• Thermal-boosted infrared detection scanners address radiation, privacy concerns

    Iscon Video Imaging’s proprietary thermal-boosted infrared detection technology shows objects and clothing without any harmful radiation; the detection system creates a temperature differential between clothes and a hidden object

  • L-1 Identity Solutions’ Daugman-based iris algorithm passes test

    Rigorous tests by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) find that the accuracy of L-1’s iris recognition technology as markedly higher than prior results, and that improvements came without sacrificing speed; the evaluation also showed that L-1’s accuracy did not come at the expense of template size

  • Thermo Fisher Scientific to acquire Ahura Scientific for $145 million in cash

    Ahura Scientific’s products expand Thermo Fisher’s portfolio of portable analytical devices designed to provide customers with the ability rapidly to identify and authenticate a range of molecular and elemental substances in the field; Ahura Scientific has approximately 120 employees and generated full-year revenue of approximately $45 million in 2009; Thermo Fisher Scientific had $10.5 billion in revenues in 2008; the company has approximately 35,000 employees and serves more than 350,000 customers

  • IBM to acquire National Interest Security

    NISC’s expertise includes systems engineering, biometrics, systems integration, software development, security, analysis support, and critical infrastructure protection; the acquisition will enable IBM to expand its capabilities with federal, state, and local government entities in the areas of defense, healthcare, energy, logistics, and security

  • U.S. military supplier inscribes the weapons it sells with secret biblical codes

    A Michigan-based company with a $660 million contract to supply 800,000 sights to the Marine Corps and the U.S. Army, is inscribing the sights with quotes from the New Testament; the biblical references appear in the same type font and size as the model numbers on the company’s Advanced Combat Optical Guides, called the ACOG

  • Tyco acquires Broadview Security

    Tyco, whose subsidiary ADT is holds the No. 1 position in residential security in the United States, has acquired the holder of the No. 2 position, Broadview Security; the combined company will have about 28 percent of the American residential market; even as the acquisition leads to more concentration at the top of the market, there are still 10,000 companies vying for residential home security business; last fiscal year ADT’s North American residential and small business operation had revenues of $2.2 billion, while Broadview’s revenues were about a quarter of that

  • Stab-proof vests for soccer fans going to South Africa for the World Cup

    This summer’s soccer World Cup in South Africa is going to be poorly attended because many soccer fans have decided not to make the trip: they are not convinced they will be safe in the crime-ridden country; a London-based company hopes to capitalize on this fear by offering soccer fans stab-proof vests; the South African authorities condemn the venture

  • U.S. airlines worry about security fee hikes

    The ailing U.S. airline industry – the industry has lost some $60 billion since 2001 – is worried that the Obama administration is set to hike to security fees passengers pay on top of the price of the ticket; the do not believe they should shoulder the financial burden of added security; an airline spokesperson: “The airlines are not under attack; the country is under attack”

  • Biometric travel luggage for secure, stylish travel

    The biometric business case offers travelers a high level of security for their luggage; the case can be opened only if the built-in scanner recognizes the fingerprints of the individual trying to open it; for family luggage, the fingerprints of several family members may be programmed into the scanner’s memory

  • India awards Implant Sciences $6 million contract for sniffer

    India will deploy the company’s explosive detector – the Quantum Sniffer QS-H150 – for protection of military and civilian facilities; the sniffer comes with a large substance library which includes not only standard military and commercial explosives, but also a wide variety of improvised and homemade explosives (IEDs and HMEs)

  • Quake-proofing U.S. buildings

    An Indian civil engineer has invented a sleeved column braces which help buildings withstand earthquakes; the sturdy brace apparatus surrounds a core of high-performance steel, but is spaced from the sides of the core; the sleeve thus absorbs and dissipates energy, but does not buckle under pressure; several large buildings in California, built in the last few years, have adopted the technology

  • What the Chinese attacks on Google mean for enterprise security

    Chinese government intelligence operatives exploited vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer 6 and higher to launch sustained cyber attacks against 32 Western companies operating in China; the hacking of the Gmail accounts of political dissidents were but a tiny part of the attacks; rather, the attacks were part of a coordinated campaign that targeted the intellectual property of a wide swath of the U.S. industrial base, including Dow Chemical, Symantec, Yahoo!, Northrop Grumman, and Juniper Networks; wide-ranging industrial espionage is a central element in the Chinese government’s effort to hasten the rise of China to a position of global economic hegemony

  • Shooting payloads into space with a cannon

    Using rockets to loft payloads into orbit costs $5,000 per pound; a proposed ling-barrel cannon can deliver cargo into orbit around $250 per pound; what is more, unlike a rocket, the cannon is re-usable; it will take seven years and about $500 million to build the cannon

  • Experts: Chinese attack on Google “one of the most sophisticated hacking attacks to date”

    The cracking techniques used by Chinese government operatives in the assault on Google and 31 other Western companies, used multiple malware components, with highly obfuscated code designed to confound security researchers; this marks out the Chinese attack as one of the most sophisticated hacking attacks to date; why was the search engine giant using the famously vulnerable IE6 remains a mystery

  • U.S. aging infrastructure a national security concern

    There many immediate and long-term economic benefits to investing in shoring up the U.S. crumbling infrastructure – but investing in creating a robust and resilient infrastructure is essential for national security as well: because the United States is the world’s dominant military power, the only real way for enemies to attack the country is through its infrastructure, including cyberspace, making infrastructure resilience critical