InfraGard Members Alliance Houston

JCIP conference details

This page will be updated with information about the JCIP conference in Houston on Aug 3, 2011.

Symposium agenda: Brochure

Venue map: Centerpoint Energy 1111 Louisiana

Parking information: Map to nearby facilities

Local lunch locations will be provided at the registration desk.

Last minute details:

Houston - JCIP conference to focus on Oil/Gas, Chemical, and Electrical Sectors

The Joint Critical Infrastructure Partnership (JCIP) conference will be held at CenterPoint Energy on Wed, Aug 3, 2011.  The full day conference will have a number of nationally and internationally known subject matter experts.

There will be presentations from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Houston Fusion Center.  In addition we will have private sector as well as academia represented among the speakers.

The focus of the program is Energy (Electric, Oil and Gas), and Chemicals.  Although other sectors are welcome, the sessions will be focused  specifically for those sectors.

Speakers will provide insight on current threats to physical, as well as cyber assets.

Draft copy of agenda: http://www.infragardhouston.org/Conferences/JCIP/JCIPHoustonAgenda_DRAFTv2%207-6-2011.pdf

The final copy of the agenda will be posted on the website in the next several days.

Please refer to this link for to REGISTER: http://www.infragard.net/jcip/register.php

Look forward to seeing you on Aug 3rd.

Joint Critical Infrastructure Protection - Symposium

Save the date Aug 3, 2011 for the JCIP symposium with a focus on the Energy Sector to be held in downtown Houston.  Addtional informaiton is available at: http://www.infragardhouston.org/Conferences/JCIP/JCIPSavetheDate.pdf

 

Hazmat Fusion Center

The National Hazardous Materials Fusion Center (NHMFC) provides responders, throughout the U.S., an information sharing capability previously not available to first responders.

The NHMFC Website (www.hazmatfc.com) was demonstrated during the EPA, Region 6, HotZone Conference in Houston, Texas. The internet portal not only provides responders an opportunity to report information on HazMat incidents, but also provides a number of easy to use resources.

http://scienceray.com/physics/hazmat-fusion-center

http://www.hazmatfc.com/Pages/Home.aspx

Submitted by: E. Charles Sterling

Response and Restoration software and information

NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) protects coastal and marine resources, mitigates threats, reduces harm, and restores ecological function. The Office provides comprehensive solutions to environmental hazards caused by oil, chemicals, and marine debris.

CAMEO Chemicals is a database of hazardous chemicals that emergency responders and planners can use to get response recommendations and predict hazards.

Get a standalone version of CAMEO Chemicals that you can run from your Windows computer.

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/index.php

Submitted by: E. Charles Sterling

Surveillance Detection Awareness on the Job - Virtual Roundtable event on HSIN

The Office of Infrastructure Protection’s (IP) Sector-Specific Agency Executive Management Office (SSA EMO) and Partnership and Outreach Division (POD), with assistance from the Surveillance Detection workgroup, developed a 90-minute, highly interactive and visual, virtual roundtable, designed to raise the awareness of suspicious activities and behaviors that might indicate potential surveillance activities. An invitation to the roundtable is attached. 

The target audience for this roundtable will be a full-range of employees working at critical infrastructure facilities, government agencies, governmental organizations, and private-sector owners and operators, including front-line supervisors such as security managers, facilities managers, human resource managers, compliance managers, and IT managers.

More information: http://www.infragardhouston.org/pdfs/SDA%20Virtual%20Roundtable%209-9-10%20Invite.pdf

DHS moving forward on cell-all smartphone chemical detection technology

Last November we wrote about DHS’s plan to turn cell phones into chemical sensors, in the process making millions of Americans into roaming chemical sensor nodes (“Day of Americans Serving As Mobile Chemicals Sensors Nears,” 6 November 2009 HSNW). The Government Monitor offers an update on this intriguing concept.

http://www.thegovmonitor.com/world_news/united_states/homeland-security-develops-super-cell-all-smartphone-technology-25800.html

http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dhs-moving-forward-cell-all-smartphone-chemical-detection-technology

Submitted by: E. Charles Sterling

WISER for BlackBerry

We want to announce the release of WISER for BlackBerry.  This version of WISER leverages a customized version of WebWISER to deliver content to this popular platform.  This release features:

-- Quick online access to WISER's full database of chemical, biological, and radiological substances

-- Easy access to WISER's help identify capability and full suite of tools

WISER for BlackBerry ( http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/downloads_blackberry.html?email= ) can be downloaded from the WISER website. 

Please note that WISER for BlackBerry requires an active Internet connection.

 

http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/index.html

Submitted by: E. Charles Sterling
 

Houston InfraGard Chapter collaborating with DHS to gather assessment data after tropical storms

The Houston InfraGard Chapter is collaborating with the local Department of Homeland Security (DHS) office to provide critical infrastructure damage assessment after any regional disaster.  The DHS will monitor the Houston InfraGard Twitter account IMAHoustonSR for in the field updates.  The Twitter account is only available for Houston InfraGard Chapter members and vetted agencies.  All members and critical infrastructure partners are encouraged to "request to follow" the Twitter account well in advance of any incident.

Additional users will not be added 48 hours before any landfalling storm.

Please refer to our web page at: http://www.infragardhouston.org/infragardhouston/member-resources.html

Special Interest Groups (SIG's) gaining momentum

We've have had a great response to our Special Interest Group (SIG) program.  Additional SIG's are being considered as we roll out the program.

Currently the following SIG's and Sector Chiefs have been established:

Sector Chiefs by Special Interest Group (SIG)

Banking and Finance        William Gemza

Electric                             Dirk Suter

Information Technology      Mark Stingley

Oil & Gas                         Johnny Lockett

If you complete the registration form and do not see your sector listed, but have an interest in establishing a SIG please add a note to the comments section on the form.  A list of the defined sectors are included on the SIG web page, as well as additional information on the program:

http://www.infragardhouston.org/infragardhouston/sectors.html

We are in the process of validating membership.  You will be contacted by a Sector Chief over the next two weeks