on the air with George Putnam today
on the air with George Putnam today
Date: Tuesday, April 24, 2007 12:02 PM
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1679 -- 4/24/2007 >>>>>
I will be on the legendary George Putnam talk-radio show today. My start
time will be 1:34 PM PST.
We will be talking about Cornyn's new attempt to push the SKIL Bill and
perhaps we will have time to talk a little about Mohammad "Mo" Alavi. In
case you haven't heard about Alavi, I have included two articles about him
below. The Mohammad "Mo" Alavi story is the newest spy case involving
foreign workers in the USA. This story follows closely on the heels of the
one about, Chi Mak, who spied for the Chinese.
You can listen to the Putnam show in Los Angeles on KCAA 1050 AM. His show
can also be heard on radio stations in Chicago and several other cities -
check your local listings.
KCAA radio can be found online at: http://www.kcaaradio.com/
Putnam's show is also online in streaming audio which can be listened to by
going to this page:
http://www.crni.net/
To listen to the show, click the box on the right where it says "now
playing, listen live" "CRN1"
There is a toll free call-in telephone number if you want to chat with us:
1-800-336-2225
The show is rebroadcast at 12 midnight PST on the CRNI website. The shows
are also archived at:
http://yardtv.gotdns.com/kcaa-podcasts/putnam
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0421nuclear0421.html#
Palo Verde software is breached
Ex-employee used it during trip to Iran, officials say
Robert Anglen and Ken Alltucker
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 21, 2007 12:00 AM
Federal authorities are accusing a former engineer at Palo Verde Nuclear
Generating Station of illegally taking software codes to Iran and
downloading details of control rooms, reactors and designs of the nation's
largest nuclear plant.
Officers arrested Mohammad "Mo" Alavi, 49, in Los Angeles this month and
charged him with one count of violating a trade embargo, which prohibits
Americans from exporting goods and services to Iran.
Authorities say there is no evidence to suggest the use of the software was
linked to terrorists or the Iranian government, which has clashed with the
U.S. over attempts to develop a nuclear program. advertisement
"The investigation has not led us to believe this information was taken for
the purpose of being used by a foreign government or terrorists to attack
us," FBI spokeswoman Deborah McCarley told The Arizona Republic on Friday.
"This does not appear to be terrorist-related."
Officials with Arizona Public Service Co., which operates Palo Verde, said
the software does not pose a security risk because it doesn't control any
of the nuclear plant's operating systems and is mostly used to train
employees.
But they acknowledged that they changed procedures after the incident to
prohibit former employees from accessing software when they leave the
company. No such procedure was in place when Alavi quit APS in August after
working there for 16 years.
A Nuclear Regulatory Commission official said Friday that "this incident
has not compromised plant security."
The incident is the latest in a string of problems that has plagued the
nuclear power plant, located 50 miles west of downtown Phoenix.
Alavi, an Iranian native who has lived in the United States as a
naturalized citizen since 1976, is being held without bail in California.
Alavi's lawyer said Friday that he denies any wrongdoing.
"Mr. Alavi is a U.S. citizen. He respects the court process, and he asserts
his innocence," said Milagros Cisneros of the Federal Defender's Office in
Phoenix. She said the government's indictment of her client is "more smoke
than fire."
She declined to address specific allegations in the indictment, including
whether Alavi gained unauthorized access to software and bought a laptop
computer weeks before he resigned and moved to Iran.
A federal judge in Phoenix denied Alavi bail Friday, saying he posed a
substantial flight risk.
"If released, it would not be difficult for him to sever electronic
monitoring and leave the country by land," Judge Neil Wake said.
"Ultimately, returning to Iran would require some effort but would not be
difficult once he left the United States.
"Alavi's most important associations - family, home, business investment,
intended employment and future plans - are all with Iran, not the United
States."
Alavi faces up to 21 months in prison if convicted of the charge. One
factor in determining any sentence could be whether the software and
schematics of Palo Verde landed in the wrong hands, Wake said.
Alavi was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on April 9 when he
returned from Iran to join his wife, who arrived in the United States two
weeks earlier to give birth to their child.
Wake said Alavi intended to immediately return to Iran to live.
"He has no intention of resuming residence in the United States," Wake
said. "He is seeking employment in Iran, having invested $60,000 in a
company with the expectation of getting employment. Alavi owns a house in
Tehran valued at $150,000, in which relatives live."
Alavi's only connections to the United States, the judge said, are a
$200,000 retirement fund, his friends, citizenship "and the possibility
that he may want to return if he becomes disappointed in his plan to make
his life in Iran."
Authorities say he recently deposited $98,000 into a U.S. bank account.
They also say Alavi's motivation for taking the software was to help set up
his life in Iran.
After his resignation, authorities said, Alavi told fellow employees at
Palo Verde and his apartment landlord that he was going to visit Iran for a
few weeks and would then return to the United States and look for a new
job.
