There is an increasing concern that America’s airports are vulnerable to “insider threats” by would-be “lone wolf” attackers with access to secure areas, according to a new report by the House Homeland Security Committee. “America’s airports and aircraft remain vulnerable to attack and exploitation by nefarious individuals,” the report says. “Current security standards would likely fail to prevent a determined adversary with insider access from causing harm to an airport or aircraft.” Most of the 900,000 people who work at airports across the country can bypass normal security screening on a regular basis, according to the committee. Only three airports — Miami, Orlando, and Atlanta International -– screen 100 percent of employees (and their baggage) before allowing them to enter the airport’s secure areas. Many of the rest rely on scattered random screening and credentialing, exposing worrisome “security flaws” that could be exploited in “‘lone wolf’ attacks being inspired by terrorist groups like ISIS,” says the report. Investigators cited in the report say the best random screens are unpredictable, which could help deter would-be terrorists who would otherwise find a way to work around regular security checks. And yet, vulnerabilities remain. Over the past decade, several airport workers with access to secure areas -– including a cart driver at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport and, several years later, a jet fueler at the same airport –- have joined terror groups like al-Shabaab and ISIS abroad. One contractor at Dallas-Fort Worth even bragged to an undercover FBI agent that he could smuggle a bomb onto an aircraft for a $4,000 fee. (He was later arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 15 years.) Perhaps even more concerning, an inspector general’s report released in 2015 found 73 aviation workers with possible ties to terrorism that were not revealed on background checks. To combat the insider threat, the Homeland Security Committee report recommends airports “examine costs and feasibility of expanding physical screening,” increase covert testing, consider biometric access credentialing (fingerprints or retina scans), conduct continuous background testing, and quickly deactivate badges when they’re lost or the employee is let go. “Industry infighting, jurisdictional battles, inconvenience, and cost concerns are not justifiable reasons to cause delays to enhancing the security of the American homeland and our aviation system,” the report concludes. “TSA appreciates the House Homeland Security Committee’s efforts to help secure America’s airports,” the TSA said in a statement. “We are reviewing the report and will continue to work with the committee as well as our industry, intelligence community, and law enforcement partners to ensure all modes of transportation remain secure.” (AP)

A draft executive order obtained by The Associated Press shows that President Donald Trump intends to stop accepting Syrian refugees and suspend the United States’ broader refugee program for 120 days. The president also plans to suspend issuing visas for people from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen for at least 30 days, according to the draft. All are predominantly Muslim countries. Trump is expected to sign the order this week. It was not clear if the draft will be revised before then. The actions would continue Trump’s rapid-fire attempts in his first week as president to move forward on signature issues of his campaign: cracking down on illegal immigration and blocking the entry of people from countries where terrorist organizations have a significant presence. On Wednesday, Trump issued orders aimed at moving ahead with a wall on the Mexican border and blocking federal funds from “sanctuary cities” that protect immigrants. Trump’s draft shows that he will order Homeland Security and State Department officials, along with the director of national intelligence, to review what information the government needs to fully vet would-be visitors and come up with a list of countries that don’t provide it. The order says the government will give countries 60 days to start providing the information or citizens from those countries will be barred from traveling to the United States. Exceptions would be made for diplomats, NATO visas or those people traveling to work at the United Nations. During the campaign Trump, said vetting procedures were inadequate and suggested that terrorists could pose as Syrian refugees to infiltrate the United States. During the Obama administration, vetting for Syrians routinely took years to complete and included in-person interviews overseas, where they provided biographical details about themselves, including their families, friendships, social or political activities, employment, phone numbers, email accounts and more. They also provided biometric information about themselves, including fingerprints and Syrians are subject to additional, classified controls that administration officials at the time declined to describe. Word of the planned executive order prompted a fast-growing group of about 150 people outside the White House gates around dusk Wednesday. Protesters chanted, “this is what democracy looks like!” They waved banners with messages like, “refugees welcome” and “anti-Muslim=anti-American.” While suspending visas for Syrians, Trump is directing the Pentagon and the State Department to “produce a plan” for safe zones in Syria and the surrounding area within 90 days, but includes no details. Safe zones, proposed by both Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton during the campaign, were considered by the Obama administration years ago and ruled out because of the resources required to implement them. Those challenges have only grown since Russia’s military intervention, in which Moscow introduced advanced air defense systems into Syria. That means U.S. personnel could potentially end up in direct military confrontation with the Russians or with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces if the U.S. tried to prevent Assad’s warplanes from operating in the zones. Trump has the authority to determine how many refugees are accepted annually and he can suspend the program at any time. Refugee processing was suspended in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, restarting months later. During the last budget year, the U.S. accepted 84,995 refugees, including 12,587 people from Syria and President Barack Obama had set

It is the week before Rosh Hashanah and at Ben-Gurion International Airport, this signals the beginning of the Tishrei travel season which includes tens of thousands leaving this week for Uman and 770, as well as tens of thousands of Israelis leaving the country for Rosh Hashanah. The ‘holiday rush’ officially begins on Wednesday 25 Elul. At the airport, a special team has been trained to begin operating this week in the hope of expediting security checks, passport continue and check-in. Travelers are urged to arrive four hours before a flight due to the large number of travelers being processed this week. Persons are advised to take advantage of online early check-in where available via the Ben-Gurion website. One simply visits the page and clicks either Terminal 1 or Terminal 3 and continues the online registration. Helping ease the process are the automatic gates for travelers with the new biometric passports. Passengers are permitted one 20kg. (44 LBS) suitcase along with hand luggage that does not weigh more than 8kg (17.6 LBS). For those requiring it, there is a shul in Terminal 3. The terminal also has a few mehadrin certified eateries. There is also a free shuttle operating between Terminals 1 and 3. Airports Authority officials predict some 1.7 million travelers will pass through the airport in Tishrei, which will represent an 8% increase from last year. Thursday 26 Elul is the big day, with 90,000 passengers booked to travel on 540 flights. Airport officials report they are ready for the large number of travelers but stress passengers must allocate the required time and arrive four hours before a flight. On erev Yom Kippur, Tuesday, 10 Tishrei 5777, the airport will shut with the last arriving flight touching down at 1:30PM. The last takeoff will be at 1:55PM. Airport services will resume on motzei Yom Kippur with the first arriving flight touching down at 10:30PM and first takeoff at 11:30PM. (YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

