EXCLUSIVE - Interview With Top INTERPOL Expert On Immigration, Border Management On Border Security Market, Tech  
HSToday.US  |  30 January 2015
> According to the World Economic Forum 2012, the global proceeds from cross-border criminal activities, corruption and tax evasion was estimated at over $1 trillion. Trade of illegal drugs and counterfeit goods each account for 8 percent of the overall world trade. But while border security remains a fragmented market that has relied on human-intensive techniques such as lookout posts, guards or paramilitaries, Frost & Sullivan has said this will change over the forecast period with technology adoption and better ISR solutions being procured in the market.

International Legal Framework Governing Maritime Security  
The Maritime Executive  |  30 January 2015
> The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was ahead of its time. It pre-empted environmental protection and low-intensity conflict paradigm shifts of the late 1990s by already encompassing many new security challenges at the time of its codification in 1982. These included environmental security, illegal immigration, human trafficking and piracy. This allowed UNCLOS to remain relatively flexible and current with international security concepts.

Op-ed: How do we become safe? 
The Daily Maverick  |  30 January 2015
> For some years, going back to Steve Tshwete’s period as minister of police from 1999 to 2002, legislation limiting the scope of foreign-owned private security services in South Africa has been in the pipeline. It has repeatedly been withdrawn or held back because of opposition from the private security industry. Legislation may now be passed that the industry argues is unconstitutional. Assuming the legal objections can be overcome and the legislation passed, is it good or bad for the country?

3 Americans killed in shooting at Kabul military hub 
The Washington Post  |  29 January 2015
> Three American civilian contractors and an Afghan national were killed Thursday in a shooting incident at a military base attached to Kabul’s international airport, according to U.S. officials. A fourth American contractor was wounded in the attack. It was unclear how the contractors were attacked. Suspicion fell immediately on a possible “insider attack” perpetrated by a member of the Afghan security forces, who also have access to the military base at the airport.

South Africans helping fight Boko Haram should be arrested: Defence Minister 
Times Live  |  29 January 2015
> The South Africans going to help the Nigerian army against terror group Boko Haram should be arrested on their return, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said, according to a media report. She labelled them "mercenaries" in comments made to reporters on the eve of the African Union's summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

SA experts to help Nigeria tackle Boko Haram 
news24  |  26 January 2015
> Former South African Defence Force soldiers will reportedly form the core of a multinational team of private military experts, who are en route to Nigeria, to help the country fight against Boko Haram militants.

Shocking revelations of deep security state within the State?  
The Sunday Times  |  25 January 2015
> Revelations of corruption, abuse of power and a multitude of other illegal acts under the reign of the previous UPFA Government are unfolding day by day. In this midst, the role of a private security company which ran a veritable army in a controversial tie-up with a Defence Ministry sponsored security agency, is now under investigation by the Police and has raised some alarming questions. Police sought the advice of the Attorney General as several aspects were uncovered.

South Africa: Does SA Have the Largest Private Security Industry in the World?  
AllAfrica  |  23 January 2015
> South Africa's suburbs and business are wired with alarms and surrounded by high walls, barbed wire, electric fences and motion sensors. Big dogs with big teeth bark at strangers from behind steel gates. Gun-toting private security guards patrol the streets. The high levels of security are the first thing that many visitors to the country remark on.

Private maritime security: A new industry 
UCLA  |  22 January 2015
> The maritime security industry has become privatized in response to security threats posed by Somalian pirates off the Horn of Africa, said journalist and author John-Clark Levin in a lecture at UCLA on January 14. The event was sponsored by the James S. Coleman Center for African Studies. Levin spoke about his recent book, coauthored with John J. Pitney, Jr., Private Anti-Piracy Navies.

Private Intel Contractors Further Harm Transparency 
Project on Government Oversight  |  21 January 2015
> Danielle Brian sits down with the Brennan Center for Justice to discuss the problems with private contractors in the intelligence and national security world.

Supreme Court denies appeals from military contractor over soldier death and exposure suits  
Jurist  |  21 January 2015
> The US Supreme Court [official website] denied certiorari [order list, PDF] on Tuesday in three appeals filed by military contractor KBR, Inc. [corporate website], seeking to end lawsuits over a soldier's electrocution in Iraq, soldier exposure to open-air burn pits for waste disposal, and soldier exposure to dangerous chemicals in wastewater treatment. KBR, the largest military defense contractor for the Pentagon during the Iraq war, was responsible for the most basic services provided to soldiers.

Two British businessmen arrested on suspicion of involvement in sale of warships to Nigerian security company  
The Independent  |  20 January 2015
> Two British businessmen have been arrested on suspicion of bribing a Norwegian official alleged to be involved the controversial sale of six former naval vessels to a Nigerian private security company.

Air Force Turns to Supersonic Mercenaries  
The Daily Beast  |  20 January 2015
> The ‘smallest Air Force in history’ is dealing with more missions than ever. So the flyboys are calling in the military contractors to operate their jets. The U.S. Air Force fleet of planes and pilots is stretched so thin, the service is considering hiring private military corporations flying supersonic jets to train its fighter jocks in mock air combat.

Japan PM Shinzo Abe in Islamic State 'hostages' vow  
BBC  |  20 January 2015
> Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has condemned an apparent threat by the Islamic State group to kill two Japanese hostages. A video purportedly from the group shows a militant threatening to kill two hostages unless a ransom is paid. The video named the two men as Kenji Goto, a well-known freelance journalist, and Haruna Yukawa, who reportedly went to Syria to set up a private military contracting company.

