• Facial recognition tech helps California police nab two thieves

    With the help of facial recognition technology, police in Lancaster, California were able to apprehend two individuals thought to be behind a string of armed robberies

  • Inspectors uncover Qaddafi’s hidden WMD stockpile

    Last week international weapons inspector found clear evidence that the late Libyan dictator Moammar Qaddafi had large caches of hidden chemical weapons, despite making a promise to destroy all weapons of mass destruction weapons in 2004

  • China syndrome: a giant sucking sound

    Discussions of cyber warfare typically focus on the threat posed by terrorists or nation-states to U.S. critical infrastructure – power grid, water systems, financial institutions, etc.; three former high-level U.S. security officials argue that the threat of China’s economic cyber espionage looms even more ominously; the former officials say the evidence is irrefutable: China intends to help build its economy by industrial espionage and theft “rather than by innovation and investment in research and development (two strong suits of the U.S. economy)”

  • Animal rights activists set fourteen cattle trucks ablaze

    Earlier this month fourteen cattle-transportation trailers were set on fire at California’s largest feed yard by an animal rights group; following the attack, the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) released a statement that indicated an anonymous group of activists had executed the attack against the “horrors of factory farming”

  • N.J. city augments surveillance cameras with spotlights

    Over the next three months, the East Orange police department will connect high-powered spotlights to their surveillance camera system, so that when camera operators spot suspicious activity they can turn on the bright lights of justice and deter would be criminals

  • Spike in violent incidents in hospitals

    Over the past decade, hospitals across the nation have been subject to an alarming increase in violent incidents; in the last five years alone, there has been nearly a 300 percent increase in the number of reported homicides, assaults, and rapes compared to the previous five years

  • DHS: more than 1,600 deportation cases should be closed

    As part of the Obama administration’s ongoing efforts to shift its immigration policy to deporting dangerous illegal immigrants, last week DHS officials recommended canceling deportation proceedings against more than 1,600 illegal immigrants in Denver and Baltimore who were not deemed a threat

  • Bipartisan panel calls for local emphasis in DHS intelligence

    A new report by a bipartisan group of security experts argues that DHS should shift its intelligence gathering efforts away from foreign enemies and focus on local threats by working with law enforcement agencies and the private sector to secure critical infrastructure, the border, and cities from domestic threats

  • Police chiefs at White House to discuss domestic radicalization

    Law enforcement officials from state and local agencies across the United States gathered on Wednesday at the White House to discuss the delicate balance between safeguarding against domestic extremism and maintaining the trust of the residents they serve

  • Torture of USS Cole suspect becomes issue in trial

    At a pretrial hearing, before a Guantanamo Bay military commission, the defense lawyer for one of the accused USS Cole bombers, said his client had been so traumatized by years of torture that he could not meet effectively with lawyers while still shackled

  • Experts: SOPA, PROTECT IP will stifle creativity, diminish free speech

    Legal experts say that Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) are to intellectual property what the Communications Decency Act was to “indecent” online material — an incredibly powerful, blunt instrument that would drastically diminish free speech

  • Water pumps and terrorism-related information sharing systems

    With thousands of local law enforcement agencies, critical infrastructure operators, and concerned citizens reporting suspicious incidents, Homeland Security officials are inundated with data; effectively sorting through that information is a problem, as was illustrated last November by a report that a water pump at an Illinois water utility was broken by Russian hackers; the preliminary report caused panic about U.S. infrastructure vulnerability, but ultimately proved incorrect; it took more than a week for federal investigators to reach its conclusion, showing DHS ongoing problems with streamlining information sharing processes with its Fusion Centers

  • In death al Awlaki lives on

    In a recent security bulletin, DHS is warning local officials that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is still actively seeking to recruit Americans, encouraging them to commit acts of terrorism; in a posthumous video released in December, the radical American-born imam Anwar al Awlaki continues to spread his ideologies, stating “jihad against America is binding”

  • Chinese hackers target DoD, DHS smart cards

    Cybersecurity researchers have discovered malicious code developed by Chinese hackers to target the smart cards used by Defense Department, DHS, and State Department personnel

  • FedEx fined $370,000 for export violations

    Shipping giant FedEx has agreed to pay $370,000 in fines for violating anti-terrorism export measures