After a slow start, it appears increasingly likely that the Obama administration will hit its goal of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States before the end of September. State Department totals show that 2,340 Syrian refugees arrived last month in the United States. That’s more than what occurred during the entire seven months after President Barack Obama directed his team to prepare for 10,000 admissions from the war-torn country. Total admissions for the current budget year now come to about 7,900, and the vast majority of them are Sunni Muslims, records show. If the pace from June and July continues this month, the target should be reached with a couple weeks to spare before Obama heads to the United Nations to urge world leaders to admit more refugees and to increase funding for relief organizations. The U.N. General Assembly is holding a summit to address the large movements of refugees and migrants that stems primarily from conflicts in the Middle East and Africa. Obama would have been hard-pressed to make the case for other countries to do more with the U.S. failing to reach a goal that amounts to only about 2 percent of the 480,000 Syrian refugees in need of resettlement. Organizations that help relocate Syrian refugees said the White House and other administration officials have grown increasingly confident of hitting the target. “They put more resources on it, which is allowing more individual’s to be processed and therefore able to travel,” said Stacie Blake, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, one of nine groups that help resettle Syrian refugees. Obama’s call for 10,000 entries this year was criticized by most Republican governors and the GOP presidential candidates, who argued that the government lacked an adequate screening system to prevent suspected terrorists from slipping into the U.S. Extremist attacks in Europe and the U.S. have increased concerns about immigration. An Associated Press-GfK poll conducted in early July showed that 69 percent of Republicans say they favor the temporary ban on Muslim immigration. Overall, Americans opposed such a ban by a margin of 52 percent to 45 percent. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., sent a letter to Obama on Thursday calling on him to stop accepting Syrian refugees as a matter of national security. “We are seeing a clear pattern in which a number of recent attacks have been carried out by ISIS terrorists with ties to Syria,” Buchanan said, using one of the acronyms for the Islamic State group. He cited the killing of a French priest, the murder of a German woman with a machete and a bombing at a German music festival as examples. The White House has emphasized that the screening process for refugees takes 12 months to 18 months and includes in-person interviews and a review of biographical and biometric information. The administration also has said it is focused on bringing in refugees who are in the most desperate situations, such as families with children and those in need of medical care. In the year prior to Obama’s new target, the U.S. accepted about 1,680 Syrian refugees. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking with reporters during a visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina, said the United States has developed “sufficient methods” of screening would-be refugees. “We are very comfortable that we

The Israel Airports Authority expects 4 million passengers to pass through Ben-Gurion International Airport during the summer of 2016, giving advanced warning to travelers that there will be long lines and delays. Based on this number, approximately 85,000 passengers will pass through the airport daily, totaling 1.8 million passengers in July and 2 million in August. There was an increase of 8% in passenger traffic in the airport in June, numbering about 1.5 million. The busiest days at the airport are Thursdays and Sundays. As a result, the airport authority strongly advises travelers to allow additional time for check-in and advises travelers to get a biometric passport, which permits using the automated border control process and avoids waiting on a long border control line. Additional ground services personnel will be working in the summer months along with an enlarged security force. (YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Microsoft has a birthday present for Windows 10 users: more capabilities for its Cortana digital assistant and new ways to ditch passwords. The company is also changing the notices it sends to users of previous versions, following complaints that it was too aggressive in pushing them to get the free Windows 10 upgrade. Microsoft’s “Anniversary Update,” scheduled for release Aug. 2, will let users activate Cortana with a spoken command (“Hey Cortana”) even while their screen has gone into sleep mode. Cortana will be able to recall more types of information, such as frequent flier numbers or parking locations. Users can also ask Cortana to remember specific photos, such as a wine bottle to buy again later. For devices that allow sign-ins with a biometric identifier, such as facial recognition, the update will extend that capability to third-party websites and apps, so users won’t have to remember separate passwords. Other new features include Windows Ink, which will let users with a digital stylus add hand-written notes or reminders and draw on documents, maps or other apps. Video gamers will be able to start playing on an Xbox One console or a Windows 10 PC and resume on another device without losing their progress. The Anniversary Update, which was previewed at Microsoft’s developer conference this spring, is free for anyone who already has Windows 10. Users of previous versions must get the current version of Windows 10 by July 29 or pay $119 after that . “For the most part, all of those machines whose owners wanted the upgrade will hopefully have gotten one,” Microsoft corporate vice president Yusuf Mehdi told The Associated Press. There are now 350 million devices running Windows 10, which has been available since last July 29. Microsoft says adoption has been faster than previous versions. Getting more people to use the new software is a key element of CEO Satya Nadella’s strategy for rebuilding Microsoft’s business, which suffered in recent years as PC sales slumped. Microsoft makes money from Windows 10 features that increase use of Bing, the company’s ad-supported search engine. But executives also believe Windows 10 provides a better experience and stronger security. And the company wants to encourage others to write apps for Windows 10 by showing there’s a big audience. Still, the aggressive push for Windows 10 adoption has sparked a backlash from some PC owners. Critics say the company sent confusing notices that led some people to inadvertently agree to an upgrade. Microsoft acknowledged the confusion this week and said notices will now include a clearly marked option to decline. The change came too late for a California woman who sued Microsoft in small claims court. Terri Goldstein, 51, said her Windows 7 desktop got Windows 10 without her knowledge in August. Goldstein says her machine began slowing down drastically, before it crashed and left her unable to recover files she needed for her travel business. Goldstein won a $10,000 judgment for damages in March, according to court records. Microsoft said it decided not to appeal “to avoid the expense of further litigation.” (AP)

Your lost or stolen passport may have found a new life in the shady underworld of a crime gang or in the pocket of a terrorist plotting an attack. Like crime syndicates, terrorist networks are often globe-spanning operations, and doctored documents are the keys to unlocking borders and staying below the radar. Fighting bogus identities is now a top security priority, with France’s interior minister pushing for Europe-wide action, and Interpol pleading for tougher document policing as it warns that the world is awash in 38 million lost or stolen passports that are ripe for doctoring. False identities have complicated the task of investigators trying to untangle the many-tentacled and overlapping networks that carried out the recent attacks in Paris and Brussels. Many of the attackers used fake identities. Investigators spotted the trail of Najim Laachraoui after he built the bombs used in the Paris bloodbath — but couldn’t stop him before he blew himself up at the Brussels airport four months later because they knew him only from his fake Belgian ID under the name of Soufiane Kayal. A fraudster’s den discovered in a Brussels suburb indicates the scale of the crime, and how hard it is to vanquish: It held some 1,000 digital images used to make false documents. Weeks after authorities raided the site in October, three people connected to those documents joined in the attacks on Paris. It was four months before the chief fraudster was arrested — across several European borders, in Italy. “The central element for the secrecy of organizations is to have false passports and false identity papers. It is absolutely indispensable,” said retired anti-terrorism judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, once France’s top counter-terrorism investigator. The underworld of document doctors provides many choices for finding a new identity, from industrial-sized operations to artisans working from home on easily procured and increasingly refined equipment. A newcomer to the business is the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, which reportedly seized thousands of blank passports and equipment in towns it conquered. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has been pressing his European partners to do more to fight the Islamic State, which he says has created a “structure that manufactures fake documents.” That organization claimed responsibility for the November attacks that killed 130 Friday night revelers in Paris and the March attacks on a Brussels airport and subway station that killed 32 people. Two of the suicide bombers at France’s national stadium remain unidentified except for their fake Syrian passports. One of those passports had been listed by Interpol, the international police agency, as among a batch of stolen blank passports. Germany stopped recognizing passports issued in territory controlled by the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq at the start of the year. Belgium raided the document den in the Brussels suburb of Saint-Gilles in October, but put out a warrant for the suspected forger Djamal Eddine Ouali only in January. On March 26, Italian police arrested the 40-year-old Algerian when he applied for a residency permit. A court in Salerno, in southern Italy, granted Belgium’s extradition request on Sunday, but Ouali plans to appeal that decision, according to his lawyer, Gerardo Cembalo. Information-sharing is critical in the effort to catch fraudsters, a message hammered out by Interpol. Its database had nearly 38 million travel documents

