• Northrop Grumman delivers mine detection pods ahead of schedule

    Here are words you do not read every day: a government defense contractor delivers what it was contracted for ahead of schedule; this is what Northrop Grumman did, delivering the mine detection system it has developed for the U.S. Navy three weeks ahead of schedule

  • Mobile communications helps in business continuity

    The essential step for companies to survive disasters: enable people to work from home; instead of using technology to recover from an incident, we are now at the point where we can use it to prevent the incident having much of an effect; the key is to build technology into the company’s operations from the start

  • A first: Engineers build giant dome to contain Golf oil spill

    Engineers have began to construct a giant dome over a large oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; the dome would capture or gather the oil and allow it to be pumped out of that dome structure; the dome would be similar to welded steel containment structures called cofferdams used in oil rig construction, but it would be an original design never fabricated or tested before

  • Passwords may be passé, but biometrics is not yet viable for portable devices

    Passwords may be heading toward extinction, but biometric identification is not yet a viable means of authentication for mobile devices; smart phones and other portable devices do not currently have the sophistication to be adapted easily for biometric technology, and users are likely to be reluctant to carry yet another device and its electrical charger along with their smart phone simply to login to their bank account when not at their desktop computer

  • Data protection manager for the cloud

    More and more companies begin to offer cloud security solutions; Iron Mountain offers CloudRecovery links into DPM; Seagate’s i365 business has launched the EVault for DPM 2010 backup and recovery appliance

  • Drivers can now guide a car using their eyes, not hands

    German researchers develop a system which allows drivers to steer their cars using only their eyes: the wheel is turned in the direction the driver is looking; if the driver is distracted, the car begin to drive autonomously; and this, too: drivers may opt to use an iPhone application which lets them to control the car remotely

  • Companies ignore cloud security

    New study finds that few businesses build security into cloud contracts; in fact, three-quarters of businesses surveyed said they had no procedures and policies for using cloud computing; Sixty-eight percent said end users and business managers — not the organization’s IT professionals — are made responsible for evaluating cloud computing vendors

  • Debate over chemical plant security heats up -- again, II

    Some lawmakers want to toughen up the chemical plant safety legislation, due for renewal before it expires this fall; the chemical industry prefers the continuation of the current measure, which was passed in 2007; the key debate is over whether or not DHS should be in a position to impose the use of safer and less volatile chemical on those plants closest to large urban centers; the industry points out that many plants have already made the switch voluntarily

  • Debate over chemical plant security heats up -- again, I

    The current chemical plant security law was passed in 2006 and expires in October; some lawmakers want to strengthen it, while the chemical industry want the law renewed without changes, saying chemical plants have taken steps to prevent accidental or terrorist-induced releases of dangerous compounds

  • National Security Agency holds 2010 Cyber Defense Exercise

    NSA, service academy experts test advanced tactics and technologies for cyber security in 2010 Cyber Defense Exercise; teams will compete in real-world strategies and tactics for building smart cyber defenses, fending off hackers, and eradicating malware; the West Point teams have won the competition in the last three years

  • Acoustic surveillance for border, critical infrastructure security

    A Montana company offers a new way to secure U.S. borders and critical infrastructure facilities: TerraEchos teams up with IBM to embed new IBM technology into a system of fiber-optic sensors; the sensors are capable of gathering real-time acoustic information, alerting of a possible security breach in remote and often unmanned areas

  • U.S. lawmakers increasingly impatient with virtual U.S.-Mexico border fence concept

    U.S. lawmakers grow impatient with U.S.-Mexico border virtual fence scheme; Senator Joseph Lieberman: “By any measure, SBInet, has been a failure. A classic example of a program that was grossly oversold and has badly under-delivered”; Senator John McCain: “The virtual fence has been a complete failure.”

  • Risks of laser-based uranium enrichment outweigh rewards

    Researchers argue that laser-based uranium enrichment is not the way to bolster nuclear power: the technique, which involves the separation of isotopes by lasers, would save U.S. households no more than about $2 per month in energy costs, while increasing dramatically the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation

  • Smart plastic to be used in food packaging to monitor freshness of food

    New type of smart plastic could be used for packaging supermarket products or transporting produce; the new material has sensors embedded in it which will be used for measuring basic parameters such as temperature and humidity and more advanced markers that indicate produce quality; the new smart packaging will also measure the amount of hexanol — an indicator of deterioration in food — in the vapors emitted from foods

  • Food safety products: global demand to reach $2.9 billion in 2014

    Two trends have contributed to a sharp increase in the number of people who fall victim to food-borne illnesses in the United States and other advanced economies: the centralization of food production and distribution domestically, and the rapid growth of imports of food stuffs and food ingredients from countries in which health and safety standards are weak or are not being enforced; companies which offer food safety products and solutions benefit