• Shell in trials of algae as source for biofuel

    Algae holds great promise as a biofuel enabler because it grows rapidly, are rich in vegetable oil, and can be cultivated in ponds of seawater; Shell wants to know more

  • Spain tightens security of nuclear plants

    There are eight active nuclear power plants in Spain; recent incidents — Greenpeace activists breaching security in one plant; an employee trying to smuggle out uranium tablets in another — convinced the authorities that more must be done to secure them

  • Water consumption by thermoelectric plants to grow 35.7%

    Water shortages loom as one of the major problems in the next two decades for both developed and developing countries; it does not help that water consumption by thermoelectric power plants will increase by nearly 40% during this period — and even more if carbon capturing technologies are adopted

  • China suspected in hacking attempt on Oak Ridge National Lab

    In October about 1,100 employees at the Oak Ridge National Lab received versions of seven phishing e-mails which appeared legitimate; eleven employees opened the e-mails’ attachments, which enabled the hackers to infiltrate the Lab’s system and remove data; Last week DHS circulated memo to security experts pointing to China as the source of the October hacking at the weapon lab

  • Systems integrator Adesta is making a bigger impression

    Adesta is a versatile and innovative systems integrator specializing in the construction and maintenance of stand-alone or integrated communication networks and electronic security systems

  • Grisoft acquires Exploit Prevention Labs

    Exploit Prevention Labs specializes in safe surfing technology that protects Internet users against malicious web sites and drive-by downloaded exploits; Grisoft expands it Web security offerings

  • New York opposes extending Indian Point license

    Indian Point nuclear plants in Westchester County are surrounded by 20 million people within a 50-mile radius, more than any other reactor in the country; plants’ operator applied for a 20-year extension license, but the State of New York says plants pose too much risk and should be shut down

  • FLIR Systems received $2 million contracts to boost airport security

    Thermal imaging specialist finds its cameras in demand at U.S. airports; cameras are suitable for securing the long perimeters typically associated with major airports

  • How to secure the new data center

    Virtualization is disruptive, and it changes the rules for how companies secure — or, rather, ought to secure — their data and their computing infrastructure

  • Bulgaria to build the first Russian-designed nuclear reactor in the EU

    Bulgaria will be the first EU country to build a nuclear power plant based on Russian design; the plant will be built at a site deemed unsafe two decades ago because it was prone to earthquakes

  • AFIT team wins annual DOD Cyber Crime Center Challenge

    Four graduate students from the Air Force Institute of Technology win highly competitive annual DOD Cyber Crime Center Challenge; the winning team used innovative techniques to crack passwords; repair damaged media such as CDs, DVDs, and a thumb drive; extract hidden information from audio files; and dissect digitally altered photos

  • Defense panel worries about foreign software development

    The U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies rely more and more on software developed outside the U.S.; a Defense Science Board task force warns that this “creates a rich opportunity to damage or destroy elements of the [U.S.] warfighter’s capability”

  • McAfee sees wave of international cyber crime

    International cyber crime and espionage are on the rise, and will likely pose the most significant security threats in 2008; cyber attacks have evolved into well-funded and complex crime organizations. Governments in 120 countries — particularly China — and other allied groups are using the Internet for cyber espionage and attacks

  • SANS Top 20: Some IT risks did not materialize, others more severe

    SANS Top 20 IT risks (this year, the list contained only 18 of them) show that: Client-side threats are on the rise (if for nothing else, than owing to the sheer attention vendors paid to server-side risks); Web application threats are bigger than ever (50 percent of the 4,396 vulnerabilities report by SANS between November 2006 and October 2007 were Web application flaws); mobile, voice-over-IP (VoIP), IPv6, and zero-day threats were not as big as expected

  • Cities worry about toxic substances in freight cars

    Water treatment facilities in Baltimore no longer use chlorine, but city residents are still exposed to risk because trains carrying the toxic substance to facilities elsewhere go through the city; city officials want to change this situation