• U.K. Home Office terrorism advisory site offered link to a porno site

    On Monday, a new EU regulation went into effect mandating that ISPs store details of user e-mails and Internet calls; a Home Office site contained a link for citizens who felt the measure was too intrusive, and who would want to send the Home Office a complaint about it; trouble is, those who clicked on the link were sent to a Japanese porno site

  • CCTV doorbell could deter, catch crooks

    New CCTV-equipped doorbell takes pictures of people ringing your doorbell, and stores picture for future use

  • £44 million to U.K. universities to share knowledge with business

    U.K. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) created the Knowledge Transfer Accounts (KTA) program to increase collaboration between academia and business; so far, the EPSRC’s KTA programs have awarded a total of £44 million

  • Texas university offers maritime degree

    The growing security mandates imposed on U.S. sea ports, and need to manage these mandates with but minimal disruption of the flow of commerce, have led Texas Southern University to begin to offer a new degree program in maritime transportation; the bachelor’s and master’s degrees will prepare students in three areas: maritime logistics, security, and environmental compliance

  • Dennis Blair ousts ONI Inspector General

    Last November, the Inspector General (IG) at the U.S. Office of National Intelligence issued a report in which he highlighted ongoing problems inside ONI and the intelligence community, including poor communication, turf battles, incompatible computer systems, and mission confusion; last Friday, Dennis Blair, director of ONI, fired the IG

  • California politician wants to censor online maps

    The twin developments of improved satellite imagery and the availability of such images on Google Maps lead many to worry that among the main beneficiaries of these developments are terrorists; in California a law is being debated which would blur features of sensitive buildings and sites

  • Privacy advocates: fusion centers threat to civil liberties

    U.S. intelligence fusion centers — in which federal, state, and local authorities collaborate in collecting, analyzing, vetting, and disseminating intelligence to first responders on the ground in an effort to disrupt terrorist or criminal activity — have grown dramatically since 9/11: DHS now recognizes 70 such centers, and they engage 800,000 state and local law enforcement officers; privacy advocates worry

  • U.K. Tories charge government's legal dodge over Comms database debate

    The U.K. government last year revealed plans for creating a massive central database of e-mail, Web browsing, telephone, and social networking data; U.K. law mandates that such a database be approved by parliament; Tories charge that the government is using the European rules obliging data retention by ISPs — rules which come into effect today — to begin assembling this centralized system, or its prototype

  • A wave of food recalls fuels drive for food safety reform

    The FDA told consumers Monday to stop eating anything containing pistachios; the FDA was tipped off by Kraft Foods on 24 March, after the company found salmonella in routine testing and recalled some trail mix

  • Gates expects Israel to hold back on Iran -- at least in 2009

    U.S. secretary of defense Robert Gates says he does not think Israel would attack Iran’s nuclear facilities in 2009: “I guess I would say I would be surprised…if they did act this year”

  • U.S. cybersecurity law to give feds unprecedented Internet control

    Lawmakers draft legislation giving the U.S. government unprecedented authority over the U.S. critical infrastructure, including the power to shut down or limit traffic on private networks during emergencies; the legislation is intended to protect a broad range of the U.S. infrastructure — including networks for the country’s banking industry, utilities, transportation, and telecommunications — from cyber attacks

  • DARPA wants stealthy 3D building-interior mapping kit

    SWAT teams, special forces units, and first responders often are called upon to storm buildings in which terrorists hide; would it not be better if these units had up-to-date, accurate pictures of the insides of the structures they are about to storm? DARPA thinks it is a good idea

  • Full-body imaging systems deployed to airports

    Millimeter wave and backscatter technologies may be a popular alternative to searches, but privacy remains an issue

  • Sudan attack: update

    Israel used “dozens of aircraft” to destroy an Iranian arms convoy in Sudan in late January; UAVs were used for BDA (bomb damage assessment); sources: there was another Israeli attack in Sudan, in early February, and an attack on a ship in the Gulf of Aden

  • Dubious distinction: U.S. produces most cybercriminals -- and victims

    Cybercriminals defrauded victims out of an estimated $265 million, with the average victim losing about $1,000; two out of three cybercriminals — and 93 percent of victims — were Americans