Titan recently attended the City of Chicago Holiday Safety Meeting at City Hall and would like to pass along the following information:
- Department of Homeland Security
- Stay alert of tactics being used overseas as they could occur here as well
- Simple attack tactics are the most used; including, active shooter, edged weapons, vehicle ramming and to a lesser extent explosives
- Infrastructures with open access to the public are at the highest risk
- Entrances and exit points that may become a choke hold can be considered high risk
- Posting of signage that indicates what is now allowed in an area, prior to entering, will help to make lines move quicker
- Federal Bureau of Investigations
- The FBI can assist with Special Event Threat Assessment
- Homegrown Violent Extremist (HVE’s) are attracted to events and areas with large crowds
- The FBI has the Guardian Program, which is a funnel for terrorism or criminal activity
- It is operational 24/7, they share that information with Law Enforcement agencies, private industry as required and Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTF) operations
- City of Chicago Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT)
- In 2017 there were 53,308 incidents of cyber-attacks
- This number is up 26.7% from 2016
- 57.5% increase of these attacks during the holiday season
- The main concern is Phishing and Vishing
- Phishing is the fraudulent act of attempting to gain personal information by disguising as a known trustworthy entity
- Vishing is similar only it is done over the telephone, someone attempts to talk you into giving them your personal information
- Suggestions to keep your data safe
- Disable Bluetooth and Wi-Fi when not in use
- Change passwords regularly
- Don’t have your password at home and work be the same, they should be separate
- Always protect your password information
- In 2017 there were 53,308 incidents of cyber-attacks
- Crime Prevention Information Center (CPIC)
- CP3 is Chicago’s Public and Private Partnership where the private sector can list important building information
- Responding emergency units will have access to this secure portal, this helps them understand layouts of buildings, storage areas and building contact information
- First make sure that you are listed and secondly, that the information is current
- Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR)
- Speed of reporting is crucial, the new model is See Something Say Something… Immediately
- Fusion Centers share this information looking at trends and are able to gather, analyze and share findings
- Identifying concerns starts with each of us; We are the subject matter experts in our own environments
- Be alert and share your concerns
- If you are unsure of what a SAR is Melissa Stratton from OEMC can provide help
- CP3 is Chicago’s Public and Private Partnership where the private sector can list important building information