Today's news

  • UAVsFAA moves on integrating drones into U.S. airspace

    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) now allows a government public safety agency and first responders to operate drones weighing 4.4 pounds or less in the U.S. air space, but under certain restrictions: these drones should be used for training and performance evaluation, they must be flown within the line of sight of the operator, less than 400 feet above the ground, during daylight conditions, inside Class G (uncontrolled) airspace, and more than five miles from any airport or other location with aviation activities; the FAA says that if safety agencies then apply for a waiver, the agency will allow the operation of drones weighing up to twenty-five pounds

  • Infrastructure protectionMcAfee, Intel collaborate on protecting energy infrastructure

    McAfee and Intel will collaborate on improving the protection of the world’s energy utilities, including generation, transmission, and distribution, from increased cyber attacks; the two companies have provided a blueprint for a comprehensive solution of multiple products which create layers of security and operate together without great complexity or without impacting availability

  • TerrorismBios of female terrorists contradict stereotypes: study

    Much like their male counterparts, female terrorists are likely to be educated, employed, and native residents of the country where they commit a terrorist act, new research finds

  • First respondersCity of Seattle Fire Department improving firefighter, EMS responses

    New communication system allows Seattle Fire Department to use new voice, video, and wireless by providing secure and fast switching between multiple networks

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  • BiometricsBiometrics market set to grow by 21 percent CAGR from 2012 to 2014

    The biometric security market set to grow at a CAGR of around 21 percent during 2012-2014; governments’ growing reliance on biometrics for national security, and efforts by corporations to thwart identity theft, are main growth drivers

  • Emergency communicationAT&T selected as TacCom prime vendor

    AT&T Government Solutions has been selected as a prime vendor under the Tactical Communications Equipment and Services (TacCom) contract; the contract, administered by DHS, is a multiple award, Indefinite Delivery-Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with an overall value of $3 billion and a base contract period of two years and three, one-year options

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  • Also noted

    Security company supervisor at N.J. airport used dead man’s identity |Georgia man gets prison for terrorist hoax |Arizona governor vetoes bill prohibiting enforcement of federal terrorism law | On 13 May, Asteroid 2012 JU passed harmlessly between Earth and Moon |Saudi security tightens around world’s biggest crude facility |100,000 applicants for 10,000 Olympics security jobs |Israel shows the way for a drone-dominated future military strategy |Top 10 states for Internet crime |Security breaches underreported by TSA |Kansas lawmakers nix E-Verify immigration enforcement proposal |TSA not tracking patterns in security breaches: IG report

  • BioterrorismCongress considering biodefense measure

    H.R. 2356, the WMD Prevention and Preparedness Act of 2011, will soon be debated before four different House committees, before going to the Senate to be debated further – all this four years after a congressionally mandated commission defined bioterrorism as a grave threat to the United States; critics charge that the reason is the unwieldy and dysfunctional manner in which Congress oversees DHS: currently there are 108 congressional committees and subcommittees with oversight responsibilities for different parts of DHS

  • Personal protective equipmentAir-conditioned protective clothing for police, first responders, soldiers

    Bullet-proof vests made of Kevlar; the material holds off bullets, but it also impenetrable to water vapor; police personnel who must wear such gear under their uniforms sweat profusely when the weather is warm; researchers develop a “smart,” air-conditioned protective vest, and the smart cooling technology is also suitable for protective suits worn over normal clothing, uniform jackets, camouflage suits

  • Detecting toxinsNew biosensor checks for toxicity in real time

    Researchers have married biology and engineering to develop a biosensor – called Dip Chip – that can warn of toxicity in real time; one of the chip’s advantages is its ability to identify toxicity as a biological quality instead of specific toxic chemicals; because the chip measures general toxicity, it will pick up on any and all toxic materials — even those that have not been discovered or invented yet

  • Emergency communicationsLas Vegas first responders testing next-generation LTE broadband

    Public safety officers in Las Vegas, Nevada, are on the air with a 700 MHz Band 14 LTE (Long Term Evolution) solution through a pilot program that demonstrates the potential of next-generation wireless broadband technology

  • BiometricsAware provides biometrics products for border management systems

    Aware’s software products will be used for biometric enrolment, watch-list checks, verification, and workflow in Europe, the Middle East, and North America

  • Explosives detectionCanadian airports deploy desktop explosives trace detection systems

    The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) acquired sixty-three desktop explosives trace detection (ETD) systems to be deployed to airports in Canada to support passenger and baggage screening efforts

  • CybersecuritySelf-adapting computer network that actively defends itself against hackers

    Researchers are looking into the feasibility of building a computer network that could protect itself against online attackers by automatically changing its setup and configuration; the researchers will examine whether this type of adaptive cybersecurity, called moving-target defense, can be effective – and cost-effective

  • SuperbugsMRSA superbug spreads from big city hospitals to regional health centers

    MRSA — methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus — first started to appear around fifty years ago following the introduction of antibiotics, to which the bacteria has become increasingly resistant; scientists now find how the superbug spreads among different hospitals

  • DisinfectionUsing LED technology for UV disinfection

    UV light can be used to disinfect, treat drinking-water, sterilize surgical tools, and more; technologies that use aluminum nitride LEDs to create UV light, however, have been severely limited because the substrates which served as the foundation for these semiconductors absorbed wavelengths of UV light which are crucial to applications in sterilization and water treatment technologies; researchers have developed a solution to the problem

  • Maritime securityHigh-seas piracy? There will soon be an app for that

    The U.S. Navy is sponsoring research aiming at developing Web applications to help multinational navies police the world’s oceans

  • Domestic securityU.K. faces problem of security service members with links to terrorism

    Abdul Rahman, a 33-year old Scotland Yard constable of Bangladeshi descent, had his security clearance revoked in 2006 — he chose to resign rather than be dismissed — following an MI5 investigation which concluded that, in 2001, he spent time in a terrorist training camp in Pakistan; he is one of three members of the U.K. security forces dismissed because of links to terrorism; this case made the headline because he is suing the service for compensation, and the secret legal proceedings are about to begin

  • TerrorismLawmakers call for adding the Haqqani Network to U.S. terror-group list

    A group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers are calling for the Obama administration to add the Haqqani Network to the U.S. list of terrorist organizations; the administration is not quick to move on the issue of designation because of the on-going U.S.-Pakistan-Taliban negotiations about the future of post-withdrawal Afghanistan, but the military drone attacks on Haqqani targets is continuing unabated

  • Nuclear safetySeismic safety worries about South Carolina nuclear fuel facility

    The worries about the seismic safety of nuclear energy-related facilities, worries which have only grown since the March 2011 Fukushima disaster, extend not only to nuclear power reactor, but to other facilities as well; the most recent example is a Westinghouse facility outside Columbia, South Carolina, one of only three facilities in the United States which make nuclear fuel for commercial reactors

  • Explosives detectionOptical sensor specialist to develop explosive sensing technology

    Polestar Technologies, a developer of optical sensors, has recently won a $2.5 million government contract from the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Deterrent Organization (JIEDDO) to develop a system for the stand-off detection of explosives hidden on a person

  • Infrastructure protectionGroundwater pumping causes sea level rise, canceling out effect of dams

    Those in charge of infrastructure protection must now worry about another source of sea level rise: water pumped out of the ground for irrigation, drinking water, and industrial use; this water ends up emptying into the world’s oceans, and scientists calculate that by 2050, groundwater pumping will cause a global sea level rise of about 0.8 millimeters per year