Across the United States, synthetic stimulants that are sold as “bath salts” have become a serious drug abuse threat. These products are produced under a variety of faux brand names, and they are indirectly marketed as legal alternatives to cocaine, amphetamine, and Ecstasy (MDMA or 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine). Poison control centers nationwide have received hundreds of calls related to the side-effects of, and overdoses
from, the use of these potent and unpredictable products. Numerous media reports have cited bath salt stimulant overdose incidents that have resulted in emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and severe psychotic episodes, some of which, have led to violent outbursts, self-inflicted wounds, and even suicides. A number of states have imposed emergency measures to ban bath salt stimulant products (or the chemicals in them) including Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota, and West Virginia; and similar measures are pending in Hawaii, Kentucky, Michigan, and Mississippi. A prominent U.S. Senator has also recently proposed legislation that would ban the synthetic stimulant chemicals found in bath salt products at the federal level.
Documents
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Nuclear Energy Agency Severe Accident Management and Containment Safety Assessment Information
Thousands of pages of Nuclear Energy Agency Severe Accident Menagement and Containment Safety Assessment Information Documentation from April to December 2010. Some of the documents deal directly with the Fukushima reactors.
Corporate
Bank of America Anonymous Email Leak
Emails released by a member of Anonymous relating to the supposed concealment of mortgage fraud by Bank of America. Due to extreme interest, the main site distributing the documents (bankofamericasuck.com) has been intermittently inaccessible. Also, a somewhat confusing presentation makes the actual emails themselves difficult for some people to interpret. Text renditions of the emails contained in the leak are presented.
Corporate, Japan
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Japanese Earthquake Memo with Rotating Power Blackout Schedule
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Japanese Earthquake Memo with Rotating Power Blackout Schedule from March 13, 2011. 東京電力株式会社 – 需給逼迫による計画停電の実施と一層の節電のお願いについて – 平成23年3月13日
Afghanistan, U.S. Army
(U//FOUO) U.S. Army Human Terrain Team Commander’s Guide
Human terrain teams (HTTs) consist of five to nine personnel deployed by the HTS to support field commanders. HTTs fill the socio-cultural knowledge gap in the commander’s operational environment and interpret events in his AO. The team, individuals with social science and operational backgrounds, deploys with military units to bring knowledge about the local population into a coherent analytic framework. The teams also assist in building relationships with the local community in order to provide advice and opportunities to commanders and staffs in the field.
U.S. Army
U.S. Army Human Terrain System Afghanistan Pashtun Tribal Analysis
This report consists of two main parts: the first part is an overview of the existing historical and anthropological research on Pashtun “tribes” in Afghanistan, and the second part examines how “tribes” behave in Afghanistan. It is based mostly on academic sources, but it also includes unclassified government information and research performed by HTS Human Terrain Teams, which have been attached to U.S. Army brigades since 2007.
Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation
(U//LES) DHS-FBI Spokane White Supremacist MLK Parade IED Bulletin
Kevin William Harpham was arrested in Colville, Washington by federal law enforcement on 9 March 2011 in connection with the improvised explosive device (IED) found along the route of a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day “MLK Unity March” in Spokane, Washington on 17 January 2011. On 17 January 2011, three sanitation workers in Spokane, Washington discovered a Swiss Army backpack containing an RCIED immediately prior to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day “MLK Unity March.” The device was placed along the parade route. Based on preliminary forensic examinations, we assess with medium confidenceii that the IED was designed to fire directional fragmentation similar to a single shot shotgun with buckshot or cannon with a grapeshot round. We likewise assess that the device was viable and could have caused personal injury or death.