Europe turns to Israeli know-how to fight terror  
y net news  |  19 January 2015
> From tracking online activity to cameras that see through walls, Israel's homeland security industry offers European states a range of options as they tackle the terrorists in their midst.

Special investigations underway on Galle Harbour floating armoury  
News.LK  |  19 January 2015
> On the orders of the DIG Galle, s special police team headed by an ASP have commenced investigations on a vessel anchored at the Galle Harbour which is said to contain a large stock of weapons. The vessel named "Mahanuwara" was searched on a tip off received Sunday. Police Media Spokesman SSP Ajith Rohana said 12 containers have been found on board the ship. Meanwhile Navy Media Spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya said the vessel belonged to a private security firm. Investigations too have revealed that a private firm dealing in arms named Avante Guard has acted as an agent of foreign arms suppliers who provided arms for security services assigned to protect ships sailing in the Indian Ocean, a venture which before 2012, was handled by the Sri Lanka Navy.

PAE in South Sudan  
PAE  |  14 January 2015
> "PAE has proved itself to be the best friend of refugees.” – See the head of the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in South Sudan discuss PAE’s support in Upper Nile, South Sudan. Building roads, providing water, maintaining the air strip, establishing new refugee camp sites – PAE is honored to support UNHCR in its life saving mission.

 Corporations Undermine Cybersecurity  

Huffington Post  |  13 January 2015
> At first, it may seem obvious that the private sector should be keen to protect its computers from cyber-attacks. After all, hacking has caused considerable losses of trade secrets and other proprietary information. Actually, the private sector is opposing most new cybersecurity measures. Despite major implications of this opposition for homeland security, little has been done to make corporations defend their customers and the nation.

Accounting for Armed Contractors  
Fletcher Security Review  |  12 January 2015
> On 16 September 2007, the accountability of private armed contractors became a global concern. A team of armed guards from the US company Blackwater Worldwide, operating on a US State Department contract, opened fire that day in Baghdad’s Nisor Square, killing seventeen Iraqi civilians and injuring an additional twenty. It took more than seven years before four of the individuals responsible were ultimately convicted of either first degree murder or voluntary manslaughter by a jury in a U.S. Federal District Court.

Private Security Firms on the Rise in Honduras, Report Shows  
Telesur  |  11 January 2015
> According to the Violence Observatory of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) there are currently 700 private security companies operating in the country. Of those, 400 firms are not legally registered.These 700 companies employ approximately 100,000 private security officers. This figure exceeds the 14,000 members of the nation's police force as well as the 12,000 members of the Honduran armed forces.

DynCorp International Awarded Afghan Training and Mentoring Contracts  
BusinessWire  |  8 January 2015
> DynCorp International (DI) has been awarded two contracts from the U.S. Army Contracting Command to provide advisory, training and mentoring services to the Afghanistan Ministry of Interior (MoI/Afghanistan National Police) and the Afghanistan Ministry of Defense (MoD/Afghanistan National Army)

Secretive Private Intelligence Contractors Need Better Oversight 
Defense One  |  8 January 2015
> The possibility of waste, fraud, and abuse exists in any government program. We minimize this risk through transparency, independent oversight and public accountability. Secret intelligence programs, however, are a different story. Not only do secret programs suffer from an obvious lack of transparency, but since 9/11, the United States has drastically expanded and changed the way it conducts intelligence, defense and homeland security operations. That growth, without transparency, threatens not just the American taxpayers’ bottom line, but ultimately our national security.

Stampede Highlights China’s Reliance on Outsourcing Security  
The Wall Street Journal  |  6 January 2015
> SHANGHAI—The riverfront where 36 people were killed in a New Year’s Eve stampede is one of China’s most visited attractions, yet instead of stationing a heavy police contingent there, this city’s government hires a private firm to provide daily security. The practice isn’t unique to Shanghai, and reflects a broader trend in cities across authoritarian China: a growing reliance on outsourcing security and police-type work to the private sector.

Scott Horton: "Lords of Secrecy: The National Security Elite and America’s Stealth Foreign Policy"  
Democracy Now  |  5 January 2015
> In 2011, already fighting three wars in the Middle East, America decided to open military operations in Moammar Qaddafi’s Libya. The move was opposed by the leaders of the professional military, the secretary of defense, and the director of central intelligence. But other leaders of the national security team, led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN ambassador Susan Rice, and presidential adviser Samantha Power, supported the concept.

Ukrainian Nazis Pay Private Military Company Academi (formerly Blackwater) for Training, Russian Report  
Global Research  |  3 January 2015
> The Russian Government’s Tass ‘news’ agency is alleging that “The US private military company Academi (formerly known as Blackwater) … has confirmed to the Kiev authorities its readiness to start training an experimental battalion of 550 men as of January at the request of Ukraine’s General Staff,” according to an unnamed source, which source is probably one of the few remaining anti-nazi bureaucrats still remaining in the Ukrainian Government. The reported price of this Blackwater (a.k.a. “Xe,” a.k.a. “Academi”) training contract is $3.5 million.

Putin signs foreign mercenary rule into law  
Ukraine Today  |  3 January 2015
> Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law which allows foreign mercenaries to 'participate' in the Russian military, reports Ukrainian TSN news.

Was the U.N. targeting Blackwater founder Erik Prince on Somalia?  
The Washington Post  |  2 January 2015
> Was Blackwater founder Erik Prince trying to avoid legal trouble with the United Nations when he allegedly distanced himself from a Web site called “The Somalia Report?” It depends on who you believe in a marathon legal battle being waged in a Northern Virginia court between Prince, founder of what was once the world’s most notorious security contracting firm, and a former business partner, journalist Robert Young Pelton. Each man claims he is owed $1 million by the other.