Saturday, September 6, 2014

#2102: Marine Links Obama's Red-Switch Coast-Guard Fraud to Lloyd's Register ISO Deepwater Test, Serco time-tag Helideck Bomb

Plum City - (AbelDanger.net): United States Marine Field McConnell has linked Obama's alleged use of the Red Switch Network in an 'Override' fraud on the United States Coast Guard's chain of command to a Lloyd's Register ISO 27001 saboteur-vulnerability test on the IT system of the Deepwater Horizon rig and the apparent deployment of Serco time-tag offenders to trigger an incendiary bomb in the gas pocket under the helideck at 9:45 P.M. CDT on 20 April 2010.

McConnell claims Serco launched its time-tagged bombing service after winning the contract to operate the NPL GPS clock in 1994 from the then-UK Defence Minister Nicholas Soames whose brother Serco CEO Rupert Soames appears to have used the NPL clock to hack the IT systems of Serco's TRUMP partners – Inland Revenue, Lloyd's Register Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) – and reward saboteurs with a share in a pass-through insurance fraud on BP leveraged lease.

McConnell claims that Obama used Serco's Red Switch Network override privileges to stand down the U.S. Coast Guard while Lloyd's Register was using its TRUMP partners in an ISO/IEC 27001 sabotage test on the Deepwater Horizon's cyber systems and a modified 26ft catamaran (Endorphin) relayed a Red Switch ignition signal to a pre-positioned bomb in the gas pocket under the helideck.

Prequel 1: #2100: Marine Links Serco Time-Tagged License To Kill to Lloyd's Register Alibi ON, Dr. Kelly Suicide OFF

Prequel 2: #2099: Marine Links Serco Time-On-Tag Frauds to Lloyd’s Register of Alibis, Deepwater's Helideck IED








President Obama Visits Pensacola Beach regarding PB Oil Spill

Deepwater Horizon - May 24, 2010 
-Maddow -Steven Chu-Obama Administration responded immediately


Electronic Tagging of Offenders

The Biggest Company You've Never Heard Of


The lead article in today's New York Times, "Siren in Oil Rig was Kept Silent," notes the emergency alarm on the Deepwater Horizon rig was kept in the "inhibited" [Coast Guard override allowed Endorphin to relay Red Switch ignition signal to the bomb under the helideck] mode to avoid waking up the workers with false alarms in the middle of the night.

But the article is much more "alarming" in its interior details describing the actions, or lack of action, by Transocean, the owner of the rig. BP's confidential audit of the rig in September showed 390 repairs uncompleted, including many labelled high priority. There were also power losses, computer failures and leaking equipment that was supposed to be waterproof.

And a previous audit by Lloyd's Register Group showed 26 components in poor working order. All this neglect made the Deepwater Horizon rig an accident waiting to happen. It was not just an unfortunate and unlikely combination of events that caused the Gulf of Mexico oil spill; it was criminal neglect. And that neglect, based on this article, extends to Transocean every bit as much as BP.

Not to leave BP completely off the hook, however. The oil well was running behind schedule, and each day of delay was costing the company $1 million in rental costs for the rig. Workers were obviously pressured to "hurry up," and haste leads to cutting corners and compounding the situation."

"Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned,semi-submersible offshore oil drilling rig[6] owned by Transocean. 

Built in 2001 in South Korea by Hyundai Heavy Industries,[3] the rig was commissioned by R&B Falcon, which later became part of Transocean,[8] registered in MajuroMarshall Islands, and leased to BP from 2001 until September 2013.[9] In September 2009, the rig drilled the deepest oil well in history at a vertical depth of 35,050 ft (10,683 m) and measured depth of 35,055 ft (10,685 m)[10]in the Tiber Oil Field at Keathley Canyon block 102, approximately 250 miles (400 km) southeast of Houston, in 4,132 feet (1,259 m) of water.[11]  ...