Department of Defense
Bradley Manning’s Description of Abusive Treatment at Quantico
Under my current restrictions, in addition to being stripped at night, I am essentially held in solitary confinement. For 23 hours per day, I sit alone in my cell. The guards checked on me every five minutes during the day by asking me if I am okay. I am required to respond in some affirmative manner. At night, if the guards can not see me clearly, because I have a blanket over my head or I am curled up towards the wall, they will wake me in order to ensure that I am okay. I receive each of my meals in my cell. I am not allowed to have a pillow or sheets. I am not allowed to have any personal items in my cell. I am only allowed to have one book or one magazine at any given time to read. The book or magazine is taken away from me at the end of the day before I go to sleep. I am prevented from exercising in my cell. If I attempt to do push-ups, sit-ups, or any other form of exercise I am forced to stop by the guards. Finally, I receive only one hour of exercise outside of my cell daily. My exercise is usually limited to me walking figure eights in an empty room.
Corporate
HBGary ManTech Internet and Social Media Reconnaissance Presentation
HBGary AnonLeaks ManTech Internet and Social Media Reconnaissance Presentation from October 2010.
Threats and Takedown Notices
Morgan Stanley Demands Removal of HBGary AnonLeaks Document
A representative of Morgan Stanley has demanded the removal of a document originally released by the online hacktivist group Anonymous. Morgan Stanley’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) Physical Memory Standard Operating Procedures is a 23-page document that details procedures written by HBGary employee Phil Wallisch for Morgan Stanley’s CERT. The original source of the document is an email from Phil Wallisch to the Morgan Stanley CERT in June 2010. The document is available in other formats from a variety of sites hosting the AnonLeaks HBGary files.
Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation
(U//FOUO) DHS-FBI Terrorist Exploitation of Postal and Commercial Shipping Companies
Terrorists remain interested in exploiting postal and commercial shipping companies to conduct or support attacks in the United States. Publicity surrounding the more than 40,000 incidents involving unknown or suspicious substances related to the U.S. Mail since 2001 likely reinforces violent extremists’ belief that the postal sector is a useful mechanism for conducting an attack, as it demonstrates that mail containing potentially harmful substances can be delivered without arousing suspicion or being discovered until the recipient opens the letter or package.
Libya, United Nations
UN Libya Ra’s Ajdir Border Crossing Security Checkpoints Analysis
There are two functional security checkpoints along the main road between the Tunisian-Libyan border crossing at Ra’s Ajdir and the town of Abu Kammash 19km to the east, as based on an analysis or satellite imagery acquired on 3 and 5 March 201 1 Both are likely permanent locations established before the present crisis. Although there are clear indications that these checkpoints are actively controlling road traffic, there are however no associated large concentrations of either people or vehicle traffic leading to the checkpoints, strongly suggesting that these sites are NOT responsible for the drop in the number of people reaching the border at Ra ‘s Ajdir, as observed on 3 and 4 March 2011. It is possible that there are additional security checkpoints or temporary roadblocks located east of Abu Kammash which could be responsible for the reduction in traffic. UNITARJUNOSAT will continue to task and analyze additional satellite imagery along this transport corridor leading to the Tunisian border.
Department of Homeland Security
(U//FOUO) DHS Strategy for Improving Improvised Nuclear Device Attack Response
The mission of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) includes acting as a focal point regarding natural and manmade crises and emergency planning. In support of the Department’s mission, the primary mission of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the Nation from all hazards, including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters, by leading and supporting the Nation in a risk-based, comprehensive emergency management system of preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation. Consistent with these missions, the Nuclear/Radiological Incident Annex to the National Response Framework (June 2008) sets forth DHS as the coordinating agency for all deliberate attacks involving nuclear/radiological materials, including radiological dispersal devices (RDDs) and improvised nuclear devices (INDs).
Department of Defense, U.S. Army
Retracted Center for Naval Analyses Assessment of the Human Terrain System
The Human Terrain System is a U.S. Army project intended to provide military decisionmakers in Iraq and Afghanistan with greater understanding of the local population’s cultures and perspectives. HTS deploys Human Terrain Teams (HTTs) of five to nine civilian and military personnel to support brigade, division, and theater-level staffs and commanders with operationally relevant information. The program also provides training for deploying personnel, reachback analysis, and software tools developed by HTS to support socio-cultural analysis. HTS emphasizes the use of tools and approaches commonly associated with the academic disciplines of anthropology and sociology’ in its efforts to collect and analyze data about local populations.
