-
New fingerprint analysis technique to be used to identify bomb makers
University of Leicester researchers develop new technique to identify fingerprints on metal; technique can pick up fingerprints on metal even after they have been wiped off
-
-
U.K. to spend £40 million on mobile biometrics for police
Project Midas will allow police to use fingerprint information to identify people at the scene of incidents in real or near real time
-
-
Prisons of the future: High-rise structures, smart cards for inmates
Israel is building new prisons based on new concepts: High-rise structures which will deter escapes (how many prisoners will risk a jump from the tenth floor?), and smart cards which will allow inmates to roam unescorted — but monitored
-
-
NYC airports to get $400 million for explosive detectors
Responding to post 9/11 federal mandates, three New York City-area airports invested about $400 million in security upgrades; the federal government has agreed to reimburse the airports for the expenses
-
-
Science and the anthrax case: Case closed?
The authoritative scientific journal Nature says that the FBI’s evidence against Bruce Ivins is impressive, but that the case is not closed as many important questions remain unanswered
-
-
Salmonella-suspect Mexican peppers still being sold in U.S.
The CDC and FDA now suspect the Mexican jalapeño peppers are the cause of the outbreak of salmonella poisoning which has sickened 1,434 people in the United States so far, but these peppers are still being sold in the to U.S., if for a lower price
-
-
Mexicans turn to radio implants as kidnapping for ransom soar
Kidnapping for ransom has become a growth industry in Mexico; in response, more and more Mexicans are having tiny radio transmitters implanted under their skin so they can be quickly tracked and rescued
-
-
EAGLE task order opportunities
With the federal fourth quarter underway, vendors are wondering where end-of-year spending will happen; task order vehicles are an obvious place to look because task orders can be competed and awarded quickly; DHS’s EAGLE task order is one example
-
-
Legal skirmish over Defcon talk shows divide on disclosing security flaws
Gag order slapped on MIT students who prepared a talk about Boston transit authority security flaw reignites debate over what “responsible disclosure” of security flaw means
-
-
Aussies to create private-public partnership to strengthen infrastructure
The Australian federal government has established a $20 billion Building Australia Fund to help finance critical infrastructure projects; trouble is, the country’s tender process is erratic and complicated; new measure aims to correct this
-
-
Kiwis plan for critical infrastructure investment
New Zealand’s government plans massive increase in investment in infrastructure; Finance Minister Michael Cullen: “We will deliver more investment…. You will be hearing a lot more about infrastructure from the Labor-led government in the months ahead”
-
-
Nuclear fuel cycle echnology R&D, $15 million awarded
U.S. Department of Energy awards funding ranging in value from $200,000 to $2,000,000 to 34 organizations to do reasearch into spent fuel separations technology, advanced nuclear fuel development, fast burner reactors, and advanced transmutation systems, advanced fuel cycle systems analysis, advanced computing and simulation, safeguards, and advanced waste forms
-
-
Report calls for long-term homeland security capacity
The U.S. homeland security effort should be long-term in nature and less dependent on the political vagaries of the annual budgeting process; security efforts will be more sustainable if they are “dual use” and offer broader societal benefits beyond just security
-
-
DHS prepares for attack during transition
Elaine Duke, DHS’s undersecretary for management: “A lot of acts of terror take place in times of political change, and there’s an awareness of that…. So we’re looking at — when our political employees leave — who acts in their place … in case of an incident”
-
-
Microchips in e-passports easily forged
Dutch researcher uses his own software, a publicly available programming code, a £40 card reader, and two £10 RFID chips to clone and manipulate two passport chips to a point at which they were ready to be planted inside fake or stolen paper passports; the altered chips were then passed as genuine by passport reader software used by the UN agency that sets standards for e-passports; the researcher took less than an hour to alter the chips
-
The long view
Kinetic Operations Bring Authoritarian Violence to Democratic Streets
Foreign interference in democracies has a multifaceted toolkit. In addition to information manipulation, the tactical tools authoritarian actors use to undermine democracy include cyber operations, economic coercion, malign finance, and civil society subversion.
Patriots’ Day: How Far-Right Groups Hijack History and Patriotic Symbols to Advance Their Cause, According to an Expert on Extremism
Extremist groups have attempted to change the meaning of freedom and liberty embedded in Patriots’ Day — a commemoration of the battles of Lexington and Concord – to serve their far-right rhetoric, recruitment, and radicalization. Understanding how patriotic symbols can be exploited offers important insights into how historical narratives may be manipulated, potentially leading to harmful consequences in American society.
Trump Aims to Shut Down State Climate Policies
President Donald Trump has launched an all-out legal attack on states’ authority to set climate change policy. Climate-focused state leaders say his administration has no legal basis to unravel their efforts.
Vaccine Integrity Project Says New FDA Rules on COVID-19 Vaccines Show Lack of Consensus, Clarity
Sidestepping both the FDA’s own Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee and the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), two Trump-appointed FDA leaders penned an opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine to announce new, more restrictive, COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. Critics say that not seeking broad input into the new policy, which would help FDA to understand its implications, feasibility, and the potential for unintended consequences, amounts to policy by proclamation.
Twenty-One Things That Are True in Los Angeles
To understand the dangers inherent in deploying the California National Guard – over the strenuous objections of the California governor – and active-duty Marines to deal with anti-ICE protesters, we should remind ourselves of a few elementary truths, writes Benjamin Wittes. Among these truths: “Not all lawful exercises of authority are wise, prudent, or smart”; “Not all crimes require a federal response”; “Avoiding tragic and unnecessary confrontations is generally desirable”; and “It is thus unwise, imprudent, and stupid to take actions for performative reasons that one might reasonably anticipate would increase the risks of such confrontations.”
Luigi Mangione and the Making of a ‘Terrorist’
Discretion is crucial to the American tradition of criminal law, Jacob Ware and Ania Zolyniak write, noting that “lawmakers enact broader statutes to empower prosecutors to pursue justice while entrusting that they will stay within the confines of their authority and screen out the inevitable “absurd” cases that may arise.” Discretion is also vital to maintaining the legitimacy of the legal system. In the prosecution’s case against Luigi Mangione, they charge, “That discretion was abused.”