A battle over background checks for Uber drivers at the world’s busiest airport comes as cities like Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, consider more thorough screenings to prevent criminals from getting behind the wheel. Uber has objected to the Atlanta airport’s plan to use fingerprints to check criminal records of its drivers, saying its own record checks are sufficient. But the district attorney in Uber’s hometown of San Francisco has called the ride-booking firm’s process “completely worthless” since drivers aren’t fingerprinted. In Houston, city officials say they found that background checks without fingerprints allow criminals who have been charged with murder, sexual assault and other crimes to evade detection in a variety of ways. Atlanta’s city council on Wednesday is set to consider the airport’s plan for screening drivers for Uber, Lyft and other ride-booking firms when proposed new rules go before the council’s transportation committee. Uber has agreements with more than 50 U.S. airports, none of which require the fingerprint-based background checks being proposed by Atlanta’ s airport, the company said in a statement. Those airports include major air hubs in Denver; Los Angeles; Memphis, Tennessee; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Salt Lake City, Utah. But New York City does fingerprint drivers, and the mayor of Los Angeles this month asked state regulators to allow his city to do so as well. Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city, was among the first in the nation to require drivers for Uber and other ride-booking firms to undergo fingerprint-based background checks using the FBI’s database. Houston’s program began in November 2014, and city officials there say they’re far more thorough than any other way of checking someone’s criminal past. “Public safety is our No. 1 priority — that’s something the city of Houston does not compromise on,” said Lara Cottingham, Houston’s deputy assistant director of administration and regulatory affairs. “That’s the reason we license any vehicle for hire.” Since Houston’s ordinance went into effect, the city’s fingerprint-based FBI background checks have found driver applicants who have been charged with murder, sexual assault, robbery and indecent exposure, among other crimes. Those drivers had already cleared the commercial background checks used by ride-for-hire companies, according to a city report released this month. Potential drivers can pass background checks that don’t rely on fingerprints simply by using an alias, the report found. For instance, one driver cleared by a company that does background checks for Uber underwent Houston’s fingerprint check, which turned up 24 alias names, 10 listed social security numbers and an active arrest warrant, the report states. Companies that perform background checks for ride-hailing firms typically seek to identify counties where they’ve lived in the past, then search public records from those places, the report states. But the checks don’t search every county, creating “a huge potential gap where crimes go undetected,” the report states. “The FBI provides the only true nationwide check,” the report states. Uber has now been operating in Houston for more than a year, “and everything we’ve seen is that the number of drivers getting licenses continues to grow and their business continues to thrive,” Cottingham said. However, Uber maintains that Atlanta’s plan would add “substantial, additional bureaucratic barriers for drivers,” company spokesman Bill Gibbons said. Atlanta would use the Georgia Department of Driver Services to help check the backgrounds

Former top national security officials from Republican and Democratic administrations urged Congress on Tuesday to continue allowing the resettlement of Syrian and Iraqi refugees in the United States. “Refugees are victims, not perpetrators, of terrorism,” the 20 retired military, security experts and others wrote in a letter sent to all lawmakers. “Categorically refusing to take them only feeds the narrative of ISIS that there is a war between Islam and the West, that Muslims are not welcome in the United States and Europe, and that the ISIS caliphate is their true home.” ISIS is one of the acronyms for the Islamic State group. Among those signing the letter are former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger, George Shultz and Madeleine Albright. Retired Gen. David Petraeus also signed the letter, as did former Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff and onetime Defense Secretaries Leon Panetta, Chuck Hagel and William Cohen. Last month, the House voted overwhelmingly to erect high hurdles for Syrian and Iraqi refugees to come to the United States in the aftermath of the terror attacks in Paris. The bill would require new FBI background checks and individual sign-offs from three high-ranking U.S. officials before any refugee could come to the U.S. from Iraq or Syria, where the Islamic State group that has claimed credit for the attacks has flourished. The Obama administration, which has announced plans to accept about 10,000 Syrian refugees in addition to the 2,500 who have settled here since 2011, says it already takes around 18-24 months on average for them to make it into this country. They must pass a battery of screening requirements including interviews overseas, fingerprinting and biometric investigations. Many are women and children and only about 2 percent are single men of combat age. Republicans have called for a pause in the system, a reflection of their constituents’ anxiety. Forty-seven House Democrats broke with President Barack Obama and backed the legislation. The bipartisan group of former officials said they opposed the legislation, arguing that the vetting of refugees is robust and thorough. “Given the stringent measures in place, we are especially concerned by proposals that would derail or further delay the resettlement of Iraqis who risked their lives to work with the U.S. military and other U.S. organizations,” the letter said. The legislation is pending in the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday that the issue will be part of the must-pass spending bill that Congress needs to complete later this month to keep the government open. (AP)

