• Keyboard strokes reveal who you are – and whether your are stressed

    The rhythms of a person’s typing style are stable over time, allowing computers and ATMs to identify you; researchers suggest key strokes could be used not only to verify identity but also to detect stress or even spot early signs of Alzheimer’s disease

  • Debate intensifies over full-body scanners

    The Christmas Day near-bombing invigorated an already-keen interest in whole-body scanners; there is debate going on over the effectiveness – and health risks – of the two main technologies available: millimeter-wave radiation and backscatter radiation; some suggest soft chemical ionization as an alternative

  • Court finds Taser use by police officer during traffic stop was “excessive force”

    In what legal scholars describe as a landmark ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit could set the first broad judicial standards for the use of Tasers; the case involves a California police officer who tased a passive driver during a routine traffic stop in 2005; the court found that the facts of the case clearly show that the driver was never a threat to the officer

  • Solid Oak sues China, Lenovo for stealing Green Dam code

    The Chinese government wanted to install a Green Dam around the computers used by Chinese – officially for the purpose of preventing the spread of pornography and other unseemly digital contents; the plan was abandoned after it became clear that the true purpose was to control the spread of political contents and help the government better monitor political dissent; U.S. software security firm charges that in the process of creating the dam, the Chinese government and Chinese companies – but also several non-Chinese companies which stood to gain from participating in the scheme — stole its code; it mow demands $2.2 billion in compensation

  • Foreign investment in U.S. infrastructure causes security concerns

    Following the firestorm which erupted over the sale of management operations in major U.S. port to UAE-based DPW, there has been a relative lull in the interest of foreign companies in buying U.S. critical infrastructure assets; that interest is now growing again, and the Obama administration is grappling with how to balance the promotion of commerce with the bolstering of security

  • Implant Sciences offers a solution for would-be underwear bombers

    The failed attempt to bring down Northwest flight #253 on Christmas Day only highlights the opportunities explosive detection equipment manufacturers have to sell their gear to worried airport security authorities; Implant Science emphasizes the competitive advantages of its hand-held sniffer

  • Levee statistics show their importance to U.S. economy

    Counties with levees account for only 28 percent of the U.S. counties and only 37 percent of the U.S. land area – but they contain 55 percent of the U.S. population, more than 156 million people; the total productivity for counties containing levees was nearly 3.3 times greater than it was in those without levees; the average annual income of residents was $1,500 more, and the rate of poverty was 2 percent lower

  • Asia to drive growth of CCTV market

    A string of terrorist attacks in India, Indonesia, and Pakistan has driven governments and private organizations in Asian countries to invest more in security; CCTV manufacturers will benefit from this trend

  • Collecting – and interpreting -- sensor data

    The U.S. military is relying an ever-greater number of cameras and sensors to collect information; there is a need to turn this mountain of data feeds into usable information for soldiers; Virginia-based Samoff offers its TerraSight product as a solution

  • Thermal imaging enters the mainstream

    FLIR guides thermal imaging into the mainstream; FLIR, a leading thermal imaging equipment manufacturer, helps the trend by lowering its price point; a residential thermal imaging camera can now be purchased for $3,500

  • Boston mayor wants to block Yemeni tankers from Boston Harbor

    Yemen is disintegrating, and jihadists are moving in; the mayor of Boston says it is unsafe to allow tankers delivering liquefied natural gas from Yemen into Boston Harbor; “They cannot be coming into a harbor like Boston, where there is less than 50 feet between the tankers and residential areas,’ the mayor says of Yemeni tankers’

  • New visa to make it easier for foreign entrepreneurs to launch start-ups in U.S.

    A proposal will be debated in Congress to create a new class of visa eligibility; the start-up visa would be granted to foreign entrepreneurs if their business plan attracts either $250,000 from a venture capital operating company that is primarily U.S. based or $100,000 from an angel investor; they must also show that the business will create five to ten jobs or generate a profit and at least $1 million in revenue

  • U.S. Army emphasizes new body armor

    The U.S. Army wants better armor for its soldiers; weight has long been an issue with the body armor the Pentagon issues to troops, and the Pentagon has signed an $18.6-million contract with KDH Defense Systems to send 57,000 new, lighter plate carriers to Afghanistan to decrease the load soldiers carry

  • ManTech to acquire Sensor Technologies Inc.

    ManTech will pay $242 million in cash for Sensor Technology; Sensor’s largest customer is the U.S Army through several contracts, including its prime position on the S3 Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity contract, on which it has received more than $2.5 billion in task orders to date

  • A first: Arizona firm punished under hiring law

    For the first time in Arizona, a company employing illegal immigrants has been punished for violating the law; the company has its business license suspended for ten days and was put on a 3-year probation; the punishment is symbolic because the company is already out of business