A U.S.-based expert on infectious disease and biosecurity says there is an overwhelming amount of inaccurate and sensational information circulating about a possible flu pandemic, much of which is “ridiculous” and causing unnecessary panic.
The Ontario Provincial Police have arrested and charged Casino Windsor’s director of surveillance Eddie Eugene Gilmore on charges of fraud over $5,000 and procuring of a secret commission. Police began the investigation in September 2005, acting on a tip. He was charged April 19, 2006.
“An individual made us aware there was a possible impropriety,” says detective chief inspector Dave Crane, Investigation and Enforcement Bureau, Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. Crane said he could not comment further on the case since any further information would have to be presented as evidence in court. “It (the allegation) wasn’t from the casino; it was from an individual.”
Holly Ward, director of communications for Windsor Casino refused comment on the case. “I’m not able to comment because it is a criminal investigation.”
The investigation is being conducted in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigations in the United States. Crane says the FBI was contacted in February to assist in the investigation through the U.S. Consulate in Toronto because many of the companies that supply equipment to the security industry are international in scope.
“I’m with the OPP in a contingency that works in partnership with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission which is the regulator,” Crane says. “In this particular investigation, we’re wearing our OPP hat.”
He says police receive these kinds of calls very infrequently.
“It’s very rare,” says Crane. “I’ve been here over two years and this is the first time we’ve had this type of matter. In the industry in Ontario, to say this is ”˜rare’ is an understatement if you consider we have about 18,000 (gaming) licensees in the province.”
Rare perhaps, but an uncomfortable subject for the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) International’s Gaming and Wagering Protection Council, which refused comment on the issue. Officials cited the “caustic” nature of the issue for not commenting on it.
These sorts of things might happen occasionally in the gaming industry, says Canadian Gaming News editor Ivan Sack. However, to work in the gaming industry in Canada, a vendor has to register yearly with individual provincial gaming commissions — a process that can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on the size of the operation and the number of jurisdictions they operate in — and each one requires a clean record.
Thorough police background checks are conducted and anyone who is convicted of a crime is unlikely to be registered. To get charged is enough to have one’s licenses suspended.
“The last thing anyone is going to want to do is something stupid and risk their business,” says Sack. “Sure, if they offer someone a bribe, they may make one sale. But they stand to forfeit their entire business.”
Mike Boyle of VSI CCTV based in Richmond Hill, Ont. says other industries may not have as clean a record.
“This is going on and it’s going on a lot,” he says. “You’re seeing it more and more on a smaller scale but corporations are putting themselves at risk because corporate security/loss prevention directors are ”˜on the take.’”
An equipment supplier bidding on a company’s security project may meet with that company’s security director. The bidding companies are encouraged to offer an incentive such as a cash payment or other items. Either that or the bidding company will try to offer an inducement to allow them to be the winning bid.
Many companies instruct their employees not to accept any kind of gift including something as simple as a bottle of wine and many security directors consider it insulting to be offered cash or gifts. Some consider small things such as that bottle of wine or tickets to a hockey game at a local arena acceptable, but anything else is “crossing the line,” says Boyle. “If it is something that is going to sway the business to that company, then it’s wrong.”
“An individual made us aware there was a possible impropriety,” says detective chief inspector Dave Crane, Investigation and Enforcement Bureau, Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. Crane said he could not comment further on the case since any further information would have to be presented as evidence in court. “It (the allegation) wasn’t from the casino; it was from an individual.”
Holly Ward, director of communications for Windsor Casino refused comment on the case. “I’m not able to comment because it is a criminal investigation.”
The investigation is being conducted in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigations in the United States. Crane says the FBI was contacted in February to assist in the investigation through the U.S. Consulate in Toronto because many of the companies that supply equipment to the security industry are international in scope.
“I’m with the OPP in a contingency that works in partnership with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission which is the regulator,” Crane says. “In this particular investigation, we’re wearing our OPP hat.”
