• U.K. banks lax on Internet fraud

    U.K. Payments Administration (formerly APACS) reports that online banking fraud reached £52.5 million in 2008, more than doubling from the £22.6 million recorded in 2007; not all banks take measures which are adequate

  • More swine flu cases at U.S. colleges as students return

    CDC spokesperson: “I don’t think we’re surprised by the fact influenza is returning to these campuses. What is concerning to us is people becoming complacent about this and not taking the steps we know can protect them”

  • New Orleans storm pumps do not protect city

    The Army Corps of Engineers quickly installed new storm control pumps in New Orleans in the months after Katrina; trouble is, these pumps do not protect the city, the the Corps could have saved $430 million in replacement costs by buying proven equipment

  • Worries about Iraq's biometric database

    The U.S. biometric database in Iraq, now containing identification information on more than 2.5 million Iraqis, has been helpful to U.S. troops in identifying the bad guys and thwarting acts of terror; as the U.S. forces prepare to leave Iraq, worries grow that the same database may be used for monitoring critics of the regime and for political repression

  • CCTVs do not help U.K. cut crime

    The United Kingdom has around four million CCTVs installed (one camera for every fourteen people); it takes 1,000 CCTV cameras to solve a single crime, London’s Metropolitan Police has admitted

  • Earmarks work their way into the stimulus package budget

    Whitetail, Montana, an unincorporated town with a population of 71, sits on the U.S.-Canada border; the Whitetail border checkpoint sees about three travelers a day; still, the sleepy checkpoint received $15 million under President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan; critics wants to know why

  • U.K. to share fingerprints with Canada, Australia

    U.K., Canada, and Australia have begun to implement the fingerprint data sharing among g them, aiming to catch criminals and better evaluate the cases of asylum seekers; U.S., New Zealand will soon join

  • U.K. considers Taser's latest device

    Taser’s new “eXtended Range Electronic Projectile” is, according to the company, “the most technologically advanced projectile ever deployed from a 12-gauge shotgun”; the Home Office considers equipping policemen with the device

  • Judge prohibits VIP from selling customers' personal data

    VIP shut down its Clear airport fast pass service on 22 June; the 260,000 customers who gave their full names, Social Security numbers, and biometric identifiers such as finger prints and iris scans to the company do not want the defunct company to sell their information a third party; a judge agrees, but the order could be withdrawn

  • Security experts float plan for GA airport security ratings

    There are 15,000 private planes flying in the United States with no security rules; these planes use a network of 4,700 small airports which themselves are only lightly monitored for security; security experts say it is time for general aviation to be monitored more carefully for security

  • Israeli military train for next round with Hezbollah

    During the summer 2006 war with Hezbollah, the Israeli military had difficulties locating rocket launchers — and Hezbollah fighters — hiding in bunkers and tunnels in heavily forested areas and under civilian buildings; two new Israeli training centers, made entirely of rubber, will provide a mock Lebanese village connecting to a forest

  • Peru, Bolivia in (so far) war of words over Miss Universe costume

    The two Latin American countries claim that the La Diablada costume — part of an Andean ritual — which Miss Peru intends to wear during Sunday’s contest, belong to their country and only their contestant has the right to wear it in the pageant

  • In Photo ID case, security concerns win out over religious beliefs

    An employee of Sunoco refused, on religious grounds, to allow his picture for an ID; a judge rules that owing to security considerations, the company does not have to accommodate the employee

  • Perimeter security: much is yet to be done

    Multiple jurisdictions, a large number of stake holders, and lack of extensive and specific mandates from TSA make airport perimeter security a daunting task — a task which many airports are yet to address effectively

  • Sweden builds a new Baltic Sea surveillance system

    After the mysterious disappearing of a Maltese-flagged cargo ship with a Russian crew in Swedish waters, Sweden decides to deploy a maritime surveillance system which will become operational in October