• London to deploy satellite-based speed-control system

    London buses, cabs, and government cars will be equipped with a satellite-based speed-control system: A centralized computer database will contain the speed limits on each of the city’s streets; a satellite will note the location of the GPS-equipped vehicles, and if the vehicle is going over the speed limit, the computer will seize control of the vehicle’s throttle, letting off the gas until it eases back down to the speed limit

  • The security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal // by Dinshaw Mistry

    Pakistan has significantly strengthened its nuclear command and control mechanisms; still, under some situations, its nuclear arsenal may be vulnerable to takeover by extremists

  • DHS 2010 budget increases by 6 percent

    Proposed $43 billion 2010 DHS budget emphasizes border and transportation security, de-emphasizes a national network of sensors to detect dirty bombs

  • U.S. "black" military budget is second biggest military budget in world

    Forget the $490 billion U.S. defense budget; just the secret, or “black,” budget portion of the defense budget — the money dedicated to secret operations and space activities — ranks second or third among the world’s military expenditures

  • New DHS S&T leader: U.S. should brace for "bio-Katrina"

    Dr. Tara O’Toole, new leader at DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate: “There is a possibility, a real possibility, that there could be the equivalent of a bio-Katrina on [Obama’s] watch”

  • The 2010 U.S. defense budget creates winners and losers

    The proposed 2010 U.S. defense budget is 4 percent larger than last year’s budget, but the cancellation of major weapon systems and the reorientation toward a nimbler, lighter military will see some defense contractors win while others will be disappointed; major winners will be defense contractors involved in cyber security, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance

  • Britain to remove some DNA profiles from database

    About 5.2 percent of the U.K. population is on the national DNA database, compared with just 0.5 percent in the United States; the European Court of Human Rights rules that Britain’s DNA database is incompatible with the requirements of democracy, and the Home Office says it will begin to remove the DNA of innocent citizens

  • European Court: Scottish DNA database system is "fairer and proportionate"

    the European Court of Human Rights ruled the DNA databases in Britain, Wales, and Northern Ireland “could not be regarded as necessary in a democratic society”; the European Court considered the system in Scotland “fair and proportionate”

  • ShotSpotter to acquire QinetiQ North America's SECURES

    ShotSpotter will acquire SECURES Acoustic Gunshot Detection System
    from QinetiQ North America, strengthening its position in the acoustic detection arena; 35 localities in the United States already deploy ShotSpotter systems in high-crime areas

  • Canada bolsters air travel security

    The government in Ottawa announced $350-million in funding to boost security at airports across the country

  • DoJ's IG criticizes DHS terrorist Watch List

    Inspector General says Watch List is flawed; FBI was also slow in removing names that should not have been on the list

  • Hackers hold medical records hostage

    Hackers broke into a Virgina pharmaceutical clearinghouse Web site, deleted records of more than 8 million patients, and replaced the site’s homepage with a ransom note demanding $10 million for the return of the records

  • Senators urges Gates to continue production of Stealth fighter

    Utah senators lead group of legislators urging Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to continue production and procurement of the F-22 Raptor and the C-117; other legislators form group to fight Gates’s cancellation of other weapon systems

  • The near future will see self-cleaning materials, water-striding robots

    Researchers at the University of Nebraska and Japan explain a property called super hydrophobia, in the process giving engineers and materials scientists important clues as to how to develop the long-sought super hydrophobic materials

  • Surge in armored car sales in Brazil

    Brazilians have to live with exceedingly high levels of crime — in the late 1990s, for example, the UN ranked the Jardim Ângela section of São Paulo as the most violent neighborhood in the world — at the same time that government agencies, owing to corruption or incompetence, fail to provide security; São Paulo leads the country — and the world — in making and selling armored cars; tax breaks now allow the middle class to buy protection which once was the reserve of the rich