 Boko Haram extremists killed 41 people, including a legislator, and scared hundreds of people from polling stations in the northeast, but millions voted across Nigeria Saturday in the most closely contested presidential race in the nation’s history. In electoral violence elsewhere, three people including a soldier were shot and killed in political thuggery in southern Rivers state, and two car bombs exploded at polling stations in the southeast but no one was injured, according to police. All the Boko Haram attacks took place in northeastern Nigeria, where the military Friday announced it had cleared the Islamic extremists from all major centers, including the headquarters of their so-called Islamic caliphate. Nearly 60 million people have cards to vote, and for the first time there is a possibility that a challenger can defeat a sitting president in the high-stakes contest to govern Africa’s richest and most populous nation. The front-runners among 14 candidates are President Goodluck Jonathan, a 57-year-old Christian from the south, and former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari, 72, from the predominantly Muslim north. Voters also are electing 360 legislators to the House of Assembly, where the opposition currently has a slight edge over Jonathan’s party. Voting for 13 constituencies was postponed until April because of shortages of ballot papers, electoral officials said. Nigeria’s political landscape was transformed two years ago when the main opposition parties formed a coalition and for the first time united behind one candidate, Buhari. Dozens of legislators defected from Jonathan’s party. Polling will continue Sunday in some areas where new machines largely failed to read voters’ biometric cards, said Kayode Idowu, spokesman of the Independent National Electoral Commission. That includes some areas of Lagos, a megacity of 20 million and Nigeria’s commercial capital on the Atlantic coast. Even the president was affected. Three newly imported card readers failed to recognize the fingerprints of Jonathan and his wife. Biometric cards and readers are being used for the first time to discourage the kind of fraud that has marred previous votes. Afterward, Jonathan wiped sweat from his brow and urged people to be patient as he had been, telling Channels TV: “I appeal to all Nigerians to be patient no matter the pains it takes as long as if, as a nation, we can conduct free and fair elections that the whole world will accept.” Nigerians exercised extraordinary restraint, waiting hours in heat that rose to 100 degrees (37 degrees Celsius) in some places. Many remained for more hours after voting ended to witness the ballot count, determined to do their part to try to keep the elections honest. “The high voter turnout and the dedication and patience of Nigerian voters is, in itself, a triumph of Nigerian democracy,” said the national counter-insurgency spokesman, Mike Omeri. He praised the bravery and commitment of military and security agencies that he said made the elections possible. Struggling with blackouts that are routine, some officials counted ballots by the light of vehicles and cellphones. Earlier, before dawn, Boko Haram extremists invaded the town of Miringa in Borno state, torching people’s homes and then shooting them as they tried to escape the smoke. Twenty-five people died in the attack, Borno state Gov. Kashim Shettima told a news conference in the city of Maiduguri. “They had sent messages earlier warning us not to

Those days of calling your bank to let them know that, yes, you really are in Thailand, and yes, you really did use your credit card to buy $200 in shirts, may be coming to an end. The payment processing company Visa will roll out a new feature this spring that will allow its cardholders to inform their banks where they are automatically, using the location function found in nearly every smartphone. Having your bank and Visa know where you are at all times may sound a little like “Big Brother.” But privacy experts are actually applauding the feature, saying that, if used correctly, it could protect cardholders and cut down on credit card fraud. Credit and debit card fraud costs consumers and banks billions of dollars each year, and that figure has been growing as data breaches have become more common. The banking industry had $1.57 billion in debit card fraud in 2013 and $4 billion in credit card fraud in 2012, the latest years for which data are available, according to the Federal Reserve. Facing these high costs, banks and the payment processors have been stepping up their efforts to cut down on fraud, and Visa’s announcement is just one small piece of this drive. JPMorgan Chase’s CEO Jamie Dimon has said repeatedly that his bank spends $250 million overall on cybersecurity every year, and plans to double that spending. Here’s how it works: starting in April, banks will update their smartphone apps to include Visa’s new location-tracking software. If the consumer opts in, the Visa software will, over a period of time, establish a customer’s home territory of roughly a 50-mile radius. If the person uses his or her Visa card at stores in that area, those transactions will be considered low risk for fraud. When that person travels outside their home area, the phone will notify Visa that they’ve entered a new city or country, using either the phone’s cellular data plan or the next time the phone connects to a Wi-Fi network. When that person uses their Visa card for a transaction in that location, Visa will already know he or she is there and will be less likely to flag the card for a fraud alert. “We will be able to compare the merchant’s location to the most recent cellphone location to show it’s a less risky transaction,” Visa executive Mark Nelsen said. The feature is optional and can be deactivated at any time. Visa also says none of the location tracking will be used for marketing purposes. One type of fraud Visa’s feature will directly address is counterfeit credit cards. Criminals can take stolen credit card information and code it onto a new card using equipment that can be readily purchased online. Counterfeit cards look like any other credit card, but have someone else’s information on the magnetic stripe. Nelsen said Visa hopes the new security feature will prevent “a good portion” of fraud perpetrated with counterfeit cards, because those cards are often used in a location other than where the actual card owner lives. Visa’s new anti-fraud measure, which the company announced on Thursday, won’t address every potential fraud situation. If a card user has both their phone and credit cards stolen, for example, Visa wouldn’t necessarily know that the card was

Police arrested three suspects near the Druse community of Majdal Shams in northern Israel in connection with a large counterfeit operation producing passports and identity cards. The arrests were made on Wednesday, 23 Nissan 5774. They report the suspects earned over a million shekels in the counterfeit operation. In some cases the suspects used forged identity cards and submitted claims for workers compensation benefits due to work-related injuries. Police report the quality of the forgeries was very high. The raid comes at a time when the Interior Ministry encourages citizens to take part in the voluntary biometric database program and request a biometric identity card and passport. Towards encouraging participation in the program officials offer the documents to applicants free of charge. The biometric identity card and passport include photographing, fingerprinting and performing an eye scan of applicants, all part of the hi-tech technology used to prevent identity fraud in the future. Additional information is available on the Ministry of the Interior website at www.moin.gov.il. (YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

If the Heartbleed security threat teaches us anything, it’s that passwords don’t offer total protection. Browsers are supposed to keep passwords and other sensitive data safe, but a technical flaw in a widely used padlock security technology allows hackers to grab the information anyway. Even without this latest discovery, there have been countless disclosures of hackers breaking in to grab usernames and passwords, plus credit card numbers and more. That’s why many security experts recommend a second layer of authentication — typically in the form of a numeric code sent as a text message. If you’re logging in to a website from your laptop, for example, you enter your password first. Then you type in the code you receive via text to verify that it’s really you and not a hacker. I’ve been using what’s known as two-factor authentication or two-step verification on most of my accounts for more than a year, after seeing too many mysterious attempts to reset my Facebook password by someone who isn’t me. The main exception was Gmail, but I enabled that recently after the discovery of Heartbleed. I was afraid the second authentication would be a pain to use, but things are going more smoothly than I expected after the initial setup. The idea behind these double-layer passwords is to make it harder to use a password that’s compromised or guessed. You’re asked for a second piece of information that only you are supposed to know. To balance security and convenience, you can typically bypass this check the next time you use the same Web browser or device. It won’t help if someone steals your laptop, but it’ll prevent others from using your password on their machines. If you’re logging in at a library or other public computer, remember to reject the option to bypass that check next time. The second piece of authentication could be your fingerprint or retina scan, though such biometric IDs are rarely used for consumer services. Financial services typically ask for a security question, such as the name of your childhood pet, the first time you use a particular Web browser or device. That’s better than nothing, though answers can sometimes be guessed or looked up. Some banks offer verification codes by text messaging, too. I like that approach and use it for a variety of email and social networking services. To me, email accounts are the most sensitive because email can be used to reset passwords elsewhere. That includes my banks and shopping sites. The two-step requirement is fairly simple to turn on. With Google, for instance, it’s under the Security tab in your account settings. On Facebook, look for Login Approvals under Security in the settings. With Apple IDs, visit appleid.apple.com rather than the account settings on iTunes. After you enable it, you’ll typically have to sign in to your account again on various Web browsers and devices. After entering your username and password, a code will get set to your phone. You’ll have to enter that to finish signing in. This has occasionally meant getting off my couch to grab my phone from the charger, but that’s a small price for security. What if you’re somewhere without cellular access and can’t receive texts? Most services have backup mechanisms. Google, Facebook and Microsoft have apps that will