He says police receive these kinds of calls very infrequently.
“It’s very rare,” says Crane. “I’ve been here over two years and this is the first time we’ve had this type of matter. In the industry in Ontario, to say this is ”˜rare’ is an understatement if you consider we have about 18,000 (gaming) licensees in the province.”
Rare perhaps, but an uncomfortable subject for the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) International’s Gaming and Wagering Protection Council, which refused comment on the issue. Officials cited the “caustic” nature of the issue for not commenting on it.
These sorts of things might happen occasionally in the gaming industry, says Canadian Gaming News editor Ivan Sack. However, to work in the gaming industry in Canada, a vendor has to register yearly with individual provincial gaming commissions — a process that can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on the size of the operation and the number of jurisdictions they operate in — and each one requires a clean record.
Thorough police background checks are conducted and anyone who is convicted of a crime is unlikely to be registered. To get charged is enough to have one’s licenses suspended.
“The last thing anyone is going to want to do is something stupid and risk their business,” says Sack. “Sure, if they offer someone a bribe, they may make one sale. But they stand to forfeit their entire business.”
Mike Boyle of VSI CCTV based in Richmond Hill, Ont. says other industries may not have as clean a record.
“This is going on and it’s going on a lot,” he says. “You’re seeing it more and more on a smaller scale but corporations are putting themselves at risk because corporate security/loss prevention directors are ”˜on the take.’”
An equipment supplier bidding on a company’s security project may meet with that company’s security director. The bidding companies are encouraged to offer an incentive such as a cash payment or other items. Either that or the bidding company will try to offer an inducement to allow them to be the winning bid.
Many companies instruct their employees not to accept any kind of gift including something as simple as a bottle of wine and many security directors consider it insulting to be offered cash or gifts. Some consider small things such as that bottle of wine or tickets to a hockey game at a local arena acceptable, but anything else is “crossing the line,” says Boyle. “If it is something that is going to sway the business to that company, then it’s wrong.”
Potentially dangerous chatter should be on security department’s radar
Written by Jennifer Brown June 28, 2006
The things that threaten an organization’s security may not be the ones most security managers think about on a day-to-day basis. And in many cases, it may be an employee that is bringing the threat to your door.
“Some things really never change but the thing we need to focus on all the time is the human element involved both externally and internally,” said Patrick Gray, senior security strategist with Cisco Systems, speaking at the InfoSecurity Show At the Metro Toronto Convention Centre June 20.
“Some things really never change but the thing we need to focus on all the time is the human element involved both externally and internally,” said Patrick Gray, senior security strategist with Cisco Systems, speaking at the InfoSecurity Show At the Metro Toronto Convention Centre June 20.
The Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, has announced proposed amendments to the Marine Transportation Security Regulations that will strengthen marine security by requiring background checks for port workers through the Marine Transportation Security Clearance Program.
Canadian travellers should not pack liquids or lotions in carry-on luggage and should plan on experiencing tigher scrutiny of anything they plan to take on board aircraft according to new measures announced August 10 by Transport Canada following the revelation of a major counter-terrorism operation in the United Kingdom.
Terrorist organizations that exist today and operate based on a belief system are already on an inexorable path to becoming the new organized crime gangs.
Identity theft has become a major concern, causing billions of dollars in losses. At the IAPP Privacy Conference in Toronto Oct. 18, security experts outlined tips on how to handle a breach notification, should a breach occur.
The Canadian Search and Rescue (SAR) community gathers every year at Sarscene, the country's leading event for SAR training, presentations and exhibitions. This year, from October 4 to 7, SAR workers and organizers from across the country, and guests from around the world, met in Gatineau,
Quebec.
Among the presentations was one that asked, "Is your team ready to handle an emergency? More importantly, are they trained and equipped to handle an emergency safely?"
Quebec.
Among the presentations was one that asked, "Is your team ready to handle an emergency? More importantly, are they trained and equipped to handle an emergency safely?"
