• Premier U.S. physical security event bigger, broader than last year's

    The International Security Conference & Exposition, also known as ISC West, was held in Las Vegas last week; the show saw a 10 percent increase in overall attendance over last year’s show, and also a 7 percent increase in end-user attendance; the show floor — at 15,000-square-feet it, too, was larger than it was last year — featured more than 10,000 products from more than 900 exhibiting companies

  • Shoring up U.K. infrastructure essential to country's welfare

    The United Kingdom suffers from some of the most congested infrastructure in the developed world and a failure to invest in these will have serious impacts upon the country’s long-term economic future; improvements to transport, energy, and ICT infrastructure could increase GDP by an additional 0.7 percent

  • Interest in water technology and business grows

    Some 3,000 foreign visitors and more than 25,000 local participants are expected to attend the November 2011 WATEC, one of the world’s premier water technology events; the emphasis of this year’s conference and exhibition, the be held in Israel 15-17 November, will be on showing how water technology translates into successful projects and enterprises — both for the developed world and those at risk of severe water insecurity; there are about 400 water technology companies in Israel; 200 of them are already exporting their technologies to other countries — exports estimated to be between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion in 2010

  • Hi-tech goggles to reduce number of friendly fire incidents

    The modern battle-field is saturated with autonomous, remotely controlled platforms and weapons, and everything moves very fast; in addition, many of the engagements take place in close quarters; all these increase the risk of friendly fire; DARPA wants a small New York company to develop augmented reality goggles which will tell soldiers on the ground which air assets are nearby, bearing which weapons, thus resulting in more accurate destruction of enemy assets, less risk to friendly forces, and fewer civilian deaths

  • Demand for gov. cybersecurity specialists outstrips supply

    The demand for IT personnel continues to grow, but there has been a subtle shift with regard to the qualifications most sought after; new studies found that professionals with the right IT skills and an active government security clearance earned 12 percent more than non-cleared personnel; in the Washington, D.C., area, the pay bump is 20 percent

  • Iris recognition on the go

    Hoyos showed its iris-recognition-on-the-go solution at ISC West last week; most iris recognition solution require the persons to be identified to stand still and stare into a panel for a couple of seconds; the Hoyos solution allows people, after the initial enrollment, to just walk through a gate or a door; the iris scanner is mounted at the top of the frame, and it can recognize up to fifty individuals a minute as they walk through; individuals wearing glasses enroll without their glasses on, but once enrolled, they can walk through the door with their glasses on without disrupting the system’s recognition process

  • Anti-counterfeiting solution maker expands scientific teams

    According to a 2011 report published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), global counterfeiting losses are forecasted to grow to as high as $1.7 trillion by 2017; the economic impact of this on the U.S. economy alone is estimated to be $775 billion per year; there is thus a growing demand for anti-counterfeiting solutions, including SigNature® DNA from Applied DNA Sciences; the company is expanding its forensic scientific group

  • New radar optimized for homeland security

    A new radar is designed to provide an affordable, modular solution for border protection and coverage of wide areas, offering good detection capability of ground targets and aerial targets, specifically homeland security-relevant objects flying slow at very low level

  • Huawei tries to crack U.S. market again with U.S. Cellular deal

    Chinese giant Huawei Technologies Co. recently announced that it was the finalist for a contract to build a fourth generation wireless network for U.S. Cellular Corp, the nation’s sixth largest wireless carrier; in response to the deal, U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to President Obama to permanently stop Huawei’s efforts to sell network infrastructure in the United States; in the past, lawmakers have vocally opposed Huawei’s attempts to enter the U.S. market fearing that the telecom giant would install equipment that contains bugs that would make it easier for China to steal information, shut down communications, or make networks easier to hack; Huawei is the world’s second largest telecom manufacturer

  • EMC acquires NetWitness to add to RSA

    On Monday, EMC Corp. announced that it had acquired Virginia-based NetWitness Corporation, a firm that provides network security analysis solutions; EMC is one of the world’s largest information infrastructure solution firms and is the parent company of RSA, which specializes in security solutions for government agencies and corporations around the world; NetWitness will become a core element of RSA’s Advanced Security Management Solutions providing it with technology to detect and analyze threats in real-time; EMC’s acquisition of NetWitness comes after RSA recently revealed that hackers had infiltrated their networks and stolen sensitive information regarding its SecurID two factor authentication products

  • Spray-on explosives detector

    A chemist at Oklahoma State University has developed a spray-on material that detects explosives made from peroxides and renders them harmless; the material is a type of ink that contains nanoparticles of a compound of molybdenum. The ink changes color, from dark blue to pale yellow or clear, in the presence of explosives

  • RSA explains how hackers stole critical SecurID data

    Cyber security giant RSA detailed how hackers recently infiltrated its systems and stole critical data related to its SecurID two factor authentication products which are used by the Department of Defense, major banks, and other government agencies around the world; hackers used a “spear-phishing attack,” fake emails containing malicious code, to first gain access to its networks; once inside the network, hackers were able to target high-level RSA employees with access to sensitive information and copy their data; experts warn that these types of attacks primarily exploit people, so educating employees to not open these types emails that may contain malicious code is critical

  • China raises rare Earth elements production

    China has about 30 percent of rare earths deposits but accounts for 97 percent of global production; the Ministry of Land and Resources said Thursday that this year’s production quota of rare earths will be 93,800 tons, an increase of about 5 percent over 2010

  • San Francisco to regulate private biological agent detectors

    Some firms have begun selling building owners and companies untested devices designed to detect anthrax and other biological agents, but city officials are worried that these will generate false alarms; in San Francisco city officials estimate that responding to a false alarm generated by a biological agent detector could cost as much as $700,000; legislation has been introduced to regulate these devices; the bill would require those who have biological agent detectors to pay an annual fee and owners would also be fined as much as $10,000 for false alarms; if passed, owners would have ninety days to register with the city

  • U.S. industrial processes vulnerable to Stuxnet-like attack

    Cyber security experts recently warned that U.S. manufacturing plants and critical infrastructure were vulnerable to a Stuxnet-like attack; industrial plants, transportation systems, electrical grids, and even nuclear plants could be crippled by new cyber weapons that target specialized control core processes; concern has spread after the Stuxnet virus targeted these systems and created physical damage; experts have likened Stuxnet to “the arrival of an F-35 into a World War I battlefield”