• 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

  • New sensors to monitor health of U.S. infrastructure

    Northeastern University researchers are working on developing new sensor systems for cars and trucks that will allow road and bridge infrastructure to be assessed in real-time across the United States

  • Software analyzes news reports to identify terrorists

    Rice University researchers develop artificial intelligence-based computer program which can scan news reports quickly to identify which terrorist group is behind a terrorist attack being covered in the reports

  • Back to Ben Gurion? Israel at the gates of Gaza

    The strategy Israel’s defense minister Ehud Barak is pursuing in Gaza harks back to an earlier Israeli approach — the unalloyed realism of David Ben Gurion; this approach has served Israel well; alternative approaches have not

  • The cyber security agenda of the new administration

    U.S. national leaders do grasp the importance of network security and information assurance — but seeing the problem is not the same thing as solving it

  • Gaza campaign highlights strength, limitations of air power

    Israel’s air war over Gaza is impressive: astonishingly accurate intelligence, continuously updated by a fleet of UAVs; aerial-platform-acquired intelligence instantly overlaid on existing human intelligence; improved ISR systems shorten sensor-to-shooter loop; small infantry units to communicate directly with available aircraft to request rapid fire against a target