With the United States irked at Israel over its settlement policies and the lack of progress in peace talks, an obscure diplomatic classification has emerged as a new sticking point between the two close allies. To ease the travel of its citizens, Israel is pressing to join 38 other countries in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program — a prestigious club of nations whose citizens don’t need a preapproved visa to visit America. So far, their efforts have not only been rebuffed, but Israel has seen a spike in the number of young people and military officers rejected entry to the U.S. Washington says Israel has not been let into the program simply because it has not met the requirements — and has pointed in part to Israel’s treatment of Arab-American travelers, drawing sharp denials by Israeli officials of any discrimination. U.S. officials say there is no policy in place to make it more difficult for Israelis to get “B” visas, which allow a 90-day stay in the United States for business or travel purposes. Figures show that the percentage of Israelis whose visa requests are rejected is lower than that of many other countries, and other countries’ rejection rates have grown as well amid an overall stricter approach taken by American Homeland Security officials. For example, in 2013 Belarus had a rejected rate of 20.7 percent, Bulgaria’s was 19.9 percent and Ireland’s was 16.9 percent. Even so, Israel saw its visa rejection rate jumped to 9.7 percent last year, up from 5.4 percent the year before — a startling 80 percent increase. Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, has called on the State Department to “end its widespread, arbitrary practice of denying young Israelis tourist visas.” Other pro-Israel members of Congress have also pressed for answers. Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin said some Congress members are pushing for legislation that would exempt Israel from the requirements to qualify for the waiver program altogether. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki responded this week by saying that Israelis are still overwhelmingly granted entry. “Over 90 percent of Israeli applicants for tourist visas to the United States are approved. For young Israelis, over 80 percent of visa applicants are approved for a visa,” she said at a briefing. The 90-day visas are either approved or rejected after a brief interview with a U.S. embassy official in the applicant’s country of origin. Americans do not need a visa to enter Israel, though Americans of Palestinian origin often face problems and cannot enter through Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport, instead entering either through Jordan or Egypt. The visa issue brings another irritant in U.S.-Israeli ties at a time of strains over Secretary of State John Kerry’s stagnating peace efforts. The Obama administration has been critical of Israel for continuing to press forward with Jewish settlements in Yehuda and Shomron while Kerry has been brokering peace talks over a future Palestinian state. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon recently called Kerry “obsessive” and “messianic” over making peace between Israelis and Palestinians and dismissed a U.S. security plan for the region as worthless. He also called the U.S. weak when it comes to its stance on Iran’s nuclear program and questioned Washington’s commitment to Israel’s security. During the same briefing last week, Psaki said the U.S. was

Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S5 smartphone will be at least the third to have a fingerprint sensor for security but it’s alone in letting you use that for general shopping, thanks to a partnership with PayPal. The sensor brings convenience for entering passcodes and could encourage more people to lock their phones. But fingerprint security isn’t foolproof. Here’s what to know as you consider whether to place your trust in it: ____ How does it work? The S5 has a sensor on the home button, just like Apple’s iPhone 5s. On the S5, you train the phone to recognize your finger by swiping on it seven times. You also enter a passcode as a backup, so you’re not locked out if the device doesn’t recognize your print. On the iPhone, that can happen if your hand is greasy or wet, for instance. The phone then converts the fingerprint information into a mathematical representation, known as a hash, and stores that in a secured location on the device. Samsung says that information stays on the device and is never shared. When you want to unlock your phone, you simply swipe on the home button. A hash is again created and must match the one the phone already has. Otherwise, the phone stays locked. You can do this with up to three fingers on the S5, compared with five on the iPhone. On the S5, you must swipe down. On the iPhone, you simply hold your finger on the home button, and you can do that sideways or upside down as well. The HTC One Max also has a fingerprint sensor, though tests by The Associated Press have shown it to be inconsistent in recognizing prints. ___ What can you do with the fingerprint? All three devices let you skip the passcode and unlock the phone. You can also train the HTC phone to open a particular app automatically depending on the finger used. Apple lets you use the finger to authenticate purchases through its iTunes store, but it’s keeping the system off-limits to outside parties. Samsung lets you make PayPal payments. If you’re at a retail store that accepts mobile payments through PayPal’s app, for instance, you can use the fingerprint instead of your usual password. That’s also the case with online transactions using PayPal on the phone. The hash doesn’t get sent to PayPal. Rather, the phone verifies for PayPal that the fingerprint has been verified. Anuj Nayar, senior director for global initiatives with eBay Inc.’s PayPal business, says there’s usually a trade-off between security and convenience. Beef up security, and it’s tough to use. Make it convenient, and open up windows for breaches. With fingerprint IDs, he says, you can have both. ___ Are you really getting security? That depends. It’s more secure than not locking your phone with a passcode at all. It’s also more secure than using a four-digit passcode, as there’s a greater chance of guessing that than the particular hash used. But there’s never a guarantee. Shortly after Apple started selling the iPhone 5s, a German hacking group said it managed to bypass the fingerprint system by using a household printer and some wood glue to create an artificial copy of a genuine fingerprint. The group said the fingerprint ID system was easy to trick, though