But a month before giving his resignation notice, authorities said, Alavi
bought a laptop computer and used it to download the 3KeyMaster software
system.
The software is used to train employees on the operation of nuclear
reactors.
It provides employees with emergency scenarios and instructs them to react
with proper procedures. According to court records, the system contains
detailed information on the reactor control rooms as well as maps,
drawings, schematics and designs of the power plant.
Authorities said Alavi asked a Palo Verde software engineer to recommend a
laptop and help him obtain a user name and password to access the software
system.
Another employee saw Alavi with that laptop in the simulator room, with a
3KeyMasterand screen displayed. The employee didn't raise any alarms.
On Aug. 9, Alavi bought a one-way ticket to Tehran, Iran. His last day at
the company was Aug. 14. Two days later, he left the country with his wife.
In October, authorities say, the software system was accessed from a person
using the Palo Verde user ID in Tehran.
The software's maker, Western Services in Maryland, had no idea that Alavi
had resigned from Palo Verde and did not try to restrict his access,
according to a federal affidavit.
Nobody from Palo Verde informed Western Services that Alavi had quit his
job at the power plant, the FBI said. The nuclear plant did not instruct
the software company to remove Alavi's user name or password from the
company's Web site.
Western Services officials refused to respond to an interview request
Friday.
Since the incident, APS has changed its policy and now requires plant
managers to check a box to make sure former employees don't have access to
external software systems.
"We have reviewed our policies and upgraded them," APS spokesman Jim
McDonald said. "The company has taken additional measures to further
strengthen controls of proprietary software in light of these events."
McDonald said the company has always cut off access to all internal
computers but not to vendor computers.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in February downgraded Palo Verde's
rating to the rank of most regulated nuclear power plant in the nation,
triggering more rigorous oversight and additional inspections.
The triple-reactor power plant enjoyed a streak of largely problem-free
operations through the late 1990s and into the early part of this decade.
Problems surfaced in 2004 with discovery of a "dry pipe" that could have
disrupted the flow of water to the emergency core-cooling system. Other
equipment problems followed, such as leaking oil seals and faulty diesel
generator wiring. The problems shut down reactors more than a dozen times
over the past three years.
A major trend identified by nuclear inspectors has been poor communication
and poor worker performance.
In a letter sent to Palo Verde managers in March, the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission noted that it cited the plant for 25 minor violations.
Among the problems noted by federal inspectors included workers not always
following technical procedures during reactor startups, failing to follow
procedures and not using error-prevention techniques.
APS vowed to employees and the community to do a better job. The utility
said it hired Randy Edington, one of the nuclear industry's top
troubleshooters, as chief nuclear officer to fix problems and restore
accountability at Palo Verde.
Employees at Palo Verde first learned about the Alavi incident in an e-mail
sent Friday by APS.
Reach the reporter at (602) 444-8694.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11909501/
Engineer accused in Iran software swap
Nuclear power plant worker faces embargo violation, faces 21 months
The Associated Press
Updated: 8:39 a.m. MT April 21, 2007
PHOENIX - A former engineer at the nations largest nuclear power plant
has been charged with taking computer access codes and software to Iran and
using it to download details of plant control rooms and reactors,
authorities said.
The FBI said theres no indication the plant employee training software
had any terrorist connections.
Mohammad Alavi, who worked at the triple-reactor Palo Verde power plant
west of Phoenix, was arrested April 9 at Los Angeles International Airport
when he arrived on a flight from Iran, authorities said.
Alavi, 49, is a U.S. citizen and denies any wrongdoing, said his attorney,
Milagros Cisneros of the Federal Defenders Office in Phoenix.
He is charged with a single count of violating a trade embargo that
prohibits Americans from exporting goods and services to Iran. If
convicted, he would face up to 21 months in prison.
According to court records, the software is used only for training plant
employees, but allowed users access to details on the Palo Verde control
rooms and the plant layout. In October, authorities alleged, the software
was used to download training materials from Tehran, using a Palo Verde
user identification.
The FBI said there was no evidence to suggest the software access was
linked to the Iranian government, which has clashed with the West over
attempts to develop its own nuclear program.
"The investigation has not led us to believe this information was taken for
the purpose of being used by a foreign government or terrorists to attack
us," said Deborah McCarley, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Phoenix.
Officials of Arizona Public Service Co., the Phoenix-based utility company
that operates the Palo Verde Nuclear Generation Station, said the software
does not pose a security risk because it doesnt control any of the
nuclear plants operating systems.
However, the utility said it has changed software security procedures since
Alavi quit in August after working there for 16 years.
Palo Verde has been plagued by outages and equipment problems for the past
several years.
The plant, located about 50 miles west of downtown Phoenix, supplies
electricity to some 4 million customers in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and
California.
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