• Law enforcement agencies increasingly use states' driver's license photo databases

    The faces of 120 million people — more than one-third of the people who live in the United States — are in searchable photo databases assembled by officials in all fifty states for the purpose of preventing driver’s-license fraud. These databases, however, are increasingly being used by law enforcement agencies to identify suspects, accomplices, and even innocent bystanders as part of a wide range of criminal investigations. These facial databases, which have rapidly grown in recent years, are generally operated with few if any legal safeguards beyond the requirement that searches are conducted for “law enforcement purposes.”

  • Many law enforcement agencies create their own, under-the-radar DNA databases

    More and more law enforcement agencies across the United States are keeping their own DNA databases of potential suspects. These agencies are doing so under the radar in order to free themselves of having to rely on state and national crime labs. Some agencies are collecting the DNA samples without the donor’s knowledge — let alone consent — and creating their own rules on how and when samples are collected and who should have access to them.

  • EU privacy watchdog worried about "vague" definition of cybercrime

    Peter Hustinx, the supervisor of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), an EU privacy watchdog, said the European Commission (EC) should more precisely define what constitutes “cybercrime” so that personal data is not processed in cases where such processing cannot be legally justified. He said he was concerned about the “quite vague and broad” definition of “cybercrime,” which the Commission proposed earlier this year. The Commission made the proposal as part of a number of initiatives aiming to reduce cybercrime.

  • NSA, DHS award national information assurance certification to schools

    The National Security Agency (NSA) has been in the news recently for its surveillance programs, but the agency also contributes to homeland security and cybersecurity education. The agency and the Department of Homeland Security have launched a national educational certification which helps provide students with an inside track for careers in the field. Two-year and four-year colleges across the United States last week received the certification, called the National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance 2-Year Education.

  • Certified Cyber Forensics Professional certification announced

    Beginning this coming September, cybersecurity professionals will have access to a new credential aiming to validate their skills in conducting digital investigations. (ISC)2 last week announced the new Certified Cyber Forensics Professional certification, which will offer employers and the legal community a better way to evaluate the skills of digital forensics professionals, and the ability of these professionals to conduct digital investigations.

  • ADL trains law enforcement executives in fighting domestic terrorism, extremism

    Skokie, Ill. police chief Brian Baker was one of about forty selected law enforcement personnel to take the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) three-day Advanced Training School course, held in Washington, D.C., on the subjects of terrorism and extremism. So far, more than 850 law enforcement executives have completed the training program since the ADL launched it in 2003. The ADL, founded in 1913, has established itself as one of the leading nongovernmental authorities on domestic terrorism, extremism, organized hate groups, and hate crimes. The organization created the Advanced Training School to offer top U.S. law enforcement personnel resources and information to fight criminal extremism and terrorist threats.

  • Vandalism related to a $1.5 billion open pit mine in Wisconsin leads to charges of "eco-terrorism"

    Gogebic Taconite’s proposed $1.5 billion open pit mine in northern Wisconsin has aroused opposition among environmentalists. As the debate over mining in the area changes from a legislative fight to boots-on-the-ground activism, mine spokesman began to call the opposition a form of “eco-terrorism.” The spokesman referred to acts of vandalism earlier this week linked to construction of the proposed mine. Gogebic’s spokesman Bob Seitz said the company is worried that last week’s vandalism could spark more trouble. “This is eco-terrorism. There is no doubt it is eco-terrorism when your head is wrapped like al-Qaida and people are yelling things at people and threatening them,” he said.

  • In-Q-Tel invests in technologies helpful to the U.S. intelligence community

    Investors may already know that the U.S. intelligence community operates a venture-capital arm whose goal is to provide the CIA and other intelligence agencies with cutting-edge gadgets and software. In-Q-Tel was founded in 1999 to ensure that the United States would keep up with fast-paced innovations in science and technology. IQT initially concentrated on meeting the needs of the CIA, but today the firm supports many of the seventeen agencies of which the U.S. intelligence community consists, including the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). IQT focuses primarily on two areas: information and communications technologies, and physical and biological technologies. The first domain includes advanced analytic tools used to deal with big data, next-generation infrastructure and computing platforms, mobile and wireless technologies like security platforms, geospatial tools, and digital identity analytics like biometric tools.

  • Delaware schools to install bank-like panic buttons

    Delaware lawmakers want schools across the state to install panic buttons similar to those in banks. House Bill 33, sponsored by Rep. Joseph Miro (R-Pike Creek), would require every Delware school to have an alarm system that school staff could trigger to alert law enforcement to a potential threat in the school. “There are certainly tactical situations where you can’t get to a landline or use a cellphone,” said Lewis Schilirohe, Delaware Secretary of Safety and Homeland Security.

  • Also Noted

    NSA surveillance program nabbed Chicago terrorism suspect | Students, emergency teams train for school shooting scenario | Pork-coated ammunition as deterrent to terrorism | Ignoring IT pros’ security advice: the IT-user disconnect | All government, company computers in Australia not safe from being hacked | Is there anything you can do against online snooping? | Apple reports up to 5,000 government requests for data between 12/1/12 and 5/1/13 | Four useful law enforcement apps | 30 graduate from Garden City law enforcement academy | Police, prosecutors urge smartphone manufacturers to add “kill switch” to fight “epidemic of thefts” | AE to hire 130 graduates, trainees for international cyber business | States scramble to attract cybersecurity firms