• Security alliance calls financial incentives for cyber security

    The Internet Security Alliance calls for the incoming Obama administration and Congress to give information technology companies financial incentives for improving cybersecurity defenses, including providing funding in research and development and shielding them from liability caused by cyberattacks

  • Briefly noted

    Obama administration looks to fill more than 300 IT positions… Larger inmate population is boon to private prisons… More attacks on critical infrastructure?

  • Quantum calibration shows way for super-secure communication

    Scientists at Imperial College London have used a new approach to calibrating quantum mechanical measurement directly to calibrate a detector that can sense the presence of multiple individual photons; the ability to sense the presence of individual photons is an important requirement for the development of future long-distance quantum communication devices and networks

  • Energy industry likely prime cyber attack target

    Critical infrastructure insiders say the energy industry is also the most vulnerable to cyber attacks and would have the most detrimental breach

  • Briefly noted

    ESTA Authorization required for all visa waiver countries as of 12 January… Georgia vet school leak kept quiet… Microsoft infuses “long awaited” with new meaning

  • Harris to demonstrate innovative radios at ShakeOut

    Great Southern California ShakeOut is the largest-ever earthquake preparedness drill in the United States; the exercise, scheduled for tomorrow, 13 November, will model the effects of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake along the San Andreas Fault; Harris will demonstrate advanced systems for restoring first responder communication links

  • Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository too small

    Congress has placed a 77,000-ton limit on the amount of nuclear waste that can be buried in Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository (the repository will open in 2020 at the earliest); trouble is, the 104 active U.S. nuclear reactors, together with the Pentagon, produce that amount of waste in two years

  • Briefly noted

    RSA uncovers IT secure fears stifling business innovation… DHS completes radiological/nuclear detection drill in southeast transportation corridor… Has pandemic complacency come home to roost?

  • DHS releases FY2009 guidance for $3 billion worth of grants

    FEMA requests applications for 14 programs for which it has allocated $3 billion; funded programs concentrate on state and local governments and strengthening community preparedness

  • New bridge-inspection software contributes to bridge security

    Inspecting a bridge for hairline cracks, flaking concrete, and rust has been a manual process — inspectors have always examined bridges for visible damage directly on site; German researchers develop software which allows digital inspection of bridges and other structures

  • "Digital DNA" to fight cyber crime

    Scottish researchers develop what they call “digital DNA”: It is based on analyzing the way in which users access data on their computers and then creating a digital fingerprint that is unique to each user

  • Good code, bad computations: A computer security vulnerability

    Beware of return-oriented programming — that is, if you want to make sure your computer or server is not tricked into undertaking malicious or undesirable behavior

  • Cyberattacks target U.K. national infrastructure

    The computer systems of critical businesses in the United Kingdom, such as power companies and large financial institutions, are being repeatedly probed to steal information or uncover weaknesses that could take them down

  • Earthquake's trampoline effect

    During earthquakes the ground not only shakes from side to side, but also bounces up and down; this has important implications for designing quake-proof structures

  • Briefly noted

    Australia opens national tsunami warning center… Document requirements announced for visitors to international peace garden… European data breach laws could land in 2011… Aberdeen: Unified threat management can shave IT costs