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World running out of cheap coal
Most estimates of coal reserves suggest there is plenty to last at least a couple of hundred years, and a new report does not dispute this; the report says, rather, that using this coal will become progressively more expensive as the world is running out of coal that can be easily and cheaply recovered
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Behavior-based solution keeps airports secure, passengers' privacy intact
Israeli company WeCU says its behavior-based security solution addresses many of the problems now encountered at U.S. airports; the WeCU concept exploits human characteristics and behavior: when a person intends to carry out a particular activity or has a significant acquaintance or involvement with a subject, he carries with him information and feelings that are associated with the activity or the subject; the WeCU system identifies this associative connection by actively exposing the person being screened to stimuli targeted at a specific threat, followed by detection of the person’s physiological reaction, or response, to the stimuli through nonintrusive biometric sensors; the system detects the individual’s reaction without his or her knowledge and without requiring their cooperation, and without interfering with routine activities
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SIA releases guidelines for bringing biometrics to E-Verify
The Security Industry Association, a trade group representing businesses in electronic and physical security, has released suggested guidelines for adding biometrics to the federal E-Verify federal resident verification program
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Salmat offers voice biometrics to mid-market
A 2009 Identity Verification Study conducted by callcenters.net highlighted that the most preferred method of verifying identity among consumers was biometric voice identification; Aussie company Salmat has launched a suite of speech recognition and voice biometric solutions designed specifically for mid-market companies
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Suprema to provides palm-print scanners to Poland, Lithuania
Korean company Suprema win contracts to equip the Polish and Lithuanian police forces with palm-print live scanners; the contracts are part of EU-funded effort to upgrade the two countries’ criminal identification methods so these methods could be integrated with the European Union’s Schengen Visa Information System (VIS) project
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ManTech to buy MTCSC Inc.
Acquisition strengthens ManTech’s C4ISR systems integration and cyber capabilities, and access to new U.S. Marine Corps intelligence customers
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Qaeda's new tactics: heavy economic damage, low-cost operations
In a detailed account of its failed parcel bomb plot three weeks ago, al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen said late Saturday that the operation cost only $4,200 to mount, was intended to disrupt global air cargo systems and reflected a new strategy of low-cost attacks designed to inflict broad economic damage; the organization said the fear, disruption, and added security costs caused by the packages made what it called Operation Hemorrhage a success
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Rare Earth elements in U.S. not so rare: report
Approximately 13 million metric tons of rare Earth elements exist within known deposits in the United States, according to the first-ever nationwide estimate of these elements by the U.S. Geological Survey; despite their name, these elements are relatively common within the Earth’s crust, but because of their geochemical properties, they are not often found in economically exploitable concentrations
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New anti-cybercrime software emulates DNA matching process
The biologically inspired software digitally mimics the DNA matching process used in the real world. The software tracks the sequence of events that follow a hacker’s first access request into a secure network system and creates a “digital fingerprint”
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Boycott damages Arizona convention business
A new study shows that the state of Arizona has lost about $140 million in lost meeting and convention business in the wake of a controversial immigration law; the hotel industry losses during the first four months after the signing were about $45 million; visitors would have spent an additional $96 million during their stays; lost bookings will probably continue for more than a year, multiplying the effect of a boycott called by immigrant-rights activists after Republican governor Jan Brewer signed the state’s new law in April
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Experts: rare Earths elements headed for 2011 supply crunch
The prices of rare-Earth elements remained static for decades due to plentiful supplies, lulling the high-tech industry into a false sense of security; this is no longer going to be the case, with a 300 percent spike in prices over the past year alone; with China currently producing 95 percent of the world’s supply. Japan, the United States, and other top consumers, however, are scrambling to find new sources
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Militants kidnap 7 from Nigerian Exxon platform
After the 9/11 attacks, Bin Laden boasted that he used an operation which cost al Qaeda $500,000 to finance to inflict a $500 billion damage on the U.S. economy; this was not a mere boast: experts say it was an indication that econo-jihad was an integral part of al Qaeda’s strategy to weaken and defeat the West; the recent BP disaster offered an example of one tactics terrorists may pursue in order to inflict serious economic and environmental damage on the United States and other countries: attack off-shore oil rigs: these rigs are utterly vulnerable to attack, and the damage such an attack can do is considerable; in Nigeria, a militant organization is already attacking oil rigs — if, for now, only to kidnap rig workers in order to blackmail their employers for money and political concessions; the ease with which such attacks are carried out should give all of us a pause
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The U.S. rare-Earth industry can rebound -- over time
Rare-Earth elements are not that rare; the U.S. has plenty of the metals that are critical to many green-energy technologies, but engineering and R&D expertise have moved overseas; responding to China’s near monopoly, companies in the United States and Australia are ramping up production at two rich sites for rare earths, but the process will take years
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New biometric system harder to fool than other approaches
Each of us has a unique pattern of eye movements; an Israeli company developed a new biometric security system which exploits this for a simple, hard-to-fool approach; the system tracks the way a person’s eye moves as he watches an icon roam around a computer screen; the way the icon moves can be different every time, but the user’s eye movements include “kinetic features” — slight variations in trajectory — which are unique, making it possible to identify him
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U.S. Internet hosts are essential for criminal botnets
Cybercrime is often associated with Russia and China, and rightly so — but many of the servers vital to their activities are located elsewhere; facilities provided by Internet companies in the United States and Europe are crucial to these criminal gangs’ activities
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More headlines
The long view
Ransomware Attacks: Death Threats, Endangered Patients and Millions of Dollars in Damages
A ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, a company that processes 15 billion health care transactions annually and deals with 1 in 3 patient records in the United States, is continuing to cause massive disruptions nearly three weeks later. The incident, which started on February 21, has been called the “most significant cyberattack on the U.S. health care system” by the American Hospital Association. It is just the latest example of an increasing trend.
Chinese Government Hackers Targeted Critics of China, U.S. Businesses and Politicians
An indictment was unsealed Monday charging seven nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their involvement in a PRC-based hacking group that spent approximately 14 years targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses, and political officials in furtherance of the PRC’s economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.
European Arms Imports Nearly Double, U.S. and French Exports Rise, and Russian Exports Fall Sharply
States in Europe almost doubled their imports of major arms (+94 per cent) between 2014–18 and 2019–23. The United States increased its arms exports by 17 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23, while Russia’s arms exports halved. Russia was for the first time the third largest arms exporter, falling just behind France.
LNG Exports Have Had No Impact on Domestic Energy Costs: Analysis
U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) exports have not had any sustained and significant direct impact on U.S. natural gas prices and have, in fact, spurred production and productivity gains, which contribute to downward pressure on domestic prices.