• Europe skeptical about whole-body scanners

    Questions are being raised in several European countries about the effectiveness, cost effectiveness, health, and privacy aspects of whole-body scanners; a former head of security for the British Airports Authority: “A thorough body frisk would do the same sort of thing, if it is done properly, and of course it costs a lot less"

  • AnalysisRobust homeland security market in 2010

    The homeland security market has grown by 12 percent in the last year, and the trend will continue in 2010; homeland security budgets in the government and public sectors around the world continue to grow despite economic downturn, budget cuts, and belt tightening; in the United States, the proposed 2011 DHS budget will see an increase of nearly 3 percent, and the homeland security portion of the Department of Defense’s budget will see an increase as well; the 2010 business outlook for homeland security products and services remains strong, buoyed by the increased security threats; organization of mass events like the Olympics and commonwealth games; infrastructure modernization programs in different countries; protection of critical infrastructure; and Border protection

  • TrendUtilities to bolster smart grid cybersecurity

    Annual spending on cybersecurity by electric utilities will triple by 2015, driven by investment in equipment protection and configuration management; between 2010 and 2015, Utility companies will invest more than $21 billion on cybersecurity

  • Waterfall receives U.S. patent for SCADA solution

    SCADA, or Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, is used, among other things, to monitor and control the U.S. critical infrastructure assets and facilities; Waterfall receives a patent for unidirectional security gateways to be used in SCADA

  • U.K. police looking for PC crime breathalyser

    U.K. e-crime cops turn to technology to boost frontline forensics; the Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) is looking for “digital triage” tools that would give frontline police with little training in digital forensics the ability to search for anything from text in e-mails relating to stolen goods to illegal images

  • Aussie scientists make artificial silk

    Scientists have for decades tried to find a way artificially to produce insect silk; Aussie scientists report they have found a method to do so; the tough, lightweight textiles could be used in personal protection equipment such as bulletproof vests and helmets, and in many other applications

  • International Wireless Convention & Exposition, Las Vegas, March 8-12, 2010

  • Homeland security challenges for the Washington D.C. police, II

    Cathy Lanier, the chief of the Washington, D.C. police, says the one thought that keeps her awake at night is the threat that has not occurred to anyone -- the failure of imagination as to what may come next; “What is it that we haven’t thought of that could happen?...That still scares me because I know it is there”

  • U.S. conducts scientific research to find more effective interrogation techniques

    Denis Blair, director of national intelligence, told legislators that the U.S. intelligence community is conducting “scientific research” to find better, more effective research techniques to use on terrorists

  • Terrorists hack gambling Web sites to finance operations

    Terrorists hack gambling Web sites to finance terrorist operations; one group of al Qaeda sympathizers made more than $3.5 million in fraudulent charges using credit card accounts stolen via online phishing scams and the distribution of Trojans; the group conducted 350 transactions at 43 different online gambling sites, using more than 130 compromised credit cards

  • Border Security Expo & Conference, Phoenix, Arizona – April 23 & 24, 2010

  • Homeland security challenges for the Washington D.C. police, I

    Protecting the U.S. capital on a local level poses unique challenges, but it also offers advantages; the police department must accommodate both traditional local concerns and diverse needs related to the presence of multiple federal government and military organizations; yet, the department also can tap those myriad government agencies for vital resources and information that help it counter or respond to terrorist threats

  • Five infectious diseases that might re-emerge

    Dreaded infectious diseases of the past have largely been kept at bay by antibioitcs and other medical advances; these diseases still linger, though, and could pose a threat – either because some parents refuse to vaccinate their kids owing to concerns about possible links between such vaccination and autism (Mumps), or because terrorist might use the pathogens in a bioterror attack (small pox)

  • Wall Street warning up to cybersecurity stocks

    The Google-China tiff – coming on the heels of more and more revelations about China’s sustained, sophisticated cyberattacks against Western government organizations, private companies, and critical infrastructure assets – has benefited cybersecurity companies; worldwide spending on tech security rose 6 percent to $26 billion in 2009, and is expected to grow 9 percent to $28.3 billion this year; this contrasts with information-technology spending as a whole, which declined 4.5 percent in 2009 and may rise 3 percent, to $1.5 trillion, in 2010; private cybersecurity firms with strong balance sheets and good growth prospects that might be viewed as viable candidates to float an initial public stock offering include Sophos, Barracuda Networks, Qualys, Proofpoint, and Tripwire

  • Testing 4G technology for national public safety network

    A 4G mobile telecommunications technology would make a major contribution to the proposed nationwide public safety network on the 700 MHz radio band because it would give emergency responders access to advanced communications technologies and massive data files (video, mapping, and GPS applications, etc.) at faster speeds from anywhere in the country

  • China syndromeGoogle turns to NSA for assistance in thwarting Chinese cyberattacks

    Google has developed a reputation as a company that likes to keep its distance from government agencies; the cyberattacks on Google by the Chinese intelligence services has caused Google to reconsider; it is now finalizing a new deal with the NSA to share data – the company’s first formal agreement with the NSA; the spy agency will help Google develop better defenses against Chinese encroachment

  • With Haiti in mind, New England assesses quake risks

    New England sits on the center of the North American tectonic plate, one of nine large plates that make up the earth’s crust; while many earthquakes occur along plate boundaries, such as in California and Haiti, in New England they happen on faults that are reactivated as the earth is squeezed by plates along the West Coast and mid-Atlantic states; about twenty small quakes affect New England annually; the largest recent one was a magnitude 4.2 in 2006 near Bar Harbor, Maine; many buildings in the region will not be able to withstand a tremor in the range of 6.0 or higher on the Richter scale

Syndicate content
Stop identity theft with Shop Shield, Secure Payment Agent (SPA)

More Headlines

The Long View

  • DARPA seeks deep-learning AI to cope with flood of information

    The growing use of UAVs to loiter over enemy territory and send images and streaming videos back to HQ has created a glut of information; DARPA seeks a better, deeper, and more layered artificial intelligence to help the intelligence community cope with the avalanche of information coming in

  • Nuclear fusionCold fusion is enjoying a rebirth

    Researchers presented new evidence for the existence of this promising -- and controversial -- energy source' papers discussed last week at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society

  • TrendGlobal UAV sales boom, but South Africa's UAV sector flounders

    South Africa was among the world's leaders in designing and manufacturing UAVs; UAVs are the most dynamic segment growth sector in the global aerospace industry; South Africa could have benefited from the growing interest in UAVs, lack of investment in R&D and in finished products may cause South Africa to abdicate the UAV lead it once held

  • U.S. intelligence chief: Mexico not on brink of collapse

    There is a debate among different U.S. intelligent services about how close to a collapse Mexico is; Dennis Blair, director of national intelligence, says the drug cartels' escalating violence is a product of their weakening state not their strength

  • Insight into the news // Ben FrankelSudan attack demonstrates new U.S.-Israel counter-Iran policy

    Israeli aircraft, with U.S. logistical and intelligence support, attack and destroy an Iranian arms convoy in Sudan; arms were part of an effort by Iran to resupply Hamas's forces in Gaza

  • Planetary securityNew ideas for deflecting Earth-threatening asteroids

    As scientists use better equipment to make more accurate observations of space, they find more Earth-threatening objects loitering in Near Earth Orbit; a debate is growing as to the best method to deal with this threat

  • Shape of things to comeDARPA funds Phase 2 of human limb regeneration study

    When you cut off a salamander's leg, a blastema, or regeneration bud, appears at the stump and then grows into a new leg with muscles, nerves, etc. all complete; DARPA wants to see whether the same can be dome for human limbs