Libya, United Nations
UN Libyan Crisis High Resolution Tripoli Atlas
This atlas provides baseline geographic information over Tripoli, Libya. It is produced by UNITAR/UNOSAT in support of international humanitarian assistance to the people of Libya. The atlas is created to respond to the needs of UN agencies and their partners. It is intended to provide objective geographic information and has been designed for easy printing and readability on A4 and A3 paper.
Libya
UN Libya General Logistics Planning Map
United Nations Libya General Logistics Planning Map from March 3, 2011.
Libya, United Nations
UN Libya Refugee Camp Analysis: Tunisian Transitional Camp
This is a satellite-based quantitative analysis of the newly-established transitional camp for displaced peoples fleeing the conflict in Libya, located along the southern side of highway route P1, 8.5 kilometers west of the Ra’s Ajdir border crossing facility in Ben Guerdane, Tunisia. This assessment provides an estimate of the number of tent shelters erected within the camp, the average approximate tent size, and the derived potential current population capacity, as based on satellite imagery recorded on the morning of 3 March 2011.
U.S. Army
U.S. Army Special Forces Unconventional Warfare Training Manual November 2010
The intent of U.S. UW efforts is to exploit a hostile power’s political, military, economic, and psychological vulnerabilities by developing and sustaining resistance forces to accomplish U.S. strategic objectives. Historically, the military concept for the employment of UW was primarily in support of resistance movements during general-war scenarios. While this concept remains valid, the operational environment since the end of World War II has increasingly required U.S. forces to conduct UW in scenarios short of general war (limited war). Enabling a resistance movement or insurgency entails the development of an underground and guerrilla forces, as well as supporting auxiliaries for each of these elements. Resistance movements or insurgencies always have an underground element. The armed component of these groups is the guerrilla force and is only present if the resistance transitions to conflict. The combined effects of two interrelated lines of effort largely generate the end result of a UW campaign. The efforts are armed conflict and subversion. Forces conduct armed conflict, normally in the form of guerrilla warfare, against the security apparatus of the host nation (HN) or occupying military. Conflict also includes operations that attack and degrade enemy morale, organizational cohesion, and operational effectiveness and separate the enemy from the population. Over time, these attacks degrade the ability of the HN or occupying military to project military power and exert control over the population. Subversion undermines the power of the government or occupying element by portraying it as incapable of effective governance to the population.
U.S. Navy
(U//FOUO) U.S. Navy WikiLeaks Safeguarding Classified National Security Information Recommendations
PROTECTING INFORMATION CRITICAL TO OUR NATION’S SECURITY IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EVERYONE. THAT RESPONSIBILITY BECOMES MORE COMPLEX IN AN ELECTRONIC ENVIRONMENT. IT IS INCUMBENT UPON US ALL TO PROMOTE GOOD SECURITY PRACTICES ON THE NETWORK, MAINTAINING AN INFORMATION ADVANTAGE WHILE BALANCING INFORMATION SECURITY. WE OWE IT TO OURSELVES AND OUR FELLOW SAILORS AND MARINES TO PROTECT VITAL INFORMATION NECESSARY TO FIGHT AND WIN. REFS A THROUGH E ARE INTENDED TO IMPROVE THE BASIC PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF INFORMATION SECURITY. THESE PRINCIPALS AND PRACTICES NEED TO BECOME OUR STANDARD AND NOT THE EXCEPTION.
