and federal levels. Several law enforcement agencies are using E Team to exchange information on terrorism tips and leads.
Emergency managers are looking to technology to maintain awareness of incidents, collaborate across jurisdictional boundaries and facilitate a more informed decision- making process.
Tampa officials used NC4's E Team to enable responders in the field to send reports back to Tampa's multi-agency command post. In addition, Crystal Reports was used to create detailed incident action plans from information pulled from the E Team system.
NC4 issued a private report to its clients discussing the steps police are taking to ensure the safety of President-elect Obama and the millions of people expected to attend his Inauguration. The report reveals that local and federal police plan to use more than 5,000 security cameras to look for suspicious activity in D.C.
Security officials have also designed a loudspeaker system along the parade route and on the National Mall to communicate to the large Inauguration crowds should a large-scale disaster situation necessitate a mass evacuation of downtown D.C.
The depth of Cisco's continuity plan reflects how critical risk management is to the $38 billion company, making it one of the growing lineup of shippers that are taking action in an era in which globalization has exposed supply chains to risks in remote parts of the world. Labor disruptions, terror attacks, natural disasters and even fast-spreading disease are increasingly intruding into the basics of logistics planning as more companies believe their survival could be at stake. An alert from NC4 on the Sichuan earthquake triggered the response team at Cisco that sent plans into motion there as the company determined the scale of the earthquake and how it might hit suppliers.
New tools are enabling planners to test the consequences of events without having to endure the disruption. “The key to successful emergency management really is situational awareness.” said Fred LaMontagne, fire chief and director of the emergency management agency for the city of Portland, Maine.
That means, he continued, awareness of factors that could bring about change in the local community or environment. The city accomplishes this through the use of E Team and ESA (External Situational Awareness), two offerings from NC4 of El Segundo, Calif. These work together to provide alerts and a framework for communicating information before, during and after an incident.
Many vendors have adopted the open-source Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) for transmitting emergency messages. “The CAP is evolving and has become more popular,” said Jim Montagnino. “We were one of the first adopters of CAP.”
NC4's National Incident Monitoring Center(s) and secure communications portal CyberCop helped provide the staff of the Denver Office of Emergency Management Operations Center with the information they needed to help protect the thousands of spectators, media, law enforcement and government officials at the convention.
“Typically, when people talk about interoperability, people think radio. And those are important,” said Robie Robinson, director of security and emergency management for Dallas County, Texas. However, there are other ways to share pertinent information before or during a disaster.
Jim Montagnino, chief executive, said the nation’s heightened security requires emergency managers to quickly gain access to information across jurisdiction lines.
Dallas County's Office of Security and Emergency Management, in conjunction with the Dallas Urban Area Security Initiative, added the E Team solution from NC4 to enable multiple counties and jurisdictions within the UASI to improve emergency response capabilities and speed the flow of data between offices.
Determining a need for, and designing and placing an effective Emergency Operations Center (EOC) into operation can be a daunting task. As corporate awareness for sound business continuity plans grow, quite often those same corporations determine a need for an EOC — a necessary component to a sound business continuity plan for most mid-to-large size corporations, hospitals, colleges and universities.
Testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration on Private Sector Preparedness
Business Continuity professionals typically think about government in the last sections of a continuity plan. Government can be helpful in all aspects of continuity planning. This article reviews the standard professional practices and comments on how government may be helpful.
Government Security News