• Google acquires facial biometric company

    Following Facebook’s decision to implement biometric facial recognition software, Google has acquired a company to boost its facial recognition capabilities; the search giant recently purchasd Pittsburgh Pattern Recognition (PittPatt), which develops technology that can search images and videos for a specific face

  • Filipino man guilty of selling UAV on eBay

    Last week a Filipino man pleaded guilty to violating arms export and smuggling laws by selling parts from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on eBay; in February, DHS officials arrested Henson Chua of Manila, Philippines after he shipped undercover agents a three-foot long, hand-launched, computer-controlled RQ-11A/B Raven surveillance drone

  • Blue ribbon commission calls for interim off site waste storage

    After deciding to stop the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project, President Obama appointed a blue Ribbon commission to examine alternatives; the first report from the commission calls for interim storage of nuclear waste not on the site of nuclear power plants, and for the creation of a new corporation to develop one or more deep geological repositories “as expeditiously as possible”

  • Averting bridge disasters: new sensors could save hundreds of lives

    One of every four U.S. highway bridges has known structural problems or exceeded its intended life-span. Most only get inspected once every one or two years; University of Maryland researcher has developed a new sensor that measures indicators of a bridge’s structural health, such as strain, vibration, flexibility, and development of metal cracks; the sensors are expected to last more than a decade, with each costing about $20

  • Bio detection firm raises $14 million in stock deal

    Last week PositiveID Corp.,a developer of biological threat detection technology and medical diagnostics, announced that it had signed a deal to raise almost $14 million in additional funding through the sale of its stock

  • Safran completes L-1 acquisition, becomes world’s biometric leader

    In the latest series of purchases by traditional defense firms seeking to diversify their portfolios, French defense company Safran recently completed its $1 billion acquisition of biometric solution provider L-1 Identity Solutions making it the world’s market leader in biometrics

  • Turning sport vehicle into military machine

    U.K. companies to transform a proven sports vehicle into a high performance, off road vehicle for special forces, border patrol, reconnaissance, rapid intervention or strike roles; the Wildcat 500 DKR boasts high speed performance in harsh environments

  • U.S. businesses want fewer restrictions on skilled foreign workers

    On Tuesday representatives from two major U.S. companies, Microsoft and Nasdaq, headed to the Hill to testify before a Senate subcommittee on immigration policies and its effects on highly skilled foreign workers; speaking before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security, Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general Counsel, urged lawmakers to ease restrictions and immigration laws for skilled overseas workers

  • Expanding Yuma flight testing schedule for Argus UAV

    The World Surveillance Group (WSGI) revealed its plans of extending the flight testing schedule for its strange-looking Argus One UAV at the Yuma facilities at the U.S Army grounds in Arizona

  • Portable biometric system for police officers

    Police now have a new low-cost, portable biometric tool in their arsenal to quickly and accurately identify a suspect: an Apple iPhone; using MORIS (Mobile Offender Recognition and Information System), an app developed by BI2 Technologies, police officers can now use an Apple iPhone to scan a suspect’s fingerprint or snap a photo of their face to scan their iris

  • Taser death leads to $10 million payout

    The manufacturer of police Tasers recently awarded $10 million to a North Carolina family after a teenager was killed when he was shocked with a stun gun; Darryl Turner, a seventeen year old boy, died in a supermarket after a police officer shot him in the chest with a Taser Model X26 electronic control device in 2008

  • Detecting fake Web sites

    A team of researchers develop a new — and more reliable — way to detect fake Web sites; the team developed five categories with thousands of cues, finding that the best results were attained when utilizing thousands of highly visible and also deeply embedded cues, such as placement, URL length, the number of links, characters types on the site and how thorough the site’s “frequently asked questions” section is detailed, among other features

  • Gwinnet County, Georgia to issue instant e-tickets

    In the past, in Gwinnet County, Georgia, like in many counties across the United States, residents would not see a traffic ticket on their records until several weeks later, but now thanks to new technology, police officers, fire marshals, and animal control agents will be able to issue and print citations immediately

  • Taser, Metal Storm collaborate on less lethal ammunition

    TASER International has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Metal Storm Limited and to develop and market TASER less-lethal ammunition for the Metal Storm MAUL weapon; Metal Storm’s MAUL weighs 800 grams can be fitted as an accessory to an assault rifle, or operated from its own shoulder stock or pistol grip attachments

  • Next generation firewall market to grow 24 percent annually through 2014

    The global next-generation firewall market will grow at a CAGR of 24 percent over the period of 2010-14; the market is currently being driven by the increasing number and intensity of security threats on the Web