Texas
(U//FOUO/LES) Arlington Police Department Khalid Ali‐M Aldawsari Saudi IED Plot Advisory
On 02/23/2011 Khalid Ali‐M Aldawsari (pictured left), a Saudi national currently attending college at South Plains College, near Lubbock, Texas, was arrested on federal terrorism charges. Aldawsari was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction (WMD), in connection with the alleged purchase of chemicals and equipment necessary to make an improvised explosive device (IED), in addition to research into possible U.S. based targets. Court documents advise that Aldawsari had performed internet research on how to construct an IED, using chemical components. It has also been alleged he had acquired/taken major steps in acquiring the necessary components and equipment needed to build such a device. According to court documents, on 02/01/2011 a chemical supplier reported to the FBI a suspicious purchase of concentrated phenol, by a man named Khalid Aldawsari. Although the toxic chemical phenol can have legitimate uses; it can also be used to make explosives. Concentrated sulfuric and nitric acids, beakers, flasks, clocks, wiring, and a Hazmat suit were found during 2 FBI searches of Aldawsari’s apartment.
Corporate
HBGary Morgan Stanley CERT Physical Memory Standard Operating Procedures
Memory forensics allows MSCERT to become more effective and agile regarding the acquisition of actionable intelligence. Traditional disk forensic approaches to investigations are slow and non-scalable. Large amounts of data must be acquired, transferred, and then analyzed. Memory forensics reveal what the true running state of a target system is at the time of acquisition. Hidden processes and other system activities are made available to an analyst by analyzing a smaller set of data than disk forensics. This document details Morgan Stanley’s (MS) Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for acquiring and analyzing physical memory using the HBGary forensic toolset. Fastdump Professional and Responder Professional usage are detailed through a case study methodology.
Corporate, Department of Defense
HBGary DoD Cyber Warfare Support Work Statement
Cyber Warfare is warfare in the Cyberspace domain, which is defined by the SECDEF as “a global domain within the information environment consisting of the interdependent network of information technology infrastructures, including the internet, telecommunications networks, computer systems and embedded processors and controllers.” Cyber Warfare encompasses Computer Network Operations (e.g. Attack, Defend and Exploit,) Information Assurance, and the network operations that encompass Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) and Information Operations (IO) functions that occur within the Cyberspace domain. This includes Computer Network Operations (CNO) against automated systems (e.g. C4ISR), and the interaction between the physical, social and biological networks that define human-machine interaction.
Corporate
Internal BP Azerbaijan Subsea Drilling Safety, Security, Environmental Procedure Manuals
A .zip file containing more than one-hundred internal BP documents relating to Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) procedures for the company’s operations in Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan Business Unit/AzSPU). The titles of all the documents contained in the file are listed below. Most of the documents are classified internally within BP at the Document Control Tier 2 level. Many of the documents appear to reflect procedural revisions made following the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Congressional Research Service
Africa: U.S. Foreign Assistance Issues
U.S. aid to Africa initially reached a peak in 1985, when global competition with the Soviet Union was at a high point. After the cold war ended, security assistance levels for Africa began to decline. In 1995, at the outset of the 104th Congress, substantial reductions in aid to Africa had been anticipated, as many questioned the importance of Africa to U.S. national security interests in the post-cold war era. As the debate went forward, however, congressional reports and bills emphasized U.S. humanitarian, economic, and other interests in Africa. Aid levels did fall, but gradually began to increase again in FY1997. U.S. assistance to Africa is reaching new highs due to a significant increase in health care sectors under the Global Health and Child Survival (GHCS) program. U.S. aid to Africa nearly quadrupled from $1.2 billion in FY2006 to $6.7 billion in FY2010. Moreover, the United States is the leading donor of humanitarian assistance to Africa. Between FY1999 and FY2009, the United States provided over $10.1 billion to East and Central African countries and an estimated $2.2 billion to Southern Africa countries.
Congressional Research Service
Libya: Background and U.S. Relations
Major anti-government protests broke out in Libya on February 15 and have since intensified, eliciting violent government responses. The demonstrations are in opposition to the 42-year regime of Libya’s leader, Muammar al Qadhafi. As of February 18, some sources have reported that opposition forces have taken over areas of Benghazi, Libya’s second-largest city, and its surroundings in Libya’s northeastern Mediterranean region of Cyrenaica.