Communicating in a crisis best handled by authority figures
Written by Jennifer Brown November 30, 2006
In the event of a crisis, government bodies and corporations need to have a solid communication plan in place, and that means providing high-level experts to speak to the public and media early, frequently, and in a transparent way, says a man who has first hand experience communicating under pressure.
“You need to manage it down and manage it aggressively. Having a single spokesperson won’t work,” says Dr. James Young, special advisor to the Deputy Minister, Department of Public Safety. “If it’s a spokesperson, they won’t feel like they’re getting an authoritative message. They want to look into the whites of your eyes. You need senior decision-makers with a consistent message that lets people know who is charge.”
“You need to manage it down and manage it aggressively. Having a single spokesperson won’t work,” says Dr. James Young, special advisor to the Deputy Minister, Department of Public Safety. “If it’s a spokesperson, they won’t feel like they’re getting an authoritative message. They want to look into the whites of your eyes. You need senior decision-makers with a consistent message that lets people know who is charge.”
During a fire or bomb threat, most people don’t have time to flip through hundreds of pages in a binder, searching for crisis management procedures. In any response strategy, there needs to be an easy way of accessing information, but also a way to communicate that information to a hierarchy of employees.
ATB Financial in Alberta, was looking for a way to provide key staff with instant access to current crisis management plans, procedures and contacts, so it turned to the Wallace Incident Communicator.
The wireless software is designed for incident management and crisis communications, so organizations can automatically update their plans on handheld devices (the BlackBerry or other mobile platforms) whenever a change is made, so they have the most up-to-date versions of call lists and crisis management procedures.
Traditionally organizations have used binders filled with paper documentation to outline these procedures. But having a binder in your office and your home — and then ensuring those binders are consistently updated — is a nightmare, says Peter Trommelen, disaster recovery planner for ATB Financial and certified business continuity professional. They also tend to include a lot of “extra fluff,” which doesn’t lend itself to a nice lean script about what to do when an incident occurs.
“The auditors may be happy that you’ve got your processes, but in practice it’s a useless commodity,” he says. “I want lean processes that actually help the organization respond to things.”
Not being able to find that information can be costly. Research firm IDC estimates that not finding the right information costs enterprises an average of US$5.3 million per year.
Trommelen initially worked with Service Alberta to develop its business continuity plans and looked around for a tool to make that documentation readily available to employees during a crisis situation.
“You can almost put a book on a BlackBerry, and it’s simpler than a paper document because it drills down rapidly,” he says.
More recently, he helped implement the software, including an emergency contact list, for ATB Financial, and he’s starting to work on crisis communications ”“ but that requires a cultural change.
“It’s starting to use the power of technology for assisting in crisis management,” he said. “People have always been dealing with paper techniques and phone trees, which is unbelievably archaic when you think about it, given the technology that’s available that our kids are comfortable with.”
During a crisis situation, the software will call a person’s cell phone or send that person an e-mail message. But this process involves modifying some of the documentation in order to publish it in an appropriate format ”“ charts, for example, don’t lend themselves well to the BlackBerry.
“It keeps it nice and terse instead of these big binders that historically have been floating around,” said Trommelen. “Typically within those binders it’s the contact information that changes rapidly and you’re never sure if people have the current information.”
Now, he can modify the source document within five minutes and push it through the admin console to the authorized BlackBerrys. What this does in most office settings is capitalize on a tool that people tend to have with them 24 hours a day anyway, he says.
A byproduct of going through this process, he added, is that it forces you to be far more lean in your communications, particularly when adrenaline is running high in the middle of an incident.
There are other applications that could also be added in the future. With the newer version of the BlackBerry, you could potentially keep track of all Wallace-enabled BlackBerrys with GPS and mapping. “For firefighters in the forest, that might be useful,” he said. “With office workers, I can’t see how I would use that.” It’s also possible to view footage from video cameras on a BlackBerry device.
