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CBP highlights C-TPAT accomplishments
The Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program (C-TPAT) was established in 2001 to build cooperative relationships that strengthen and improve international supply chain and U.S. border security; DHS says program is achieving its goals, with more than 8,000 applicants validated since 2003
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IT security spending to grow despite economic slowdown
Forrester Research finds that companies are still spending to protect their data — and that they will spend more in 2009; respondents to survey say security is an ongoing necessity unaffected by economic peaks and valleys
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Security specialist Core Systems sees U.S. prisons as opportunity
Belfast-based Core Systems provides biometric equipment to prisons in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland; it is now expanding to the United States; with a prison population of 2.2 million; “In the prisons business, the United States is the market leader,” says Patricia O’Hagan, company’s co-owner
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$400 million ballistic missile defense award
The Bush administration awarded Boeing a $400 million contract for Ground-based Midcourse Defense interceptors; it may well be the last large ballistic missile defense contract, as both Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress have shown little interest in the program
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2008 natural disasters cause record loss of life, damage
More than 220,000 people died in events like cyclones, earthquakes and flooding; overall global losses totaled about $200 billion, with uninsured losses totaling $45 billion
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India's bioterror plans will take some time to get off the ground
India is augmenting its preparations for bioterror attacks; experts complain that one of the major weaknesses in India’s ability to cope with a bioterror attack is the lack of interest, so far, of the private sector in being enlisted in the effort
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Russia's hackers a growing global threat
There used to be a time when Russian hackers exposed chinks in American software just for the thrill of it; today they do it for cash — or for political reasons; cybercrime has outpaced the amount of illicit cash raked in by global drug trafficking
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Uranium is good investment
Many analysts, disoriented by the fall of uranium prices from $130+ to about $45 a pound, fail to notice that the fundamentals of the uranium market have not changed
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Political squabbles hobble H5N1 research
Indonesia has had the most cases of human H5N1 flu since 2005; it refuses to share the virus samples with Western pharmaceutical companies unless these companies agree to share with Indonesia the profits from the vaccine these companies develop — and also guarantee Indonesia access to a vaccine in case of a pandemic
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Even in tough times, IT security should not be short changed
In tough economic times, IT managers — as do other managers — look for ways to cut costs and expenses; they should realize, though, that in tough economic times IT security may become even more important than during more normal times
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More secure European electrical grid
Several European Transmission System Operators (TSOs) launch a new initiative designed to improve electrical systems security throughout Europe
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Israel-made UAVs gain popularity among world's armies
Israeli-made Heron UAVs will be introduced to the Afghani theater by the Canadian military; Turkey, India, and Georgia have struck deals for various Israeli UAVs; Russia was impressed with the UAV performance (in Georgian hands) during the August 2008 Russia-Georgia war, that the Russian military is buying them
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AT&T awarded contract to deliver secure Internet connections to federal agencies
The Networx program — Networx Universal and Networx Enterprise — is the the U.S. federal government’s largest telecommunications program, with a ceiling of $48.1 billion over ten years; AT&T wins a chunk of Networx Universal
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H2-B visa program to be streamlined, simplified
The H2-B visa program allows foreign workers into the United States for specific seasonal jobs; the program is capped at 66,000 workers per year; regulatory changes in the waning days of the administration aim to set in place policies favored by the business sector
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Microsoft releases critical Internet Explorer patch
The update fixes a JavaScript-related vulnerability which is being actively exploited through hacked Web sites
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More headlines
The long view
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
A Brief History of Federal Funding for Basic Science
Biomedical science in the United States is at a crossroads. For 75 years, the federal government has partnered with academic institutions, fueling discoveries that have transformed medicine and saved lives. Recent moves by the Trump administration — including funding cuts and proposed changes to how research support is allocated — now threaten this legacy.
Bookshelf: Preserving the U.S. Technological Republic
The United States since its founding has always been a technological republic, one whose place in the world has been made possible and advanced by its capacity for innovation. But our present advantage cannot be taken for granted.
Critical Minerals Don’t Belong in Landfills – Microwave Tech Offers a Cleaner Way to Reclaim Them from E-waste
E-waste recycling focuses on retrieving steel, copper, aluminum, but ignores tiny specks of critical materials. Once technology becomes available to recover these tiny but valuable specks of critical materials quickly and affordably, the U.S. can transform domestic recycling and take a big step toward solving its shortage of critical materials.
Microbes That Extract Rare Earth Elements Also Can Capture Carbon
A small but mighty microbe can safely extract the rare earth and other critical elements for building everything from satellites to solar panels – and it has another superpower: capturing carbon dioxide.