• The security of the U.S. communications network, II

    A few vandals, equipped with pliers, last Thursday cut fiber-optics cables in the San Francisco Bay area, paralyzing wireless, Internet, phone, and emergency communication for more than twelve hours; what does this tell us about the vulnerability to disruption of the .S. communication network?

  • Taliban renews opposition to polio vaccination

    Taliban in Pakistan’s northwest territories and Afghanistan renew their campaign against vaccination of children against polio; clerics describe vaccination as “Western plot”; Taliban fighters have attacked vaccination teams in Pakistan’s Swat valley; Islamic clerics in northern Nigeria have embarked on similar campaign

  • Piracy boosts maritime security business

    In London, the business capital of the world’s maritime industry, firms shape decisions on arming ships and negotiating with pirates

  • The security of the U.S. communications network, I

    A few vandals, equipped with pliers, last Thursday cut fiber-optics cables in the San Francisco Bay area, paralyzing wireless, Internet, phone, and emergency communication for more than twelve hours; what does this tell us about the vulnerability to disruption of the U.S. communication network?

  • Hackers made off with more than 285 million records in 2008

    Hackers managed to steal 285 million private records in 2008; 93 percent of all compromised records in its study came from the financial sector

  • DHS seeks nuclear detection research

    DHS is looking to award $3 million this summer for nuclear detection technology exploratory research that could lead to a dramatic improvement in the U.S. nuclear detection capabilities

  • AT&T increases reward in cable vandalism to $250,000

    Late last eek vandals cut fiber optic cables in three California counties, disrupting communication and commerce; AT&T increases reward for information which will lead to capturing the vandals

  • Lieberman wants U.S.-Mexico border security funding in supplemental

    President Obama has submitted a $83.4 billion supplemental request to Congress which contains $66 million in additional aid to Mexico’s anti-drug efforts (Congress has already allocated about $700 million to Mexico — including $300 million in the recently enacted fiscal 2009 omnibus spending bill); leading senators say more should be done to shore-up border protection, and they propose an amendment to the supplemental which would add $550 million in border security funding

  • Officials ponder the lessons of Columbine

    Next week will mark ten years to the Columbine High shooting; hundreds of millions have been invested in school security, but money is drying up, and emphasis on campus security is weakening; some say say simpler, cheaper measure would be best in any event

  • Protection from terrorism affects far reaches of Montana

    When you think of terrorism and preparations for terrorist attacks, you think of big cities; the remote precincts of Montana, however, are not exempt; the local inhabitants, who foot the bill for local homeland security, want to know whether rural dams are really terrorist targets

  • DHS adds $100 million to emergency food bank

    DHS secretary Napolitano announces $100 million in stimulus package funds for Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP); EFSP, created twenty-six years ago, has so far distributed more than $3.4 billion in federal funds for food and shelter

  • IAF's fighter jets intercept Delta Airlines plane for lack of communication

    A state of emergency declared at Ben-Gurion Airport after Delta Airlines airplane headed to Israel failed to contact control tower due to technical problem

  • Iran makes a major step toward the bomb

    Iran inaugurated its the country’s first nuclear fuel production plant, allowing it to produce enough plutonium for two bombs a year; at the same time it is increasing the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges; Iran already has enough enriched uranium for one bomb

  • CBP unveils plan to modernize U.S. land ports of entry

    Funds from the stimulus package — $720 million to be exact — will be directed toward address infrastructure needs at ports of entry

  • Seeing through concrete, clearly

    Insurgents and terrorists fight from within civilian structures, making it difficult for soldiers and first responders to respond without injuring many civilians; DARPA wants a solution which would allow soldiers to look through concrete walls and give them a detailed picture of a building’s interior — right down to the fixtures