• Thermal imaging allows ATM theft from a distance

    ATMs’ PINs can be stolen using thermal imaging cameras; when ATM customers press down keys to enter their personal code number, they leave behind residual heat from their fingertips; thermal imaging cameras can catch these numbers

  • Tomato giant fined for hiring illegal workers

    Last week, the largest year-round grower of greenhouse tomatoes in the United States was fined $600,000 for knowingly hiring undocumented workers; Eurofresh Inc., pled guilty to the charges of employing illegal workers and now faces a five year probation

  • Report finds poor management cause of San Bruno natural gas explosion

    An investigation into the cause of a natural gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people and destroyed dozens of homes in San Bruno, California, placed the blame squarely on fifty-four years of bad management by Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) and the failure of state and federal regulators to notice the problem

  • IBM acquires security threat, fraud detection software developer

    Acquisition extends IBM’s menu of offerings for governments, law enforcement, retail, insurance, and healthcare clients in what the company describes as “the Era of Smarter Cities”

  • Lawmakers struggling to end critical medicine shortage

    Critical shortages for medicines needed in treating life-threatening illnesses have lawmakers and public health officials scrambling to find solutions; this year alone, a record high of more than 180 drugs crucial for treating childhood leukemia, breast and colon cancer, infections, and other diseases have been declared in short supply

  • 2011 disasters cause $55 billion in damages in U.S.

    This year’ natural disasters could cost the United States as much as $55 billion; prior to Hurricane Irene, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climatic Data Center estimated that the nine major natural disasters to hit the United States earlier this year caused an estimated $35 million in damages

  • More than $70 million Irene damages in N.C., hits farmers hard

    As North Carolina begins to recover from the deluge of rain and high winds of Hurricane Irene, Governor Beverly Perdue estimates that the storm caused more than $70 million in damages; Farmers near coastal areas were hit particularly hard with many reporting total losses

  • Anthrax forensics help ID source of Haitian cholera outbreak

    Researchers have discovered the source of the deadly cholera outbreak in Haiti that killed more than 6,000 people and sickened 300,000; the study determined that Nepalese peacekeepers brought cholera to Haiti, when they came to assist the country’s rebuilding efforts following the massive earthquake in January 2010

  • DRC wins DHS contract to help protect federal, state, and local agencies

    On Tuesday Dynamics Research Corporation (DRC) announced that it had won a new blanket purchase agreement with the General Services Administration and DHS to provide a range of support services to federal, state, and local government agencies

  • Vumii unveils new thermal imaging cameras

    Vumii, a firm that specializes in developing surveillance cameras, recently announced the addition of four new thermal imaging camera lines, expanding on its existing line of LED and laser-illuminated cameras

  • Fingerprint biometrics help secure medical data at Arizona hospitals

    As more healthcare networks begin storing patient records electronically, they have become increasingly concerned with security and many are turning to biometrics; a healthcare provider in Southern Arizona recently introduced fingerprint biometrics at its facilities to help secure patient records and increase efficiency

  • Businesses customizing ads with facial biometrics

    In a futuristic turn, some advertisers have already begun customizing their digital ads to whoever passes by using facial recognition software; so far the Venetian resort in Las Vegas, Nevada has been the first to adopt this technology in the United States; the resort has installed cameras with facial recognition technologies near their digital displays to customize restaurant and entertainment suggestions for individuals passing by

  • New Windows worm spreading by exploiting weak passwords

    A new Windows worm is spreading through company networks by exploiting weak passwords; the worm, dubbed “Morto” spreads using RDP, or Remote Desktop Protocol, the Microsoft-made protocol for controlling one computer by connecting to it from another

  • Radiation detection market to see accelerated growth

    The radiation detection industry will see accelerated growth as a result of ongoing homeland security concerns to greater concerns about safety in the nuclear power industry; the growth will involve both increases in the volume of materials required, and in the types of materials being sought

  • Record revenues for Universal Detection Technology

    Last week Universal Detection Technology, which sells early warning monitoring technology for biological, chemical, and radiological threats, announced record high revenues for its most recent quarter