Terrorist School Bus Drivers

The FBI has issued an "informational bulletin" to state and local officials, warning them to watch out for terrorists trying to earn licences to drive school buses.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, "some school districts have reported an increased number of foreign nationals seeking school bus driver positions and a number of other unusual events."

"...a number of other unusual events."? That passage seems to indicate that foreign nationals seeking school bus licences in an "unusual event". In that phrase seems to lie an underlying assumption that whenever a foreign national seeks a job that brings them close to the American people, they are suspect in having evil deeds.

The FBI memo did suggest that "most attempts by foreign nationals in the United States to acquire school bus licences to drive them are legitimate." in addition, a FBI spokesman told FOXNews: "There is no plot. There is no threat. And parents and children can feel perfectly safe."

So, um, why the warning if there is "no threat"? Did the American people begin to seem like they felt safer, and the FBI just had to up the ante and give a bogus "warning"?

"Warning, your kids could be the next target of terrorists. We have no leads on the matter, and we're just making this up to give you a little scare. Don't worry, we're just incapable of making logical conclusions from random data. We just like to keep you on your toes at all times. Stay tuned for the next installment of Things To (Not) Worry About, courtesy of yours truly, the FBI. Now go back to your bomb shelters to wait for whatever we come up with next."

Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing went a bit further on the "threat" and suggested several other "threats" and how the American population should prepare for them. [link: http://www.boingboing.net/2007/03/19/fbi_terrorists_might.html ]It's quite an interesting read, not just for the entertainment, but it also gives a slightly frightening unspoken suggestion of how deeply the "terrorist scare" could scar the civil liberties and social framework of the United States. In the worst case scenario, of course.

Sources:
Boing Boing: FBI: terrorists might drive school-buses, but they probably won't
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/03/19/fbi_terrorists_might.html
Schneier on Security: Terrorist Bus Drivers
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/03/terrorist_bus_d.html
FOXNews.com - FBI Puts Local Officials on Notice About Extremists Trying to Sign Up to Be School Bus Drivers
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,259168,00.html

Let's File It Under "Oops"; FBI Misplaces Laptops

Several days ago it was reported that the FBI had lost 160 laptops in the last four years, some 51 of them containing sensitive information. Before that, the FBI had misplaced over 300 laptops in a space of just over a few years. Every newspaper article in print and online that I've come across this story in (and that's not too many), not a single one mentions any kind of punishments for those responsible for the losses or thefts. Better yet, the situations where the agents have lost these laptops as well as weapons are in a few cases ridiculous; unlocked cars, leaving them behind at restaurants, grocery stores, restrooms, etc... With reports of identity thefts in the news frequently due to mishandling of laptops, data, or just plain human stupidity, I haven't heard of any punishments for those responsible. It's always either an announcement of the fact that they've been lost, with little or no information or apology, or in some cases just a simple "oops, we were stupid. Sorry, we'll try not to do it again" statement.

In England, on the other hand, The Nationwide Building Society was fined £980,000 (€1,464,000/$1,922,000) for the theft of ONE laptop from an employee's house, a laptop which contained banking information from some 11 million of the corporation's clients. Now how many people have the FBI and other institutions, universities and corporations compromised due to their "mishaps"? The BBC article mentions that it is not known whether Nationwide fined, fired or disciplined the employee in question or not, but one would think the company might wanna do that, considering the cost of the ordeal to the company, in terms of money and image. Guess the FBI didn't feel the need to, seeing as people's view of the bureau is already tarnished, and it's just another instance of a big OOPS!

[Note: The BBC website has some pretty good information to turn to in case of Identity Theft. CNN, not so much...]

Sources:
FBI loses laptops with classified information - CNN.com ( http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/12/fbi.laptops/index.html )
FBI still losing laptops, weapons - Homeland Stupidity ( http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2007/02/13/fbi-still-losing-laptops-weapons/ )
BBC NEWS Business Nationwide fined for stolen laptop ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6360715.stm )