• Wolfhound sniffs out contraband cell phones

    Wolfhound Cell Detector is a handheld, wireless sniffer specifically tuned to the RF signature of common cell phones; it helps universities, government and military installations, hospitals, law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, and prisons and correctional facilities enforce their No Wireless policies

  • 3M acquires biometric specialist Cogent for $943 million

    Cogent Systems participates in the $4 billion global biometric market, which is projected to grow at a rate greater than 20 percent per year; identification and authentication solutions from 3M include border management products; document manufacturing and issuance systems for IDs, passports, and visas; document readers and verification products; and security materials, such as laminates, to protect against counterfeiting and tampering; Cogent Systems provides finger, palm, face, and iris biometric systems for governments, law enforcement agencies, and commercial enterprises

  • Drive-by full-body scanning

    Massachusetts-based American Science & Engineering is selling van-mounted backscatter X-ray detection system to law enforcement; these vans can be driven past neighboring vehicles to see their contents

  • Iris scan biometrics ideal for Minority Report-like project

    Leon, Mexico has began implementing an iris scan biometric system from New York-based Global Rainmakers; the system, rolled out across the city, will see the eyes of anyone taking money out of an ATM, paying for items in a store, or simply catching a bus scanned by hi-tech sensors; Global Rainmaker’s CEO says the company has chosen iris scan for its project because “With iris, you have over 2,000 points— With those 2,000 points, you can create a unique 16,000 bit stream of numbers that represents every human on the planet. That provides a reference point that can connect everything you do in all aspects of life, for the first time ever”

  • Automatic heart-beat recognition authentication for iPhone users?

    To make iPhones and iPads more secure, Apple is considering implementing automatic biometric authentication technologies on the devices; the authentication procedure will lock the device and wipe all data on it in the event an unauthorized user tries to operate it; the technology may also report back to Apple in the event customers have jailbroken or unlocked the device, allowing the company to deny services to these customers

  • Biometrics replaces traditional means of identification

    Access cards, PINs, and passwords, designed to protect end-users, are not only ineffective against modern day threats, but often end up being used to perpetrate crime; card-based systems will only control the access of authorized pieces of plastic, but not who is in possession of the card; one of the benefits of a biometric technology is that only authorized people — not merely their credentials — are granted access to, for example, a building, a specific part of a building or even a computer or an account

  • Police robot seeks out the bad guys

    Police units in California use DHS grants to buy a robot to go into dangerous places to look for bad guys; the $12,000, 25-pound robot is waterproof, equipped with a 360-degree camera and tracks for movement; it climbs stairs, runs on grass and gravel, and can right itself if it flips over

  • Businesses cope with Mexico security risks, pass costs to consumers

    Faced with the threat of smuggling attempts by criminal organizations in Mexico, foreign companies are simply doing more, spending more, and in the process charging consumers more to shore up security in a country where killings, kidnappings, and extortions have become a part of daily life

  • Shape-shifting UAV for maritime search and rescue missions

    Use of morphing flight surfaces has enabled the development of a shape-shifting UAV that can operate in extreme weather conditions; cutting-edge avionics ensure a smooth flight for extended rescue and surveillance missions, while reducing risks to material and crews

  • In 30 years world to be powered mainly by solar and wind energy

    Total oil and natural gas production, which today provides about 60 percent of global energy consumption, is expected to peak about ten to thirty years from now, followed by a rapid decline

  • RIM proposes industry encryption forum to demands for access to e-mail, messages

    RIM has proposed that an industry forum be established to help governments manage lawful intercept, in the hope of forestalling India’s threatened ban, due this coming Wednesday; the proposed body would be led by RIM, but the company is hoping that others companies threatened by bans — Google, Skype, and others — will join in

  • Securing the global supply chain is daunting task

    The global supply chain consists of 140 million shipping containers; the United States has 12,000 miles of coastline, making it hard to funnel cargo through a limited number of entrances; currently, security officials inspect only 6 percent of all cargo coming into the United States; one security experts says: “If you double that, we still have a long way to go— If you triple that, we still have a long way to go”

  • University's homeland security program comes with job guarantee

    Misericordia University is introducing a new bachelor of arts degree program in Government, Law, and National Security; the program comes with a job guarantee;: if graduates of the program do not find a job or gain admission to a graduate school within six months of finishing the program, the school will pay for internships in their field of choice

  • "Smart Potty": medical check ups, automatic seat-lowering

    Japanese “intelligent” toilets offer users an array of functions — heated seats, water jets with pressure and temperature controls, hot-air bottom dryers, perfume bursts, ambient background music, and noise-masking audio effects for the easily embarrassed; the latest model also offers instant health check-up every time a user answers the call of nature

  • Explore the geometry of cleaning up the Gulf coast

    Fueled by oxygen, naturally occurring bacteria can slowly destroy blobs and slicks of crude oil without the use of additional chemicals; Virginia Tech researchers hope to determine whether the shape of crude oil remnant — be it a flat syrupy sheet or a tar ball — can affect deterioration rates