• U.S. worried that Mexico may be on verge of collapse

    With drug-related killings doubling in 2008 over 2007, and with drug lords becoming more brazen in their attacks on the state, the U.S. Joint Forces Command warns of the potential for “rapid and sudden collapse” of the Mexican government

  • Heartland says it has fixed security problem

    Heartland Payment Systems, the sixth-largest payment processor in the United States, processes payments for 250,000 companies; thieves install malicious program on company’s computers which captured data as it flowed across the network

  • 40 al-Qaeda terrorists dead after failed experiment with plague weapon

    40 al-Qaeda members died after being exposed to the plague during a biological weapons test; test took place in cave hideouts in Tizi Ouzou province, 150 kilometres east of the Algerian capital Algiers

  • Offset, or "Move off the Straight Line"

    The human body likes to move in straight lines; standing still or moving in straight lines, however, is a dead giveaway to your opponent of your whereabouts, and makes you an easy target for returning fire

  • Napolitano issues first action directives

    On her first day in office, new DHS secretary issues five action directives centering on protection of critical infrastructure, transportation, and on better intelligence sharing among federal, state, and local levels of government

  • Pair behind Chinese counterfeit computer components arrested

    Two California men arrested for illegally exporting sensitive technology to China; pair also accused of conspiring to purchase counterfeit electronic components for distribution in the U.S.

  • Many Bush officials retained at DHS

    Napolitano makes unusual moves to ensure continuity at DHS

  • ETA targets Spanish high-speed rail

    After assassinating a high official involved in building the high-speed rail connecting three Basque cities to Madrid, ETA, the Basque separatists group, warns it will use terror to stop the project

  • The largest data breach ever?

    In what may yet be the largest personal information breach ever, Heartland Payment Systems, which processes payroll and credit card payments for more than 250,000 businesses, announces that consumer credit card data may have been exposed

  • Obama administration to support telco immunity over domestic spying

    Eric Holder, nominee for attorney general, says the incoming Obama administration will support congressional legislation immunizing U.S. telecommunication companies from lawsuits about their participation in the Bush administration’s domestic spy program

  • Israel kills Hamas's No. 3 leader

    An Israel Air Force strike kills Hamas’s interior minister Said Siam and the head of Hamas security apparatus, Salah Abu Shreh

  • U.K. military employs hovering droids in Afghanistan

    Hovering petrol-powered prowler patrols to check Afghan ambush alleys so soldiers do not have to; device may be used by law enforcement in urban areas — and future systems may carry weapons

  • Growing rift among Israeli leaders about war's end-game

    The Israeli military campaign in Gaza has so far been a success — if brutal success — by any objective measure of war: relative destruction and the number of dead and injured on both sides; Hamas, though, is not going to raise the white flag of surrender regardless of these objective measures; Israelis debate on how to end a war with an adversary that does not sign surrender agreements; we should watch carefully, because the war we see in Gaza shows us the future of armed conflict

  • DHS delays e-verify requirement for contractors

    E-Verify was supposed to take effect 15 January, but was delayed to 20 February; system allows employers to verify their employees’ eligibility to work legally in the United States

  • The top 11 contaminants in U.S. drinking water

    U.S. citizens may upset to learn — should be upset to learn — that their drinking water contain disturbing amounts of pharmaceuticals and hormonally active chemicals; the concentrations are small, for now, but individuals with some health conditions should consult their physicians