Now you have to pass through security to leave the airport. Futuristic unmanned portals have replaced officers at the security exits of two small Northeast airports, adding a few seconds in a bulletproof glass pod to the end of every passenger’s trip. The rounded exits at the Syracuse and Atlantic City, N.J., airports prevent passengers from backtracking into secure areas once they exit the plane and keep outsiders from entering through the exits. Travelers step into the elevator-sized cylinders and wait as a door slides closed behind them. After a couple of seconds, another door opens in front with a female voice coolly instructing, “Please exit.” “I don’t understand those doors,” says Cindy Katz, of Jupiter, Fla., who came through the Atlantic City airport for the Thanksgiving holiday. “What are they supposed to do? It slows everyone down.” They could be the wave of things to come as the Transportation Security Administration prepares to shift exit-monitoring duties to local airports next year as a way to save $88.1 million. The doors’ manufacturer, New York City-based Eagle Security Group, Inc., says it is in talks with other airports. The technology saves airports from having to put paid security staff at the exit checkpoints. Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, who is pushing to keep the TSA in charge of exit monitoring, says such staffing could cost Philadelphia International Airport about $2 million a year. Syracuse Aviation Commissioner Christina Callahan, whose airport installed eight portals this past fall at a total cost of about $750,000, says staffing each exit with a guard would cost about $580,000 a year. “So when compared with the cost to install the portals, they will have paid for themselves and begin saving the airport money in little over a year,” Callahan said. “Certainly funding is limited for staffing,” she said. “Airports are going to have to find other ways to keep up with mandates.” In Atlantic City, the manpower savings from the portals are estimated at $300,000 a year, South Jersey Transportation Authority spokesman Kevin Rehmann said. The airport has had a version of the exits since about 2009, but upgraded its five portals last year as part of a $25 million terminal renovation. The portals are intended to remove the potential for the kind of human error that was blamed for a 2010 breach that shut down a Newark Liberty International Airport terminal for several hours and caused worldwide flight delays after a Rutgers graduate student slipped under a rope to see his girlfriend off on her flight. On recent evenings in both Syracuse and Atlantic City, there did not appear to be any sign of backups caused by the roughly five-second process of entering and exiting through the portals. Signs encouraged travelers to enter the pods in groups —they can accommodate up to six people at a time — rather than one by one. “It went smoothly,” says Robert Beech, who arrived back home in Syracuse on a flight from New York City. “Just had to wait for the doors to open and close. Even with carry-on, pull-behind bags, you can still get through there without having to worry about bumping into things.” Mindy Carpenter, of Cortland, who was waiting for friends to arrive from Washington state, says she wasn’t a fan of the doors. “It

Senate debate on a far-reaching immigration bill is becoming a test of Sen. Marco Rubio’s influence over fellow Republicans, as the Florida conservative works to sell GOP lawmakers on landmark legislation that also may help determine the fate of his presidential ambitions. Rubio, a tea party favorite who’s acted as the bill’s emissary to the conservative community, has spent recent weeks meeting individually with Republican senators to discuss strengthening the legislation in ways that could get them on board. That included supporting changes sought by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who outlined a tough border security amendment Wednesday in The Dallas Morning News. Rubio was to address House conservatives Wednesday, and he’s been promoting the legislation with numerous TV and radio appearances. On Tuesday alone, he showed up on Fox News Channel, CNBC and Hugh Hewitt’s talk radio show. At the same time he’s been making immigration advocates uneasy by issuing demands for stronger border security provisions in the legislation, including giving Congress more authority to write a border security plan instead of the Homeland Security Department. Rubio says he won’t support the bill without such changes, and it won’t be able to pass. “If we can pass a measure that ensures that we will never again have another wave of illegal immigration, I believe we will have immigration reform. And if we do not pass that, if that does not happen, I believe there will not be immigration reform. It’s as simple as that,” Rubio said on Hewitt’s show. For Rubio, it’s part of the balancing act he’s been performing all year since joining more seasoned legislators like Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as part of the so-called Gang of Eight senators who authored the immigration bill. His challenge is to maintain the support of the tea party backers who lend him credibility and leverage in the immigration debate, while also getting credit for pushing a landmark piece of legislation that’s opposed by many in the tea party but is a priority to the Latino voters who increasingly help determine the outcome of presidential elections. “He speaks their language, he’s been one of them this entire time, he was a tea party favorite from the beginning,” said Rebecca Tallent, director of immigration policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, and a former aide to McCain. “Will he take some responsibility if they can’t build a large coalition in the Senate? Absolutely. But so will the rest of the gang members.” The legislation, a priority for President Barack Obama, aims to boost border security and workplace enforcement, transform legal immigrant and worker programs and put some 11 million immigrants here illegally on a path to citizenship. As the only author of the bill with the bona fides to sell it to conservatives, Rubio’s been seen for months as key to its passage. In recent weeks, Rubio’s efforts have been largely behind the scenes as the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Rubio is not a member, debated the legislation before approving it on a bipartisan vote. Now, with the full Senate set to take up the bill next week, Rubio’s about to assume a more public role. His performance may spell success or failure for the bill and for his own political prospects as a potential presidential candidate in 2016.

Foreigners leaving the country through any of the nation’s 30 busiest airports would undergo mandatory fingerprinting under an amendment senators added Monday to a sweeping immigration bill. Lawmakers called it a step toward a more expansive biometric system that would use identifiers such as fingerprints to keep track of immigrants and visitors exiting the U.S. Currently no such system is in place, something viewed as a security weakness, particularly because some 40 percent of the 11 million immigrants in the country illegally overstayed their visas and there’s no good system for tracking them. “This is an agreement that we need to build toward a biometric visa exit system,” said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who offered the amendment by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who was absent Monday. “Implementing this biometric exit system is long overdue.” A full-fledged biometric entry-exit system is favored by many senators but was deemed too expensive and unworkable to include in the bill. Current law already requires such a system to be in place, but the Department of Homeland Security has not implemented it. Instead the bill seeks electronic scanning of photo IDs. Under Hatch’s amendment, the nation’s 10 busiest airports would have to establish a fingerprinting system within two years after enactment of the immigration bill. Within six years it would have to be in place at the 30 busiest airports. The amendment passed 13 to 5. “The entire system, as current law requires, should be implemented,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who voted no. “It’s a retreat from current law, a weakening of current law.” The committee last week rejected an amendment by Sessions to fully implement a biometric screening system. After Sessions’ amendment failed, one of the authors of the immigration bill, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., announced publicly that he regretted the failure of Sessions’ amendment and would continue pushing for a biometric system to be put in place. The passage of Hatch’s amendment Monday allows authors of the legislation to argue that they’re working to boost security provisions in the bill as Rubio and others have said is necessary to ensure its passage. The vote happened as the Senate Judiciary Committee plunged Monday into its third week of deliberations on the immigration legislation, which aims to secure the borders, improve workplace enforcement and legal immigration, and offer eventual citizenship to millions of people here illegally. The committee is wading through around 300 amendments as it aims for a final vote on the bill by Wednesday night. Democrats have enough votes on the committee to ensure its passage, which would send it to the Senate floor. Also Monday the committee approved adding more visas for Tibetans, increasing information sharing among federal agencies when people overstay their visas, and tightening up the nation’s asylum and refugee system so that people would lose their asylum or refugee status if they returned home to the country they fled, unless they can show a good reason for doing so. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the asylum change was merited in light of the Boston Marathon bombings. The brothers who allegedly set off the bombs arrived in the U.S. as boys when their family sought asylum here. An attempt by Sessions to block immigrants who gain legal status under the bill from getting the earned income tax credit was

