• Guarding the guardians in South Africa

    Criminals in South Africa found a new way to make money: they open security companies; there are two advantages to these ventures: they get paid for their “security” services, and they are able to learn all they need to know, for their own criminal purposes, about the organizations they are supposedly protecting

  • Dallas cops cite drivers for "not speaking English"

    Is it a crime not to speak English? It is — in Dallas, Texas: half a dozen Dallas cops have given tickets to thirty-eight drivers for having an inadequate command of the English language

  • Boeing eyes energy sector amid defense cuts

    Boeing, the U.S. second largest military contractor, cites its expertise as it bids on slices of the $20 billion U.S. power-grid market; to compensate for cuts in funds for defense programs in which it was traditionally involved, the company is also moving into the helicopters, UAV, cyber-security, and intelligence businesses

  • Kansas officials confident that BioLab project will not be derailed

    Congress has allocated $32 million for the design of the Manhattan, Kansas biolab which will replace the aging Plum Island facility; Congress conditioned the release of the rest of the money on the result of studies examining the risks involved in building a biolab in “Tornado alley”; other states that wanted the lab have been slow to give up the fight

  • How prepared is the U.S. for a bioterror attack?

    The current U.S. bioterror detection program: A federally funded, locally run program with an $80 million annual budget, deploying a network of vacuum pumps that draw surrounding air through filters, sniffing for signs of biological agents

  • China bolsters its information warfare capabilities

    One of the chief strategies driving the process of modernization (known in China as “informatization”) in the PLA is the coordinated use of CNO, electronic warfare (EW), and kinetic strikes designed to
    strike an enemy’s networked information systems, creating “blind spots” that PLA forces could exploit at predetermined times or as the tactical situation warranted

  • U.S. bioterrorism efforts criticized

    The task force criticized President Obama for requesting $305 million in 2010 for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which it called “insufficient by a factor of 10”

  • Congress increases DHS funding 6.6 percent for 2010

    The U.S. Senate Wednesday approved $42.8 billion for DHS for fiscal year 2010, slightly below the White House’s request of $43.1 billion, but a 6.6 increase over 2009 expenditure; the measure provides $397 million for cybersecurity, a 27 percent increase over the 2009 appropriation

  • A-T Solutions acquires anti-terrorism firm

    Trancite software products help with crime and accident scene investigations; other products help with site inspections and surveys; the company also has tools for investigating and analyzing terrorist attacks; this is A-T Solutions’ second acquisition in four months

  • VA hospital builds $750,000 anti-terrorism fence

    Officials at Charles George Veterans Affairs Hospital say that terrorists will not go after military targets, which are hard to hit, but will instead aim for places such as hospitals with the goal of disrupting and disheartening the public

  • iPhones, social networking add to IT security woes

    The security staff at private and government organizations have new security problems to contend with: smartphones and social networking

  • The personal spy: the smartphone in your pocket may be spying on you, II

    The advances in smartphone technology could well be exploited in much the same way that e-mail and the Internet can be used to “phish” for personal information such as bank details

  • U.K. abandons DNA retention project

    At present in England and Wales, DNA is taken from every person arrested; at the last count the National DNA Database contained 986,000 profiles belonging to people never convicted of a crime; the DNA records were supposed to be kept for twelve years; the Home Office says it is now reconsidering this policy

  • Growing demand for IT forensics experts

    As reliance on the Internet increases, so do Internet-related crimes; the growing need to investigate such crimes and find out the culprits and their methods has increased demand for IT forensics experts

  • Victims of foodborne illness press White House for food safety reform

    Visit to White House comes after victims and their families press Senate to pass legislation to protect the public from foodborne illness