Islamist militants are less capable of organising plots on the scale of 9/11 but small groups of jihadists returning from Syria pose a grave threat to British security, the country’s two most senior counter-terrorism officers said on Thursday.
Every year, Britain’s security services are faced with at least one plan to carry out an attack on the level of the July 7, 2005 suicide bombings on London, known as the 7/7 attacks, which killed 52 commuters, the officers said.
The Training Providers Section of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) recently released its Code of Conduct, emphasising that all members of the Trade Association Section are dedicated to delivering a professional and quality service.
http://www.info4security.com/story.asp?sectioncode=16&storycode=4129953&c=1
New Zealand and the United Kingdom will work closely together to confront “growing threats” to cyber security, Foreign Minister Murray McCully and his British counterpart announced today.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10859334
A new report aims to examine the impact of increasing security on fear and trust in British communities
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/38e5b930-0e29-11e2-8d92-00144feabdc0.html#axzz29IxiyvW9
David Cameron’s government has begun an internal discussion on whether the UK’s security services need to rebalance their efforts away from counter-terrorism towards some of the major new threats facing the UK, such as cyber espionage from China.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f7f0367e-fa75-11e1-93da-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz260ne5gYG
The City of London Police’s Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Card Unit warns of a new ATM fraud where criminals use an invisible ‘cash claw’ to steal money.
The ‘pre-staging’ starts when criminal gang members use a pre-pay card to withdraw a small amount of money.
During the transaction they then insert a thin metal instrument into the cash dispenser so it sits inside the machinery on the belt, just behind the cash dispenser shutter, making it invisible to the genuine customer.
The criminal then leaves the vicinity while an associate keeps close watch until a genuine cardholder attempts a withdrawal, only for the cash to become trapped in the ‘claw’.
http://www.info4security.com/story.asp?sectioncode=9&storycode=4129518
More than 1,000 troops who had been on standby to bolster security at the Olympic Games have been deployed.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the 1,200 troops were to be used because ministers were clear that “we don’t want to leave anything to chance”.
Greenpeace activists shut down 74 Shell petrol stations in Edinburgh and London in a protest against the company’s plans to drill for oil in the Arctic that saw 24 campaigners arrested on Monday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jul/16/greenpeace-activists-shell-petrol
Nick Buckles, G4S’s embattled chief executive, appeared to be fighting for his job after it emerged that a surprise shortage of security guards for the Olympic Games was exposed only during a dress rehearsal nine days ago
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/94f4e478-cea3-11e1-9fa7-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz20jf9v6iz
Britain put an extra 3500 military personnel on standby Wednesday to protect venues at the London Olympics, after a private contractor said it may not be able to provide enough security guards on time.
The contractor, G4S, had been enlisted to provide the bulk of the 13,200 private security guards across 100 venues, but said in a statement that it may not hit its target because of problems recruiting and training staff.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/7265767/Security-shortfall-at-Olympics