The following report pertaining to crossing points throughout Yehuda and Shomron was relased by the IDF Spokesman, dated May 6, 2013. The crossings and IDF checkpoints in Judea and Samaria have been the source of much confusion and debate worldwide. Crossings and checkpoints, while both provide important security benefits, are different. Crossings are facilities used by Palestinians to enter from Judea and Samaria into other regions of Israel. Checkpoints, on the other hand, operate during times of heightened security risk to prevent terrorists from executing their plans to harm civilians. The international media have often portrayed these security measures as a way to restrict Palestinians’ freedom of movement and abuse civil rights. They have occasionally been referred to as ‘inhumane’. Despite attention on the region, most facts about the crossings and checkpoints are widely unknown. How many checkpoints are still active? Just how successful are they in preventing terror attacks? What type of security checks occur? Are Palestinians able to move freely? Today, the reality is far from what you may have heard. How many crossings and checkpoints are there today? There are some 15 crossings between Judea and Samaria and other parts of Israel. Some are used for the passage of people, others for the passage of goods. In addition to these crossings, 12 checkpoints are placed strategically throughout Israel’s Central Command region, and operate in time of need in light of security considerations. Checkpoints – Preventing terror, saving lives Capt. Barak Raz, spokesperson for the Judea and Samaria Division, describes the situation in Judea and Samaria as relatively stable. “Today, we take into account incidents such as throwing stones, which can be fatal, and we also have the resources to improve road safety. Ten years ago, nobody was keeping track of all this because there was a terror attack every week.” Last year marked the first year since 1973 in which no Israelis were killed in Judea and Samaria. Compare this to 2002, in which 47 terror attacks left 452 Israeli civilians dead. Checkpoints have been used as a method to filter out and prevent terror attacks before would-be Palestinian attackers have a chance to enter Israel. As a result of such insidious methods as female suicide bombers hiding explosives under their clothing and the use of ambulances to conceal and transport terrorist weapons, routine checks have been intensified at all types of crossings. The number of terror attacks has fallen drastically since the construction of the security fence in 2006. The IDF has withdrawn the majority of its checkpoints in Judea and Samaria in a step towards beginning a positive cycle, Capt. Raz explains: “The Palestinians have realized that the path of terror led them nowhere. We can explain this relative calm in three ways: the reduction of military presence during routine security tasks, an effective counter-terrorism strategy, and a clear economic incentive for Palestinians to maintain the calm. By reducing the number of checkpoints, we can provide much more freedom of movement, therefore improving the economic conditions and ultimately strengthening the security situation.” From 40 to 12 checkpoints The number of checkpoints in the Central Command went from 40 in July 2008 to just 12 in October 2012. Furthermore, these checkpoints are only used some of the time and the frequency of checks is dependent on

Shas’ Aryeh Deri is quoted telling faction members the party’s Moetzas Gedolei Torah will not permit entering the coalition if the Kandel share the burden plan is adopted. This refers to the plan formulated by Prof. Eugene Kandel, a plan that includes leveling sanctions for non-compliance with new draft regulations against mosdos that do not permit talmidim to enter the IDF such as canceling tax-exempt status for donations and eliminating reductions in arnona property tax. The plan will also compel mosdos to install a biometric reader to compel talmidim to sign in and out daily, permitting authorities to monitor who is really learning and who is just avoiding IDF service. Kandel’s plan calls for granting additional benefits for yeshivos in which talmidim comply with the new law, which means if the biometric reader shows talmidim are learning as they should, or alternatively, those not learning are reporting to an induction center. It will be interesting to see what Yahadut Hatorah will do, as the latter stated it has a mutual agreement with Shas by which they only enter the coalition with the other, and not independent of the other. (YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

On Wednesday 19 Shevat 5773 President Shimon Peres is expected to begin marathon talks with party leaders towards handing the presidential mandate to form a coalition government to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu will then work to form the 19th Knesset and the 33rd cabinet of the State of Israel. According to a Maariv report, Yahadut Hatorah has been quite busy behind the scenes, and while MKs continue to publically condemn efforts to draft bnei yeshivos, they are exerting tenacious efforts towards opening a door that will permit them to join the coalition. The report states the faction members have even discussed accepting Vice Premier Moshe Ya’alon’s plan for drafting bnei Torah. The faction members met on Sunday, 16 Shevat, and they even phoned Ya’alon in the hope of obtaining a deeper understanding of his plan. The phone call was between the vice premier and Yaakov Litzman along with other faction members. Ya’alon detailed his vision for creating a new reality to replace the Tal Law, which entails a gradual draft of bnei Torah as well as a system of disqualifying privileges received by avreichim if they do not comply with the new reality. Ya’alon opposes fines and jail terms for draft dodgers, but supports halting their monthly allowances and other ‘consequences’ to encourage compliance. Ya’alon explained a stringent inspection system for Bnei Torah will be in place, including the use of biometric technology to make certain those committed to limud a minimum of 45 hours weekly do just that. He suggests lowering the age one may receive a deferment from 28 to 26 in phase one of his program, while setting a target draft goal of 6,000 Bnei Torah by 2016 instead of the 2,400 serving today. One should realize that under the old Tal system, avreichim were actually locked in, for if they left beis medrash before 28 they were compelled to enter the IDF. This prevented them from obtaining legal employment. The Ya’alon system lowers the age by two years, viewed as a positive step by many. Ya’alon told Litzman and his colleagues that he opposes the plans presented by Yochanan Plesner and Yair Lapid. Plesner envisions that by 2016, only 1,500 Bnei Torah will continue to receive draft deferments annually. Lapid’s plan is even more daring, envisioning a ceiling of 400 Bnei Torah annually. Ya’alon does not believe in setting a ceiling for the maximum number of chareidim who will continue learning. Litzman told Ya’alon that if Yesh Atid leader Lapid remains uncompromising on his plan, they simply cannot enter the coalition. On the other hand, they explained “we can live with your plan” which addresses a gradual increase in the draft, but does not set a ceiling for the number of bnei Torah continuing to learn. “We won’t vote in favor of the plan, but we will not break off talks if your plan comes up for a vote.” Ya’alon explained that he is trying the positive approach, telling Maariv “in recent years, larger numbers of chareidim are serving. 3,000 chareidim serving today is meaningful. Yahadut Hatorah officials have informed me that my plan is not a matter of ייהרג ובל יעבור (be killed but don’t transgress) for them. This is the plan I present before them today.” Maariv quotes Yahadut Hatorah officials as saying

The controversy surrounding the new draft law for chareidim is at the epicenter of the political storm, highlighting the different lifestyles between bnei torah and other communities in Eretz Yisrael. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has shifted his position in favor of the chareidim, now exhibiting a genuine effort to accommodate the chareidi position with the awareness there must be a change – and the situation which existed prior to the High Court declaring Tal Law illegal will not return in the future. That said, the prime minister opposes personal sanctions, fines and criminal charges against avreichim who do not comply with the new law. This is in total contradiction with the recommendations of the Plesner Committee. Towards achieving an acceptable formula that will meet with the approval of gedolei hador and coalition partners, the prime minister is seeking to establish a system that will improve monitoring of avreichim attending kollel. The new concept would involve installing biometric readers in kollelim to monitor the tens of thousands of avreichim who have declared torah study their fulltime profession, seeking to be certain they report to the beis medrash daily. Avreichim would have to pass the biometric reader and swipe their finger upon entering and leaving the kollel, leaving an electronic trail for state officials. Anyone apprehended trying to dupe the system will be viewed as committing a crime under the state’s penal code. Likud officials favoring the system feel this will expose those who are not learning as they should and these individuals will have to be held accountable. (YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

