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Better coastal defenses against large waves
Coastal defenses have to withstand great forces and there is always a risk of water overtopping or penetrating these structures; Liverpool University’s mathematician says we need new concepts for coastal defenses
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DHS, industry promote security awareness month
Companies offer tips on avoiding and dealing with attacks; October will also see major cybersecurity initiatives in Europe, Asia
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Send Word Now completes $14 million financing round
As more attention is paid to alerting people of imminent or on-going disasters, investors pay more attention to companies producing effective, reliable alert systems; Send Word Now benefits
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Hurricane proofing Houston's power
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, residents, politicians, and utility officials say it is time to consider burying electric lines underground in order to hurricane-proof Houston
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FCC restarts public safety network in the 700 MHz band
The Federal Communication Commission revives plans for a nationwide emergency network; decision follows disappointing results of the “D Block” auction
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Invisibility cloak as a protection against tsunamis
Rather than fortifying sea platforms and coastal towns to withstand tsunamis, it may be possible to use invisibility cloaks to make off-shore platforms, islands, and even cities “invisible” to waves
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Stolen laptops "broadcast" their location to rightful owners
Huskies researchers develop a software tool which uses the Internet as a homing beam; if the thief uses the stolen laptop to connect to the Internet, the owner receives information on the laptop location (and Macintosh owners also recvied a picture of the thief)
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Engineers to quake-proof Cal stadium on free-floating blocks
Engineers have solved one of the world’s great retrofit puzzles: how to keep UC Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium from crumbling into a pile of concrete rubble during a major earthquake
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U.S.-based computers launch most cyberattacks in 2008
Computers, or hackers, based in the United States launched most of the cyber attacks in the world between January and September 2008; China-based computers were in second place, and Brazil came in third; United States also led in the number of computers compromised
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Satellite phone company Iridium acquired for $591 million
Iridium made a name for itself for going bankrupt eight years ago and being bought for $25 million; it later donated satellite phones to first responders in the aftermath of Katrina; now it is being acquired for half a billion dollars
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Keep IT security simple
New study of corporate security breaches says that 87 percent of all security breaches could have been avoided “if reasonable security controls had been in place at the time of the incident”
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Text messaging for emergency information
The United States is a nation with a growing number of texters — 3/4 of Americans can text message, and one-third of them do; yet, the method is not effectively used for offering detailed emergency information during disasters
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GAO: U.S. computer emergency readiness team is not ready
Government Accounting Office criticizes US-CERT for lacking “a comprehensive baseline understanding of the nation’s critical information infrastructure operations” and for not exhibiting “aspects of the attributes essential to having a truly national capability,” among other things
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IBM shows hardware-based encryption tool
System x Vault protects data when a server’s hard drive is disposed or stolen, without affecting server performance
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Computer model to help in smoother hurricane evacuation
Software developed at MIT could save lives and money by improving hurricane planning
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The long view
Risk Assessment with Machine Learning
Researchers utilize geological survey data and machine learning algorithms for accurately predicting liquefaction risk in earthquake-prone areas.