“When we first brought this to market, not everybody was sure what we were doing because they didn’t really think through the problem,” says Rob Moffat, president and co-founder of Wallace Wireless. The vendor develops off-the-shelf mobile content management software for business continuity and mobile information management; its latest release, Wallace Incident Commander 4.1, allows customers to manage and personal their portals.
But after 9/11, this changed. “We realized that this was not only something that the broader financial services community could use, but it spanned different verticals,” he says.
One of its first customers was the Bank of Nova Scotia, where the business continuity director asked the vendor to do something about its binder, where it kept its security plans, procedures and checklists. The director said that information stored on a CD-ROM or memory stick was also a problem, because the user still had to get to a computer to access that information. But, if they had it on their hip, they’d leave the building with it.
“Especially in the financial services community, it’s imperative that security be maintained,” says Moffat, “and the BlackBerry is the device of choice there.”
This inspired Wallace Wireless to come up with a solution that allowed the bank to store this binder on a handheld device; it was originally rolled out on the pager-style BlackBerry 950.
This could be updated wirelessly, so if a manager changed something in a Word document, the software would pick that up and automatically update all the handhelds in the field. “Even if the networks weren’t available, customers had the latest cut of the binder on their hip,” says Moffat.
Financial services organizations are also mandated to store all of their electronic messages between two to seven years, depending on the type of organization. So, if the company’s servers are unavailable and users are still pinging each other on their BlackBerrys, that information is logged and the database updated when it’s back online.
“That provides them with a redundant means of communication in a crisis, but it also allows them to ensure they’ll be compliant,” he said. Some 35-40 per cent of its customer base is in the financial services industry, and about 70 per cent of its customer base is in the U.S.
A BlackBerry can be locked down, so if you’re not the user, you can’t get access to any information. There are also other layers of security that can be added, such as password protection (the IT administrator can set a rule as to how many passwords can be entered before the device is wiped). And there are also different encryption technologies available on the market for handheld devices.
One newer method is incorporating the BlackBerry Bluetooth smart card reader, which is currently popular with the military and law enforcement. Users wear a stripped-down BlackBerry around their neck and slide a smart card in the front. Their laptop, desktop and any other device is then enabled by Bluetooth. “But if I walk 10 feet away, none of them will be accessible,” says Moffat, “so it adds the layer of presence to the whole security perimeter.”
But if an organization is printing out thousands of pages for its employees on crisis management, it becomes a security risk in and of itself. “You’ve got so much of this critical information in printed form,” he said. “If somebody steals the briefcase or the car, all that information is then available.”
ATB Financial in Alberta, was looking for a way to provide key staff with instant access to current crisis management plans, procedures and contacts, so it turned to the Wallace Incident Communicator.
The wireless software is designed for incident management and crisis communications, so organizations can automatically update their plans on handheld devices (the BlackBerry or other mobile platforms) whenever a change is made, so they have the most up-to-date versions of call lists and crisis management procedures.
Traditionally organizations have used binders filled with paper documentation to outline these procedures. But having a binder in your office and your home — and then ensuring those binders are consistently updated — is a nightmare, says Peter Trommelen, disaster recovery planner for ATB Financial and certified business continuity professional. They also tend to include a lot of “extra fluff,” which doesn’t lend itself to a nice lean script about what to do when an incident occurs.
“The auditors may be happy that you’ve got your processes, but in practice it’s a useless commodity,” he says. “I want lean processes that actually help the organization respond to things.”
Not being able to find that information can be costly. Research firm IDC estimates that not finding the right information costs enterprises an average of US$5.3 million per year.
Trommelen initially worked with Service Alberta to develop its business continuity plans and looked around for a tool to make that documentation readily available to employees during a crisis situation.
“You can almost put a book on a BlackBerry, and it’s simpler than a paper document because it drills down rapidly,” he says.
