• TV operators say FCC's broadband plan is a threat to homeland security

    The National Association of Broadcasters, a group that represents TV broadcasters, says that what it regards as the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) anti-broadcast, pro-broadband prejudice is a threat to homeland security: in the event of a national disaster, broadband service will overload and shut down because it is not meant to accommodate everyone’s data-communications needs at once

  • Uranium-mining nations ignore UN-mandated measures on nuclear terror

    In the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks and the 2004 uncovering of the Pakistan-based A. Q. Khan nuclear smuggling network, the United States pushed Resolution 1540 through the UN, which required states to impose strict security measures on nuclear materials and report on the progress they have made in this regard; many states have not bothered to report — almost all them in Africa; especially worrisome is the situation in Niger, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Malawi, and the Central African Republic

  • Former FBI, Secret Service agents protect Tiger Woods at Augusta National

    Tiger Woods has hired 90 former FBI and Secret Service agents to protect him from his former sex partners as prepares for his first tournament since his sex scandal broke; photos of the women were distributed to the bodyguards to ensure they are on the lookout; “None of these girls are allowed anywhere near him,” one bodyguard said

  • Better military technology does not lead to shorter wars

    Many assume that offensive military technology, such as armored cars and attack jets, makes it easier to shorten the duration of a war; it is also perceived that when the offensive technology is more effective than the defensive technology, it is more advantageous to start a war; new research finds that this is not the case — but the belief that it leads to too much confidence in offensive technology, thus increasing the likelihood of new wars

  • FBI, DHS warn letters to governors could stir violence

    U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies say that in the past year, federal agents have seen an increase in “chatter” from an array of domestic extremist groups, which can include radical self-styled militias, white separatists, or extreme civil libertarians and sovereign citizens; in explaining why the FBI, DHS, and other agencies are worried about the letters sent to the governors, intelligence sources say officials have no specific knowledge of plans to use violence, but they caution police to be aware in case other individuals interpret the letters “as a justification for violence or other criminal actions”

  • Midwest extremists arrests evoke memories of OKC bombing

    Unease in Oklahoma; the alleged domestic terror plot by a Michigan-based militia was planned for April, the month of the Murrah blast; David Cid, a former FBI counter terrorism specialist and now the executive director of the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, formed in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing to train law enforcement officers in counterterrorism measures: “In March 2009 we felt something would happen within a year — we missed it by about a month”

  • FBI, DHS investigate "resign within three days" ultimatum sent to 30 governors

    The FBI and DHS are investigating letters sent to 30 governors demanding their resignation within 30 days; “While there does not appear to be credible or immediate threats of violence attached to the letters, we are working with state and local authorities and continue to assess the matter,” the FBI and DHS said in a joint statement

  • Hillard Heintze security firm branching out to consult police departments, cities

    A Chicago-based security consulting firm, founded by a former Chicago Police superintendent and a retired chief of the Secret Service in Chicago, was named by Inc. Magazine as one of America’s fastest-growing companies; last week the firm announced it would add law enforcement consulting to the services it offered clients

  • More counties join Secure Communities

    Across the United States, 135 jurisdictions in 17 states have joined DHS’s (and DOJ’s) Secure Communities project; Secure Communities offers local jurisdiction an information-sharing capability: if an individual is arrested, his or her fingerprint information will now be simultaneously checked against both FBI criminal history records and the biometrics-based immigration records maintained by DHS, meaning that both criminal and immigration records of all local arrestees will be checked

  • ACLU blasts Michigan prosecutors for bioterrorism charge against HIV-positive man

    Prosecutors in Michigan are charging an HIV-positive man with violating the state’s bioterrorism law for biting his neighbors during an altercation; the ACLU claims the statute behind the state’s bioterrorism law was not intended to cover an HIV-person biting another person; prosecutors charged the man with assault and later added a bioterrorism charge on claims he was trying to use the virus as a weapon

  • Russia builds stealth navy

    Russia is turning part of its navy into a stealth navy; the project uses stealth technology to reduce the ship’s secondary radar field, as well as its acoustic, infrared, magnetic, and visual signatures; two corvettes have already been floated, and Russia plans to have up to thirty vessels of this class

  • Home and business security systems grow in popularity

    There are two misconceptions regarding the installation of security systems to protect your business or home: that these systems are very expensive, and that they are a hassle to use; once people realize that this is not the case, they also find out that these systems have additional advantages: they can protect from other hazards, including fire and carbon monoxide poisoning; and protecting one’s assets by installing a security system might save money on insurance

  • As violence engulfs Juárez, American companies adopt defensive measure

    American companies relocated their manufacturing and assembly facilities to Juárez, just across the U.S. border from El Paso, Texas, to benefit from the cheap labor costs in one of Mexico’s most business-friendly cities; now, as drug-related crime has engulfed the city, these companies are erecting fences, increasing security in factories, and encouraging employees to commute in carpools; managers have gone through kidnapping simulations; some drive to work in convoys for added security

  • Michigan-based militia violent plot investigation included undercover FBI agent

    The Michigan-based Hutaree group planned to kill a large number of law enforcement officers by mimicking the manner in which IEDs are used in Iran and Afghanistan against American soldiers; the purpose was to trigger a wide-spread, violent revolt against the U.S. government; some of information about the group’s violent plans came from an undercover FBI agent

  • Cutting-edge laser technology for crime labs developed by FIU research team

    Determining the precise composition of a substance with LIBS can provide important evidence in legal proceedings. Trace elemental analysis for comparisons of glass, paint chips, soils, paper, ink on paper, and metal fragments has been shown to be highly effective; the instrumentation required for this kind of analysis in forensic comparisons, however, has been beyond the reach of many forensic laboratories; researchers at Florida International University offers a solution