At 9:45 P.M. CDT on 20 April 2010, during the final phases of drilling the exploratory well at Macondo, a geyser of seawater erupted from the marine riser onto the rig, shooting 240 ft (73 m) into the air. This was soon followed by the eruption of a slushy combination of mud, methane gas, and water. The gas component of the slushy material quickly transitioned into a fully gaseous state and then ignited into a series of explosions and then a firestorm. An attempt was made to activate the blowout preventer, but it failed.[46]

At the time of the explosion, there were 126 crew on board; seven were employees of BP, 79 of Transocean, there were also employees of various other companies involved in the operation of the rig, including AnadarkoHalliburtonand M-I SWACO.[47] Eleven workers were presumed killed in the initial explosion. The rig was evacuated, with numerous injured workers airlifted to medical facilities. After burning for approximately 36 hours, Deepwater Horizon sank on 22 April 2010. The remains of the rig were located resting on the seafloor approximately 5,000 ft (1,500 m) deep at that location, and about 1,300 ft (400 m) (quarter of a mile) northwest of the well.[40][48][49]

The resultant oil spill continued until 15 July when it was temporarily closed by a cap.[50] Relief wells were used to permanently seal the well, which was declared "effectively dead" on 19 September 2010.[51]"

"Hot topic: Cyber attacks in oil and gas
 March 27, 2013   |  Author: Rob Walter

It was a big topic at the IHS CERAWeek energy conference here in Houston a few weeks ago, and now the 2013 Lloyd's Register Energy Conference will put another spotlight on the cyber threat facing oil and gas companies with its keynote speaker.

Marty Edwards, branch manager of the Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) will be speak at the third annual energy conference, held in Houston October 9-10.
The ICS-CERT is part of the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is to focus on protecting the control systems of the nation's critical infrastructure from physical and cyber threats.

Mr. Edwards will talk about the most current threats affecting industrial control systems in energy, and separate the facts from the fictional stories. He'll also discuss lessons learned by ICS-CERT and how those can help companies develop a cyber security program.

Recently the ICS-CERT warned that cyber threats against global energy and pipeline infrastructures have been increasing rapidly. More than 40% of all reports to the ICS-CERT in 2012 were against the energy sector.

Last year, a virus hit 30,000 computers at Saudi Aramco, and the company's chief executive spoke at CERAWeek and publicly warned other oil and gas companies of the threat.

CEO Khalid Al-Falih also told the Houston Chronicle that even before its network was infected, it was attacked "hundreds of thousands of times." Al-Falih also said that until all energy companies are taking the threat seriously, the entire industry is at risk.

Also at CERAWeek, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency made a similar case. Michael Hayden says attacks on the oil and gas industry's automated systems is almost a given because blocking access to them would be impossible. Therefore, he told the crowd according to the Chronicle, "Manage the consequences. Know they're getting in."

The Systems and Controls group of WEST Engineering Services – now part of Lloyd's Register Energy – Drilling – has also seen the problems with viruses on offshore rigs firsthand. The group focuses on the software side of rig building, ensuring that all the individual systems communicate properly. Systems and Controls experts will also be on hand at the conference and available for questions. We'll also be discussing the topic in our booth at OTC 2013.

The agenda to the third annual Lloyd's Register Energy conference is still being finalized. For updates, click here to join our email list and follow us on Twitter @LRUpstream."

"Lloyd's Register - People, systems and equipment assessment

Maintaining an efficient operational standard is a balancing act between people systems and equipment.

A competent, safe and competitive drilling asset operation has the right balance between people, systems and equipment. We can help you to optimise the way in which these three critical elements interact.

During drilling operations you are faced with the challenge to work efficiently and safely – not just today, but also in the long run. With the increasingly more complex operations and systems of today, it is a challenge to strike the right balance between business risk and operational targets, especially with regard to the integrity of well control equipment operations.

The balancing act

This picture illustrates the three aspects, which are critical to your operation: people, systems and equipment against the background of a continuous improvement process ensuring operational integrity of drilling assets.

"Must have" relates to e.g. regulatory requirements, organisational requirements or client requirements.

There has to be a balance between these three aspects and the attention they receive, for instance a brand new rig with an incompetent crew will not achieve its targets. Just as a brand new rig with a top-range asset management system and competent crew will not work either if you do not utilise all three aspects in the right manner.

Our senior consultants can provide you with a gap analysis of the risks in terms of these three elements, to give you a clear picture of the actual operational integrity of your company and / or your contractors and how this can be improved."

"More than two-thirds of Government contracts held by the controversial outsourcing giants Serco and G4S are open to fraud and error, ministers have admitted.