More recently, he helped implement the software, including an emergency contact list, for ATB Financial, and he’s starting to work on crisis communications ”“ but that requires a cultural change.
“It’s starting to use the power of technology for assisting in crisis management,” he said. “People have always been dealing with paper techniques and phone trees, which is unbelievably archaic when you think about it, given the technology that’s available that our kids are comfortable with.”
During a crisis situation, the software will call a person’s cell phone or send that person an e-mail message. But this process involves modifying some of the documentation in order to publish it in an appropriate format ”“ charts, for example, don’t lend themselves well to the BlackBerry.
“It keeps it nice and terse instead of these big binders that historically have been floating around,” said Trommelen. “Typically within those binders it’s the contact information that changes rapidly and you’re never sure if people have the current information.”
Now, he can modify the source document within five minutes and push it through the admin console to the authorized BlackBerrys. What this does in most office settings is capitalize on a tool that people tend to have with them 24 hours a day anyway, he says.
A byproduct of going through this process, he added, is that it forces you to be far more lean in your communications, particularly when adrenaline is running high in the middle of an incident.
There are other applications that could also be added in the future. With the newer version of the BlackBerry, you could potentially keep track of all Wallace-enabled BlackBerrys with GPS and mapping. “For firefighters in the forest, that might be useful,” he said. “With office workers, I can’t see how I would use that.” It’s also possible to view footage from video cameras on a BlackBerry device.
“When we first brought this to market, not everybody was sure what we were doing because they didn’t really think through the problem,” says Rob Moffat, president and co-founder of Wallace Wireless. The vendor develops off-the-shelf mobile content management software for business continuity and mobile information management; its latest release, Wallace Incident Commander 4.1, allows customers to manage and personal their portals.
But after 9/11, this changed. “We realized that this was not only something that the broader financial services community could use, but it spanned different verticals,” he says.
One of its first customers was the Bank of Nova Scotia, where the business continuity director asked the vendor to do something about its binder, where it kept its security plans, procedures and checklists. The director said that information stored on a CD-ROM or memory stick was also a problem, because the user still had to get to a computer to access that information. But, if they had it on their hip, they’d leave the building with it.
“Especially in the financial services community, it’s imperative that security be maintained,” says Moffat, “and the BlackBerry is the device of choice there.”
This inspired Wallace Wireless to come up with a solution that allowed the bank to store this binder on a handheld device; it was originally rolled out on the pager-style BlackBerry 950.
This could be updated wirelessly, so if a manager changed something in a Word document, the software would pick that up and automatically update all the handhelds in the field. “Even if the networks weren’t available, customers had the latest cut of the binder on their hip,” says Moffat.
Financial services organizations are also mandated to store all of their electronic messages between two to seven years, depending on the type of organization. So, if the company’s servers are unavailable and users are still pinging each other on their BlackBerrys, that information is logged and the database updated when it’s back online.
“That provides them with a redundant means of communication in a crisis, but it also allows them to ensure they’ll be compliant,” he said. Some 35-40 per cent of its customer base is in the financial services industry, and about 70 per cent of its customer base is in the U.S.
A BlackBerry can be locked down, so if you’re not the user, you can’t get access to any information. There are also other layers of security that can be added, such as password protection (the IT administrator can set a rule as to how many passwords can be entered before the device is wiped). And there are also different encryption technologies available on the market for handheld devices.
One newer method is incorporating the BlackBerry Bluetooth smart card reader, which is currently popular with the military and law enforcement. Users wear a stripped-down BlackBerry around their neck and slide a smart card in the front. Their laptop, desktop and any other device is then enabled by Bluetooth. “But if I walk 10 feet away, none of them will be accessible,” says Moffat, “so it adds the layer of presence to the whole security perimeter.”
But if an organization is printing out thousands of pages for its employees on crisis management, it becomes a security risk in and of itself. “You’ve got so much of this critical information in printed form,” he said. “If somebody steals the briefcase or the car, all that information is then available.”
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