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The company: Nucleix fighting biological identity theft
Its assay technology is in advanced stages of development. Several patents have already been granted; CEO Elon Ganor made his name mainly at VocalTec, a company that pioneered telephony over Internet
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Police to use DNA "mugshots" as a predictive tool to narrow search
Scientist say that rather than simply try to match DNA to individuals already in their database, DNA should be used to suggest what a suspect might look like
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Pentagon asks Congress for funds for 30,000 bunker-busting bombs
Intensifying the preparations for an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Obama administration has asked Congress for funds to accelerate production of a 30,000-pound “ultra-large bunker-buster” bomb designed to destroy deeply buried installations
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Justice sues bulletproof vest manufacturer for using faulty materials
The Justice Department sues Massachusetts-based First Choice Armor for knowingly using faulty material in the bulletproof vests they sold the military and law enforcement; the company used Zylon, which degrades quickly, especially in hot and humid conditions
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TeleContinuity, SRA to support national communication system
TeleContinuity will help the National Communications System’s (NCS) national security and emergency preparedness programs in providing critical continuity of communications expertise, preserving the ability of federal agencies to maintain Continuity of Government (COG) when it is most vital - during disasters, emergencies, evacuations, or pandemics
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Radiation safety
A new book — Radiation Safety: Protection and Management for Homeland Security and Emergency Response — helps first responders, EMS, and medical personnel understand how to detect and cope with nuclear incidents
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The cat did it: man blames cat for child porn downloads
A Florida man who was arrested for possessing child pornography says his cat jumped onto his computer keyboard while he was in another room; according to the man, the cat’s walking back and forth on the keyboard resulted in 1,000 images of child porn being downloaded from the Web and stored on the PC’s hard drive
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Pakistani jihadists attacked Pakistani nuclear sites three times since 2007
When Pakistan was developing its nuclear weapons infrastructure in the 1970s and 1980s, its main concern was that India would overrun these nuclear weapons facilities in an armored offensive; Pakistan thus chose to locate much of its nuclear weapons infrastructure to the north and west of the country — but this decision means that most of Pakistan’s nuclear sites are close to or even within areas dominated by Pakistani Taliban militants and home to al-Qaeda
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U.K. government trains shopping malls in counterterrorism
Shopping centers are likely to feature in the attack plans of terrorist organizations in the future as they are usually locations with limited protective security measures; the U.K. government wants to change this
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U.K. authorities made more than 500,000 surveillance requests last year
U.K. police, councils, and the intelligence services made about 1,500 surveillance requests every day last year; this is the annual equivalent to one in every 78 people being targeted
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In-building public-safety communication a growing business
The 9/11 attacks exposed a major weakness: rescue personnel had no communication coverage inside the towers; regulations now require that first responders have communications coverage everywhere in a building — or at least 95 percent of it; as businesses and local governments face deadlines for complying with these requirements, businesses offering in-building communication services will benefit
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Powered robot suits demonstrated in Tokyo
Japanese company develops a powered exoskeletal suit intended for heavy labor, rescue support at disaster sites, and use by the disabled or elderly
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Universities, businesses offer solutions for dealing with hurricanes
Three universities are busy offering solutions which better predict hurricanes and cope with the damage they cause; a Bill Gates-supported company is more ambitious: it proposes to kill hurricanes by placing giant ocean-going tubs in the paths of storms
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U.S. military speeds up preparation for attack on Iran's nuclear facilities
The Obama administration’s six-month exploration of ways short of war to persuade Iran to halt its accelerated march to the bomb has, so far, yielded nothing; these efforts, however, have allowed Iran more time and space to build more centrifuges, enrich more uranium, launch a plutonium path to the bomb, and test more sophisticated missiles; the administration can take a hint, and it is now accelerating preparations for a military attack on Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities
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WiMAX spreads to more U.S. markets
Clearwire announced the launch of its WiMax service in ten more U.S. markets with total population of 1.6 million; company on target for presence in 80 markets with a total of 120 million potential subscribers by the end of next year
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More headlines
The long view
Tantalizing Method to Study Cyberdeterrence
Tantalus is unlike most war games because it is experimental instead of experiential — the immersive game differs by overlapping scientific rigor and quantitative assessment methods with the experimental sciences, and experimental war gaming provides insightful data for real-world cyberattacks.
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.
Testing Cutting-Edge Counter-Drone Technology
Drones have many positive applications, bad actors can use them for nefarious purposes. Two recent field demonstrations brought government, academia, and industry together to evaluate innovative counter-unmanned aircraft systems.
European Arms Imports Nearly Double, U.S. and French Exports Rise, and Russian Exports Fall Sharply
States in Europe almost doubled their imports of major arms (+94 per cent) between 2014–18 and 2019–23. The United States increased its arms exports by 17 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23, while Russia’s arms exports halved. Russia was for the first time the third largest arms exporter, falling just behind France.
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?”
The Tech Apocalypse Panic is Driven by AI Boosters, Military Tacticians, and Movies
From popular films like a War Games or The Terminator to a U.S. State Department-commissioned report on the security risk of weaponized AI, there has been a tremendous amount of hand wringing and nervousness about how so-called artificial intelligence might end up destroying the world. There is one easy way to avoid a lot of this and prevent a self-inflicted doomsday: don’t give computers the capability to launch devastating weapons.