An official investigation into £5.9bn of outsourcing contracts held by the firms found evidence on Thursday of "inconsistent management" in 22 out of the 28 deals across eight Government departments and agencies. In the majority of the contracts, the review found that there were "key deficiencies" in invoice and payment processes that could lead to overcharging.

The review was ordered in the wake of the scandal involving Serco and G4S's tagging contracts.
Serco on Thursday agreed to repay the Government £68.5m. The scandal concerned the Ministry of Justice being charged for tagging people who were found to be dead, back in prison or overseas. Both Serco and G4S are currently being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office."

"Former Serco boss Jeremy Stafford to head John Menzies

Stafford, who quit government contracting firm after prison tagging scandal, to be chief of print distributor and aviation logistics firm

The Guardian, Friday 5 September 2014 09.22 BST

The former boss of Serco in the UK, who quit last year in the wake of the prisoner tagging scandal, has re-emerged as the new chief executive of John Menzies.

Jeremy Stafford will join the print distributor and aviation logistics company 11 months after leaving Serco abruptly last November. That month the Serious Fraud Office had opened a criminal investigation into claims by the government that Serco and its rival G4S had ripped off taxpayers by tens of millions of pounds.

The government accused Serco of charging to electronically tag offenders who were abroad, back in prison, had their tags removed or, in a few cases, were dead. When Stafford left, Serco said his departure was necessary for the company to rebuild its relationship with the government, its biggest customer.

As a result of the scandal, Serco was barred from winning government work until January when it was judged to have cleaned up its act. Profits fell heavily last year and the group issued three profit warnings in the six months to April.

Stafford will be John Menzies' first group chief executive for seven years. After Patrick Macdonald left in 2007 it split its leadership between the heads of its distribution and aviation businesses.

The Edinburgh-based company said Stafford had experience of leading and expanding big international contracting businesses and had successfully overseen 14 contracts for the 2012 London Olympics while at Serco.

Iain Napier, John Menzies' chairman, said: "We are at an exciting stage of our development with strong growth opportunities and Jeremy, with his strategic vision and extensive experience of operational management and contracting in a business-to-business environment, is the ideal person to lead us forward. Working alongside our existing experienced management teams I am confident that we will deliver significant shareholder value."

Stafford joined Serco in 2009 and rose quickly through the ranks to head its most important business within three years. Before arriving at Serco he worked for an information technology company and spent 16 years at BT.

John Menzies was best known for its chain of newsagents but that business was sold to WH Smith in the 1990s. It now concentrates on delivering newspapers and magazines to retailers and aviation services to airlines, ranging from baggage handling to towing of aircraft."

Following a demanding nine-month preparation and implementation period, IST was successfully audited and certified to the ISO 27001:2005 standard (Information Security Management System), as issued by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) - a subsidiary of the Lloyd's Register Group.

ISO/IEC 27001 aims to ensure that adequate controls addressing confidentiality, integrity and availability of information are in place to safeguard the information of interested parties. These include customers, employees, trading partners and the needs of society in general.

Unprotected systems are vulnerable to all kinds of threats, such as computer-assisted fraud, sabotage and viruses. These threats can be internal or external, and both accidental or malicious. Breaches in information security can allow vital information to be accessed, stolen, corrupted or lost.

By adopting the ISO 27001 standard, we minimize business risk by ensuring controls are in place to reduce the probability of security threats and to avoid system weaknesses being exploited.

Regular surveillance visits and certificate renewal visits every three years make sure that our Information Security Management System continues to meet the requirements of the standard."

"[Serco's] ExperienceLab was an immense help to BBC News in making sense of the consumer feedback [for the synchronized generation of user-centered wag the dog stories] . The usability studies that they carried out for us produced several key messages. These were unexpected, compelling and immensely useful. ExperienceLab made a huge impact on our thinking and our decision-making processes. Project Director, BBC News Online"

Yours sincerely,

Field McConnell, United States Naval Academy, 1971; Forensic Economist; 30 year airline and 22 year military pilot; 23,000 hours of safety; Tel: 715 307 8222

David Hawkins Tel: 604 542-0891 Forensic Economist; former leader of oil-well blow-out teams; now sponsors Grand Juries in CSI Crime and Safety Investigation

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