• Pakistani court convicts, sentences 5 American for terrorism

    Five young Americans from the Washington, D.C. area, captured in Pakistan last December, were convicted of terrorism and sentenced to 10 years in prison each; prosecutors said e-mail records and witness statements proved they were plotting terror attacks in Pakistan and conspired to wage war against nations allied with it, a reference to Afghanistan; one of the convicted Americans left behind a farewell video in the United States showing scenes of war and casualties and saying Muslims must be defended

  • Supreme Court: Humanitarian aid to terrorist organizations is illegal

    Many terrorist organizations also provide basic services such as education, health, and welfare to the people they say they represent; since the corrupt and ineffective central governments do not provide such services, militant organizations step in to fill the void; those who send money to these organizations or provide other help argue that they aim to support the humanitarian activities of the these organizations, not their terror campaigns; the U.S. Supreme Court says this is a distinction without a difference; there is also no violation of the First Amendment here: “independently advocating for a cause is different from the prohibited act of providing a service to a foreign terrorist organization,” the Court ruled

  • Insuring cities against terrorist attacks

    Do small towns really need to spend money for terrorism insurance? To collect on such policies, an act of terrorism has to be certified by the U.S. attorney general, the Department of the Treasury and the secretary of state; there also has to be at least $5 million in damage and an intent to coerce or influence U.S. policy; nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological attacks are excluded

  • USAF chooses Missouri, Montana bases for MQ-1, MQ-9 ground control stations

    The U.S. Air Force on Monday announced its basing decision for the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper ground control stations: Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, and Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota

  • Would-be terrorists in U.S. hobbled by logistics

    Explosives experts say there are many reasons for the string of bomb failures in recent attempts by would-be terrorists in the United States; among them: it is hard to get explosive materials in the United States; putting together a bomb is a complicated process; and these kinds of attacks require a team to get them off the ground

  • Street microphones eavesdrop on crimes

    The city of Coventry has installed microphones on street at the city center; the microphones detect suspect sounds, including trigger words spoken at normal volumes as well as angry or panicked exchanges before they become violent; operators can then direct police straight to the scene

  • Political summits should be held in remote locations

    Canadian security expert says that holding the G8 summit in Toronto makes no sense; bringing world leaders to an urban setting escalates cost — and risk; “it is overwhelmingly easier to get a device such as a powerful dirty bomb into Toronto than it would have been into Kananaskis [Alberta],” where the 2002 G8 summit was held

  • Myanmar's nuclear ambitions exposed

    Robert Kelley, an experienced former inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), analyzed materials smuggled to the West by a scientists who defected from Myanmar, and wrote that the kind of nuclear research work Myanmar is doing leads to the inescapable conclusion that such work is “for nuclear weapons and not civilian use or nuclear power”

  • Forecasting the misuse, and abuse, of evolving technologies

    New project aims to identify and assesses future threats posed by the abuse of evolving science and technology knowledge; examples could include the development of new infectious bacteria or viruses resistant to known medical treatments, or the invention of materials with camouflaging properties for covert activity

  • Who is to blame for delays in installing surveillance cameras in NYC?

    The project of installing surveillance cameras in New York subways was meant to be completed by Lockheed martin by August 2008; now, nearly two years later, the best-case scenario is completion (by a company or companies other than Lockheed) of a scaled-back electronic security system by some time in 2012; Lockheed Martin, NYC blame — and sue — each other for contract violations

  • Study: Pakistan's ISI military intelligence directly funds, trains, directs Taliban

    New study argues that Pakistan’s secret service, the ISI, directly funds and trains the Afghan Taliban, and provides its fighters with intelligence and logistical support; “Pakistan appears to be playing a double game of astonishing magnitude,” the report says; “There is thus a strong case that the ISI orchestrates, sustains and shapes the overall insurgent campaign,” it said

  • U.K. government slashes police's cybercrime budget by 30 percent

    When on the opposition benches, Tory MP James Brokenshire (Old Bexley & Sidcup) said: “if you don’t prioritize cybercrime you compromise national cyber-security”; he is now a junior Home Office minister, presiding over a 30 percent cut in the cybercrime budget of the U.K. national police; security experts, industry, and academics are not happy

  • Mexican drug cartels smuggling illegals into U.S. create security risk, officials say

    DHS has defined several countries — primarily China, but also Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan — as “special interest countries”; smuggling potential terrorists and citizens of special interest countries across the U.S. border is evolving into a billion dollar industry for Mexican drug cartels, posing a significant threat to the United States

  • Questions about killing of 15-year old Mexican boy by U.S. Border Patrol agent

    A 15-year old Mexican, Sergio Hernandez, was shot dead by a U.S. Border Patrol agent; the agent was on the U.S. side of the border, and Hernandez and his friends on the Mexican side; unnamed U.S. sources say Hernandez was a known ” juvenile smuggler,” and that in 2009 he was charged with alien smuggling; he was also on a “most wanted” list of juvenile smugglers compiled by U.S. authorities in the El Paso area; the Border Patrol says its agents came under “assaulted with rocks” by Hernandez and his friends; the Mexican government wants to know whether it was necessary to shoot a teen-ager dead for throwing rocks

  • Obama's 29 May 2009 cybersecurity speech: a year on

    On 29 May 2009 president Obama said “America’s economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cybersecurity”; since then the United States has moved systematically toward enhancing cybersecurity through the following initiatives, but much remains to be done