The New York Times is providing fantastic coverage of the still-lingering volcanic ash cloud that has been severely disrupting — and in most places completely halting — air traffic in Europe since the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted in Iceland on Wednesday.
Volcanologists had no reliable prediction of how long the eruption would continue, as travelers scrambled for train reservations, rental cars and hotel rooms. Others simply searched for comfortable benches in airports, which were considerably calmer and emptier than on Friday as passengers realized that no flights would be going in or out.
Europe’s three largest airports — London Heathrow, Frankfurt and Paris-Charles de Gaulle — were all shut on Saturday, with officials hoping that flights could resume sometime Sunday or, more likely, Monday.
Volcanologists had no reliable prediction of how long the eruption would continue, as travelers scrambled for train reservations, rental cars and hotel rooms. Others simply searched for comfortable benches in airports, which were considerably calmer and emptier than on Friday as passengers realized that no flights would be going in or out.
Europe’s three largest airports — London Heathrow, Frankfurt and Paris-Charles de Gaulle — were all shut on Saturday, with officials hoping that flights could resume sometime Sunday or, more likely, Monday.
The House Homeland Security Committee passed a bill to appropriate more than $150 million for cybersecurity research and development. The bill, H.R. 4842, states that $75 million will be given out over the next two years to fund R&D projects “aimed at improving the nation’s ability to prevent, protect, detect, respond to and recover from cyber attacks, focusing on large-scale, high-impact attacks.”
The bill requires the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate to develop a plan regarding management processes and research activities for its key stakeholders: the Transportation Security Agency, Customs and Border Protection, Coast Guard and other DHS agencies as well as the nation’s first responders.
Among the cybersecurity R&D work, the bill would fund:
More secure versions of fundamental internet protocols and architectures, including domain name systems and routing protocols
Technologies to detect attacks or intrusions
Mitigation and recovery methodologies, including techniques to contain attacks and develop resilient networks and systems that degrade gracefully
Infrastructure and tools to support cybersecurity R&D efforts, including modeling, testbeds and data sets for assessment of new cybersecurity technologies
Technologies to reduce vulnerabilities in process control systems
Test, evaluate and facilitate the transfer of technologies associated with the engineering of less vulnerable software and securing the software development lifecycle
The bill also sets aside $500,000 to study things such as required reporting, regulation, certification, accounting practices and cybersecurity risk insurance.
“A third research project in the bill would have DHS working with national security and intelligence agencies to determine if the government-owned communications and information systems essential to the nation’s electronic grid have been compromised.”
The research would also explore the extent of any cybersecurity breach, the identity of the hacker(s), the ways in which said hacker infiltrated the inflicted system and the ramifications of such a breach.
In related news, Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander was nominated to head the Defense Department’s Cyber Command that was established last June to assume responsibility for the defense of the military’s portion of cyberspace. Alexander also heads the National Security Agency, which collects and analyzes foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence. Yesterday, Alexander was questioned by Senate Armed Services Committee about the possibility of cyber war. He expressed his doubts about a cyber war ever occurring, claiming that it would more likely be part of a larger military campaign.
“If confirmed, my main focus will be on building the capacity, the capability and the critical partnerships required to secure our military’s operational networks,” he says. “This command is not about efforts to militarize cyberspace. Rather it’s about safeguarding the integrity of our military’s critical information systems. Working with U.S. Strategic Command, department leadership and with help from this committee, my goal, if confirmed, would be to significantly improve the way we defend ourselves in this domain.”
The committee did not say when it would vote on Alexander’s nomination, but the article claims members supported him.
The official start to the Atlantic hurricane season is about a month and a half away and many researchers are already predicting above average activity this year.
5 million people remain homeless in the country. The folks over at Slate have posted a must-see slide show that demonstrates how many Haitians are trying to make do with makeshift tents made out of bedsheets, sticks and scrap metal that seem unlikely to stand up to a modest breeze, let along hurricane-force winds. It is a stark reminder of how far Haiti still has to go in its recovery and another reason to hope that the country can be spared from another tragedy this summer.
Aviation authorities throughout the UK, France, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe were forced to halt all flights today as a giant plume of volcanic ash blow over the continent. The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland erupted Wednesday, causing some flooding and general inconvenience domestically, but the lingering and drifting cloud has caused the most problems.
The shutdown, among the most sweeping ever ordered in peacetime, forced the cancellation of thousands of flights and left airplanes stranded on the tarmac at some of the world’s busiest airports as the rolling cloud — made up of minute particles of silicate that can severely damage airplane engines — spread over Britain and toward continental Europe.
Obviously, this whole event is interrupting business throughout the EU and that is a big pain in the tuckus and people are upset and concerned and companies are losing money and yadda yadda yadda…
But much more importantly … LOOK, GUYS, IT’S LAVA … pretty much my favorite thing ever.
Below is a photo of an amazing eruption earlier this month by Eyjafjallajökull. I have no idea how to pronounce that. But it sure is gorgeous. Check out the Boston Globe‘s photo gallery for more awesome — both in the traditional sense and in cool-kid-vernacular — photos.
Gordon Woo, lead catastrophist for Risk Management Solutions, said insurance implications from the Eyjafjöll volcano eruptions could include payouts from Iceland’s national natural catastrophe insurance fund—which covers volcanic eruptions and glacial floods—if there is damage.
Additionally, he said business interruption for the aviation industry could be triggered due to the temporary closure of airspace in the United Kingdom and Scandinavia as a precaution over the airborne ash plume.
Aviation and travel insurers will be hit by the cost of several days of flight cancellations, Mr. Woo noted.
Floods from the melting glaciers will likely cause river levels to rise and potentially cause damage, RMS said, citing Iceland’s Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management.
The ash cloud affect, said Bill McGuire from the Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre, can cause major damage to aircraft by clogging engines and causing them to flame out, and by scouring windscreens so as to make them opaque.
The article also mentions that the last eruption by this volcano last 12 months — so there could be ash problems again in the future. Stay tuned.
And head over to National Underwriter for even more insights from Woo and McGuire.
