• Trials for Watchkeeper UAV

    Israeli UAV Hermes demonstrated; part of the U.K.£800 million project to provide the British Army with UAVs for all-weather, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance use

  • U.K. pauses before implementing sweeping surveillance scheme

    The U.K. government said it wanted to give law enforcement sweeping power to collect electronic data as a measure to prevent terrorism; the government now says it will engage in consultations to make sure citizens’ privacy is not violated

  • Battery-free, multi-detection wireless sensors

    Home food and beverage safety monitoring, remote water purity testing, more effective chemical and biological sensors are all potential applications

  • Briefly noted

    As ports RFID deadline approaches, applications flood in… eMentum wins $23 million Contract to provide identity management services to DOJ… Early spotting of a potential IT train wreck… Getting the facts straight on cybersecurity

  • Boeing unveils robo-copter program

    With the U.S. forces increasing their activity in northwest Pakistan, Boeing announces a development program of a weapon system suitable for this and similar missions

  • Briefly noted

    U.S. Army signs $75 million contract for passive RFID… U.S. government to take over screening from airlines… IT security sector faces major changes… Senators propose changes at DHS

  • Portable imaging system helps response to natural disasters

    Yellow Jackets researchers develop an imaging system which can be affixed to a helicopter to create a detailed picture of an area devastated by a hurricane or other natural disaster

  • U.K. security services push for expanded surveillance power

    U.K. security services are pushing for a massive expansion of electronic surveillance in the United Kingdom, in the face of opposition from the Treasury and the Cabinet Office

  • New surveillance program will use military satellites to cover U.S.

    President Bush signed bill which allows the National Applications Office (NAO) to begin operating a stringently limited version of a program which would turn military spy satellites on the United States, sharing imagery with other federal, state, and local government agencies

  • U.S. government to take counterterrorism local

    The federal government says local police efforts to record and share activities that could be related to terrorism are critical to the government’s counterterrorism effort; the creation and coordination of a uniform system of reporting among thousands of jurisdictions is a problem, though

  • Setback: Laser breaks "unbreakable" quantum communications

    Quantum encryption was supposed to make communication completely secure — because quantum mechanics makes it impossible for an eavesdropper to emulate the receiver’s photon detection methods; researchers find flaw in commonly used encryption devices which does allow an eavesdropper to fool the receiver

  • Schwarzenegger terminates RFID skimming

    As RFID technology becomes more pervasive — people now use it to gain access to offices, properties, children’s nurseries, parking lots, and others areas — concerns have been growing about wireless “skimming” of the information on the RFID tags; California now bans the practice

  • SA police to buy mini-UAVs

    South Africa is host to the 2010 Soccer World Cup; in preparation, the SA police is buying mini-UAVs and integrating them into the force; the UAV — Kiwit — is carried in a suitcase, weighs 3.5 kg, and can be assembled by a single person in five minutes

  • China spying on Skype users

    Canadian researchers find that China engages in a massive surveillance campaign of users of Tom-Skype, a joint venture between Chinese mobile firm TOM Online and U.S.owened Skype; sensitive words such as “Tibet,” “Taiwan independence,” the Falun Gong, and political opposition to the Communist Party of China are censored and logged

  • New nuclear watchdog created

    Anti-proliferation activists create the World Institute for Nuclear Security; funded with private and government funds, it will be headquartered in Vienna — next to the IAEA; it aims to facilitate sharing information to improve security at the world’s nuclear sites