• The WiMax interoperability solution // By Daniel Zubairi, CISSP

    Conversation with Mark Adams, chief architect of mobility at Northrop Grumman, on using WiMax for public safety and civil defense

  • U.K. faces wave of data security breaches

    The state of personal data security in the United Kingdom is not good; in the last six months, nearly 100 incidents of data security breaches by government agencies and private sector companies were reported

  • China may have back door into U.S. military computer networks

    A technological sleeper cell: The Chinese have manufactured counterfeit Cisco routers and switches and offered them at exceedingly low prices; U.S. vendors upgrading or replacing U.S. government IT systems used these counterfeit devices — and the FBI and other government agencies are now worried that the gear offers the Chinese undetectable back-doors into highly secure government and military computer system; the FBI investigates

  • Robots in search-and-rescure competition

    A robot competition takes place in Germany this week; the robots compete with each other in how well they traverse, autonomously and without any input from handlers, through a maze resembling the aftermath of a natural disaster; robots sniff out toy dolls that either emit CO2, give off heat, make noise, or move

  • South Korean avian flu situation worsens

    In less than two weeks, South Korea has confirmed eleven cases of the deadly H5N1 strain, which had been contained in the southwest of the country, some 200 miles south of Seoul

  • Scientists create first successful avian flu virus antibodies libraries

    Libraries were developed using samples from survivors of the 2005-6 bird flu outbreak in Turkey; antibody libraries hold the promise for developing a therapy to stop a pandemic in its tracks and provide treatment to those infected, as well as pointing the way toward the development of a universal flu vaccine

  • Forecast: The Big One is coming

    Geologists say that there is a 99.7 percent chance a magnitude 6.7 quake or larger will strike by 2037; California is one of the most seismically active regions in the world, where more than 300 faults crisscross the state

  • Unusual tremors measured off Oregon

    Tremors measured off the coast of Oregon typically precede volcanic eruptions, but there are no volcanoes in the area; quakes have also not followed the typical pattern of a major shock followed by a series of diminishing aftershocks

  • New way to estimate size and frequency of meteorite impacts

    How large was the meteorite which hit Earth 65 million years ago, leading to the extinction of the dinosaurs? Now we know: Four to six kilometers in diameter; scientists offer new methods to measure the size and frequency of meteorite impact

  • Government admits accidents at Plum Island biolab

    The biolab on Plum Island, off the tip of Long Island, is the only lab allowed to do research on the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease; DHS officials admit that since 1978 here have been several accidental releases of the virus into cattle in holding pens

  • Researchers develop nasal anthrax vaccine

    Current FDA-approved vaccine is given as an injection and must be administered in three doses, scheduled two weeks apart; then, to remain effective, booster shots must be given at six, twelve, and eighteen months, and then again each year after for maximum protection; University of Rochester researchers “detoxify” the one of the three toxic proteins of anthrax in an effort to simplify vaccination process

  • FCC approves national mobile alert system

    U.S. wireless carriers will transmit to their subscribers alert and emergency messages during disasters; carriers will transmit text-based alerts to their subscribers; as technology evolves, the CMAS may eventually include audio and video services to transmit emergency alerts to the public

  • Japanese firms to begin IT security rating

    Eighteen Japanese firms announced they were creating the world’s first ratings agency looking at data security, which they said was a rising concern for companies

  • Underwater ears offer information about hurricane strength

    MIT researchers find that hydrophones planted on the ocean floor can “listen” to hurricanes as they form; the sound hurricanes make varies with their intensity — so early listening to hurricanes would help first responders better prepare

  • Anxiety: Human-to-human bird flu infection in China

    A 24-year old man in China probably infected his father with the H5N1 strain of bird flu before dying, renewing concerns that the disease may soon spread easily among humans