• UPDATE: NNSA chief fired for Los Alamos security lapses

    Linton Brooks gets the axe after a series of breaches expose the weakness of lab cyber-security; failure to do away with removable storage devices in weapons-related computers cited; Energy Department starts the hunt for a replacement

  • Coast Guard struggles with maritime surveillance program

    Port of Miami once again provides a sorry case study; Maritime Domain Awareness program confuses waves for boats; Coast Guard stops following the radar after too many problems; Automated Identification System a cause for criticism

  • DHS increases TWIC issuance fees

    Ballooning card production costs force a $10 increase in initial charges, with a $24 increase for replacements; TWIC program looks to manage finances while it sorts out technological challenges

  • GW University launches mall guard anti-terror course

    DC school teams up with International Council of Shopping Centers to improve security guard training; students learn about WMDs and how to identify suicide bombers; critics say high industry turn-over rates doom the project to failure; do malls really qualify as critical infrastructure?

  • New York architects test two new bollard devices

    Rogers Marvel tries to drum up NYSE interest in a turntable model for Broad Street; system rotates 90 degrees to permit passage of authorized vehicles; alternative Tiger Trap system already a big hit in Battery Park; unique construction supports pedestrian weight but collapses underneath trucks

  • DHS moves on chemical plant safety regulations

    In a one-punch, DHS moves on rules governing chemical plants safety two weeks after formulaitng rules to governs the rail transportation of hazardous chemicals; Democrats will controll both houses of Congress next year, and they say both sets of rules are too weak, and will be strengthened

  • NY/NJ Port Authority offers national port security recommendations

    Suggestions include minimum mandatory cargo inspection standards, a federal port and cargo policy director, and a port security user fee to offset security costs

  • Buffalo physicist announces new blast protection technology

    New computer simulations that test blast-proof infrastructure without the expense of physical modelling and test explosions; interstitial grains control energy propagation through a tapered chain; buildings, tanks, and bulletproof vests could benefit from discovery

  • U.S. water utility buys Magal's DreamBox solution

    Security company Magal is gaining traction in the U.S. market; after a year-long marketing efforts, order begin to come in

  • Dayton positions itself as a sensor center

    Ohio’s Third Frontier Commission awards $28 million for the development of a sensor technology research center; business partners include Woolpert, General Dynamics, UES, YSI, and L-3 Communications Cincinnati Electronics

  • RemoteReality receives $7.3 million in VC funding

    Battelle Ventures and Chart Venture partners pick up the tab; company a DoD favorite for its 360-degree video analytics technology; USS Cole and USS Greenville incidents drive demand for on-board surveillance and monitoring

  • Otto Hoernig launches new sensor networking firm

    Hoernig previously sold SpaceLink International for $150 million; Trace Systems, based in Virginai, will pursue business with DHS and DoD; market for wireless sensors to reach $1 billion by 2009

  • EU launches infrastructure protection package

    An EU commission fashions what it calls “horizontal framework” which will offer better and more effective campaign to protect of EU critical infrastructures such as transport and communications

  • AIG buys DPW’s port management contracts

    Earlier in the year a firestorm broke out when it was disclosed that the Bush administration had approved a deal in which a UAE-based company would acquire the management of major U.S. seaports from a U.K-based company; after a month of heated debate, major portions of the deal were restructured to minimize DPW’s access to more sensitive areas at the ports; now, AIG has acquired DPW contracts, and critics of the original deal are happy; DPW is also happy: It was hoping to realize about $700 million on the deal, but sources close to the negotiations say that the final price tag would be “comfortably” above the $1 billion mark

  • Trace Systems eyes growing wireless sensor network market

    The wireless sensor network market is growing by leaps and bounds, and this Virginia-based company wants to be a major player in it