The Knesset Law Committee has approved a number of regulations pertaining to the national identification card, recognizable today as the outdated laminated photo ID, or “teudat zehut”. In accordance with the new regulations, an identity card will expire after a decade. Each renewal will be good for an additional ten years. In addition, the white “sefach”, the separate piece of paper containing marital status, children’s names and birthdates and other information will be eliminated, replaced by including the data in the ID card itself. The green light was also given to launch the biometric digital identification card program, which will only be accessible via the personal password given to each person when s/he receives the new card. The test program will operate for two years. Maklev opposes the ten-year expiration of the identity card, calling it “an unnecessary bother”. He also feels the Ministry of the Interior should operate mobile units to deliver cards to the elderly and infirmed. Regarding the biometric cards, Maklev is an ardent opponent of the planned operating of a Ministry of the Interior data information center, 24/7, decrying the planned chilul Shabbos. (YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

A major break has been announced as Justice Ministry officials have been investigating an unprecedented breach in the nation’s population database registry in 2006. The information was made available via the internet in many cases, including one’s name, identification number, date of birth and family relations, a database including over 9 million names, including deceased family members. Sensitive information pertaining to adoptions and natural parents as well as kuppot cholim (HMOs) were also contained in the database. Six suspects have been fingered in the ongoing investigation, described as “members of the chareidi community and yeshiva students”. The allegations include the breaking into the restricted government computer, as well as selling information for profit. The six were arrested and they are banned from leaving the country. A hearing is expected during which a determination will be made regarding criminal charges against the six. The investigation began in 2007, focusing on an anonymous person calling himself Ari. Ari uploaded a program that gave anyone access to the state’s population registry. A fairly easy search would provide one’s information, including address, phone number, family members and their information and so-forth. In 2009, investigators learned that an employee in the Labor & Welfare Ministry with access to confidential records took the database home, including classified information. He made a copy which eventually made its way to a yeshiva student, who decided to sell it. The purchaser is the one who modified it, making it accessible, passing it over to Ari. The database on the internet was even updated as the ministry updated personal records. Ari was eventually tacked down after much difficulty. It appears he was using false ISPs and internet cafes for much of his work, successfully evading authorities for some time. He was found to be a computer technician working in the capital. Undercover investigators arranged a meeting with him under false pretense, enabling them to learn that he has the database in his possession and that he was the person they were looking for. On a side note, one person who paid for the database was a collector, yes, an individual who over the years collected population registry information, and according to authorities, he had many versions from a number of years in his possession. While the breaking of the case earned banner headlines in Israel, the attorney of one of the suspects is quoted as saying that once again, this is a case in which there is much fanfare surrounding the news but ultimately, it too will vanish since there was no crime, no major law-breaking. He explains that any Israeli knows that any third rate private detective has a copy of the national database, and information here simply was unprotected for many years. The breaking of the investigation does however bring the matter of the biometric database back into the front pages of the national news agenda, the ongoing debate surrounding such a plan. In 2009, the Knesset placed the matter of a national biometric database on hold, seemingly unable to decide with so many prominent scientists and data protection experts lining up on both sides. The opponents to such a national database are using this latest incident to warn that if a biometric database was ever broken, the results would be far more catastrophic. In actuality, Israel is

The Clarksburg FBI complex is taking part in a $1 billion project that will enable law enforcement agencies to identify criminals and terrorists by physical characteristics more quickly and accurately, an FBI official said Monday in Charleston. Earlier this month, the FBI center unveiled its “Next Generation Identification System,” which will slowly replace an older system that can no longer handle the volume of fingerprints sent to Clarksburg. “It’s bigger, better, faster,” said Stephen Morris, a deputy assistant director at the FBI Center. “It increases capacity and accuracy.” Morris spoke Monday at a Charleston Rotary Club luncheon at the Civic Center. The NGI system, built by Lockheed Martin, allows FBI employees to conduct automated fingerprint searches and exchange information with more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies. The FBI’s fingerprint examining staff also received new “advanced technology workstations” that will help increase accuracy, Morris said. Under the system, state and local police officers also will eventually use hand-held devices to scan suspects’ fingerprints and send the images electronically to the FBI center. “It’s a quick scan to let police officers know if they should let the person go, or take him into custody,” Morris said. In later stages, NGI system also will be expanded to include the analysis of palm prints, handwriting, faces, human irises and voices. “Our job is to study those and see how reliable they are for law enforcement,” Morris said. The FBI plans to increase the size of the Clarksburg complex significantly with the opening of a new 350,000-square-foot Biometric Technology Center in 2014, Morris said. The FBI plans to share the facility with the U.S. Department of Defense. The FBI center, which opened in 1995, now has about 2,500 full-time workers and another 500 contract employees. The center analyzes and identifies nearly 168,000 fingerprints a day on average. The fingerprints are used to solve investigations, prevent crime and identify criminals and terrorists. (Source: WV Gazette)

Your thumbprint might soon be the key to an afternoon candy bar. A Massachusetts based vending machine company is joinng the growing ranks of companies that are field-testing new technologies. Next Generation Vending and Food Service is experimenting  with biometric vending machines that would allow a user to tie a credit card to their thumbprint. “For a certain demographic that is pretty cool,” says company president John S. Ioannou. Next Generation is currently testing about 60 of the biometric machines in various locations in the northeast. The company is also testing other technologies. Ioannou says the key to the transforming the vending machine business is making the consumer feel more engaged. The days might be numbered where a consumer watches a bag of chips roll through the machine and drop. Next Generation is also testing a machine that includes a 46″ touch-screen display that acts similarly to an iPhone display. The user can click on an item, flip the image and even see the nutrional information on the back of the packaging. Ioannou says initial results are good saying, “The feedback is extraordinary.” The machines include internally mounted cameras to monitor what is going on outside of the machine. The tests are scheduled to run through the end of 2010. After that, Next Generation will decide if it is worth rolling out across its sales region in the northeast and Pennsylvania. The company is also installing wireless or Ethernet connections on all of its current machines so there will be real-time reporting of the amount of goods in the machine for restocking purposes. Monitors will even be able to report when a coin is stuck in the machine. All of the current machines will be upgraded by the end of 2011. There are other innovations that are being tested outside of the United States, including machines that use retinal scans to identify and charge consumers for their purchases. (Source: MyFoxNY)