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Metro Group, IBM lead Europe's largest RFID rollout
IBM, German retailer Metro Group — the world’s fourth largest retailer — roll out Europe’s largest RFID project, using IBM technology; suppliers from China and Vietnam are already participating; health experts argue that implementing similar systems throughout the food supply chain would improve health and safety and protect consumers from tainted food; business analysts say RFID would increase efficiency and allow better management of inventories
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Businesses should consider the risks of "presenteeism"
It is not a good idea for sick employees to drag themselves — and their germs — into work; this could have costly impact on an organization, not only in terms of risking the spread of disease, but also in terms of diminished productivity, quality, and attention to safety
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Eight-day IT outage would cripple most companies
Survey finds that most companies could not withstand a regional disaster because they are built to overcome severe outages lasting only up to seven days; experts say companies must make the business continuity plans more robust so they endure outages of at least thirty days
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Interim government review of U.K. summer flooding published
Interim review addresses the issues of managing flood risk, groundwater monitoring, local and national planning and response, public information, and public preparedness; the Review draws seventy-two interim conclusions, awaiting further information and evidence before being put forward in firm recommendations next summer
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What should business continuity expect in 2008
What should business continuity managers expect in 2008? Implementation of new standards; development of new terminology; greater coordination with the surrounding community; progress toward more formal performance benchmarks; and a financial squeeze in the U.S. owing to the subprime mortgage crisis
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AT&T: Disaster planning low priority for small business
36 percent of smaller businesses (fewer than 100 employees) reported that business continuity planning is either not a priority or not important — compared with 27 percent of large companies
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Katrina victims inundate Army Corps with trillions in claims
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers faces more than 489,000 claims for the damage and deaths in the post-Katrina flooding; one claim alone seeks $3 quadrillion in damages, almost all of it for personal injury; this is 3 followed by 15 zeros — about 250 times the U.S. GDP
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200 Quebec municipalities have no emergency plan
Lack of disaster preparedness is not only a U.S. problem: In 2001 the Quebec government passed a law requiring all municipalities to have an emergency plan in place to deal with natural disaters; a recent survey finds that 20 percent of them do not have such plans
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Accreditation program for labs which test body armor
In the last three decades, the lives of more than 3,000 officers were saved by body armor; many, though, lost their lives or were injured when they were wearing ineffective body armor; NIST, Justice create program for accrediting labs which test and certify body armor
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Bioterror surveillance uneven from state to state
What is even worse than being a subject to bioterror attack? Answer: Being subject to such an attack in Mississippi; state is among six states scoring the worst scores on compatibility with CDC’s National Electronic Disease Surveillance System
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Communication's last mile especially vulnerable to pandemic
As much as 40 percent of the U.S. workforce would be unable to go to work during peak periods of an outbreak, “and you don’t get to pick which 40 percent that could be,” says Greg Garcia, DHS’s assistant secretary of cybersecurity and communications
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Improving protection of customers' personal data
The FBI says that hackers steal $67.2 billion worth of personal information from the data bases of U.S. companies every year, and the amount is only growing; with so much at stake, hackers will try to get some of it; here are five easy steps to bolster the security of customers’ personal data your company holds
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IBM's billion dollar security push to transform Big Blue
IBM’s 2008 multi-billion dollar push into corporate security would offer end-users new and improved policy, management, and reporting solutions — but with its new security push, integration also has become critical within IBM’s own corporate structure, as it melds various product groups and structures to execute on its vision.
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DHS urges Americans to make a New Year's resolution to be prepared
DHS says the New Year is a perfect time to Resolve to be Ready; department’s Ready Campaign outlines top ten items for a basic emergency supply kit so that Americans can keep their preparedness resolutions next year
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Intensified efforts to combat identity theft
Identity theft is one of the highest priorities for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission; agency is playing a lead role in preventing identity theft and helping those who are victimized
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More headlines
The long view
Using Drone Swarms to Fight Forest Fires
Forest fires are becoming increasingly catastrophic across the world, accelerated by climate change. Researchers are using multiple swarms of drones to tackle natural disasters like forest fires.
How Climate Change Will Affect Conflict and U.S. Military Operations
“People talk about climate change as a threat multiplier,” said Karen Sudkamp, an associate director of the Infrastructure, Immigration, and Security Operations Program within the RAND Homeland Security Research Division. “But at what point do we need to start talking about the threat multiplier actually becoming a significant threat all its own?”