• Boom in Pakistan's private security industry

    Pakistan’s deteriorating law and order has led to a boom in the private security industry in the country; companies are investing millions of dollars to train and update their security operations; an estimated 30,000 private security guards have found employment with 400 private security agencies that have sprung up in Pakistan in recent years

  • New scanner allows distant fingerprint reading

    A prototype scanning device can scan fingerprints from up to two meters away, an approach that could prove especially useful at security checkpoints in places like Iraq and Afghanistan; the scanner detects fingerprints by shining polarized light onto a person’s hand and analyzing the reflection using two cameras configured to detect different polarizations; in addition to checkpoints in the field, the device could make authorization more efficient in lots of settings: instead of punching a keypad code or pressing fingers to a scanner, individuals could simply hold up a hand and walk toward a security door while the device checks their identity

  • Biometrics market expected to hit $12 billion in 2015

    A new report estimates that the global biometrics market will hit $12 billion by 2015; the market is currently valued at $5 billion; fingerprint identification technology will see the biggest gains growing to $6 billion by 2015; the market for face, iris, vein, and voice recognition will expand to $3.5 billion; large government ID and security programs are key drivers in fueling growth

  • Low cost, easy to use fingerprint scanner hopes to be game changer

    iEvo has just introduced a low cost, easy to install fingerprint scanner that can accurately scan fingerprints through dust, dirt, water, grease, and even latex gloves; the U.K.-based company has specifically designed the technology with the needs of consumers in mind; its features emphasize easy installation, low maintenance, and aesthetics to appeal to designers, installers, as well as safety officials; the company believes that poorly designed early fingerprint technology that did not cater to the end user hampered the industry

  • Biometric firm that targets drunk workers secures $2.1 million

    TruTouch technologies recently secured an additional $2.1 million in venture capital funding after its initial ten year $60 million investment; the company sells non-invasive alcohol intoxication detection devices that use infrared light; its technology is primarily aimed at preventing workplace injuries and detecting drunk drivers, but is also applied to diagnostic medicine; TruTouch has also recently inked a deal with Takata Corp. to install its devices in cars; the device would measure a driver’s alcohol level and if they are over the limit ignition is blocked

  • DHS pulls plug on virtual border fence project

    DHS has cancelled the ambitious SBInet border security project; the project aimed to erect a virtual fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, consisting of a system of cameras and sensors which would allow officers to monitor crossings and dispatch Border Patrol agents to catch anyone entering the United States illegally; Boeing, the primary contractor, was hobbled by technical problems involving the effectiveness of video cameras and other elements, resulting in the project falling far off schedule; a year ago, after DHS had spent $672 million on the project and Boeing had little to show for the money, the project was put on hold; DHS will now look at an alternative system which is likely to rely more on UAVs and thermal imaging

  • Invisible tanks to be deployed within five years

    British military scientists plan to develop an army of “invisible” tanks ready for use on the battlefield within five years. Armored vehicles will use a new technology known as “e-camouflage” which deploys a form electronic ink to render a vehicle invisible; highly sophisticated electronic sensors attached to the tank’s hull will project images of the surrounding environment back onto the outside of the vehicle enabling it to merge into the landscape and evade attack

  • Ontario casinos implement ground breaking facial recognition technology

    Casinos in Ontario are introducing ground breaking facial recognition technology in May; in tests, the system has had a 91 percent success rate in identifying problematic gamblers; all gamblers will be required to have their faces digitally scanned and run through a database before entering; the technology includes sophisticated privacy guards to ensure privacy and identity protection; it will cost $3 to $5 million to implement and will scan more than fifty million people a year

  • U.S. lacks infrastructure to increase use of ethanol fuel

    Scientists at Purdue University say the United States lacks the infrastructure to meet the federal Renewable Fuel Standard with ethanol; researchers say the United States has hit the “blending wall” and lacks the ability to consume more ethanol than what is currently produced; less than 3 percent of vehicles on the road are equipped to handle ethanol fuels and there are only 2,000 pumps; the federal Renewable Fuel Standard requires nearly three times as much renewable fuel to be produced per year by 2022

  • Android phones more vulnerable to cyber attacks than Apple iPhone

    Android smart phones are more susceptible to hacking and viruses than Apple’s iPhone; the Android operating system is open source, allowing hackers to understand the underlying code; Apple iPhone may have a safer operating system, but it is not impervious to attacks; McAfee warns that 2011 will see hackers increasingly target mobile devices like Android phones, iPads, and iPhones

  • Disgraced doctor had secret businesses to exploit vaccine fears

    Disgraced doctor Andrew Wakefield, who used fraudulent data to “prove” a relationship between vaccination of children and autism — triggering a health crisis in 1998 — has been revealed to have planned to benefit from his fraud: in a prospectus to investors, from whom Wakefield was trying to raise an initial 700,000 Pounds, he predicts the investors could make up to 28 million Pounds($43,367,082; 33,290,350 Euros) a year from the diagnostic kits his company would sell to parents who Wakefield had intentionally scared with his “revalations” about the source of autism

  • New generation of UAVs being tested

    These are not your father’s UAVs; a new generation of UAVs represent a major technological advance over the Predator and Reaper drones that the Obama administration has deployed as a central element of the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan; unlike most of the current fleet of more than 7,000 drones, the new remotely piloted planes will have jet engines and the ability to evade enemy radar; three members of the new generation of drones being flown in the coming weeks are speedier, stealthier, and higher-flying than their predecessors

  • Multi-biometrics combined in one system

    Lithuania’s Neurotechnology releases software that integrates fingerprint, iris, facial, and palm-print biometrics into a single system; MegaMatcher 4.0, Neurotechnology has incorporated palm-print technology along with the latest versions of its VeriFinger, VeriEye, and VeriLook biometric software development kits, all of which are built on a common architecture and feature a common programming interface

  • NEC releases software that configures access policy automatically

    NEC Corporation announced the development of technology that collectively distributes and configures access policy to a variety of computing resources in a cloud computing environment; the newly-developed technology helps to reduce operation costs and to improve security

  • Aussie "inland tsunami" now threatens Brisbane

    The flood zone in northern Australia covers an area larger than France and Germany combined; incessant rain and wide-spread floods have destroyed infrastructure and severely hampered economic activity; the worst is yet to come: Brisbane river has broken its banks, sparking fears that the city — Australia’s third largest and home to two million people - will be flooded by Thursday; public health experts fear that outbreaks of Ross river virus — a debilitating disease transmitted by mosquitoes, which is endemic in Queensland — will increase