Intelligence gathering / analysis

Revelations about Iran's facility raise questions about U.S. intelligence
Both the 2003 “slam dunk” assertion about Iraq’s WMDs, and the 2007 NIE’s conclusion that Iran had “halted” its nuclear weapons work, were absurdities; we should worry about the fact that they came to the surface — and influenced policy
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ShotSpotter, Inc. says its technology saves lives
The Mountain View, California-based company says that in the first half of 2009 its technology saved the lives of 57 gunshot victims; this represents a 138 percent increase from the first half of 2008
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U.K. authorities made more than 500,000 surveillance requests last year
U.K. police, councils, and the intelligence services made about 1,500 surveillance requests every day last year; this is the annual equivalent to one in every 78 people being targeted
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China says it has installed 2.75 million CCTVs since 2003
Government plans to expand the surveillance system into the largely neglected countryside, and marry it to a face recognition database
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NSA to build $2 billion data center in Utah
The NSA major data center — in Fort Meade, Maryland — has maxed out the capacity of the Baltimore area power grid; the super-secret agency is building a second data center in San Antonio, Texas, and has revealed plans to build a third center — a mammoth, 65 MW, $1.93 billion in Camp Williams, Utah
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U.K. government to give up on massive Internet snoop scheme
The Home Office admits that its IMP (Interception Modernization Program) — the cost of which was to be £2 billion over ten years — cannot be realized because the technology does not yet exist
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Company in the spotlight: Distillery Software
Aussie company produces software designed to distill knowledge and intelligence from raw information by linking disparate information elements
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U.K. information commissioner: data collection trend will be reversed
Richard Thomas, the outgoing U.K. information commissioner: “If you are looking for a needle in a haystack, it does not make sense to make the haystack bigger”
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IARPA dedicates a permanent home on the campus of U Maryland
The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) prepares to open a University of Maryland research site to develop tools, methods to combat future threats
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U.K. government drops central database scheme
Burden of storing communication logs will now fall to ISPs
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RAID surveillance system deployed along border
Aerostats differ from blimps in that blimps are powered, while aerostats are anchored to the ground through a cranked tether that also supplies electrical power
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Aerostats used along India-Pakistan border and in other hotspots
Unpowered blimps have been used for two decades now; the one aerostat Kuwait owned alerted its leadership to the Iraqi tanks rolling toward the border in 1990; India, Pakistan buy them to bolster their border security
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Pocket-size choppers for soldiers, first responders
Norwegian company successfully tests a tiny helicopter — it is just over 10 cm long and weighs 0.5 grams; it will be used to look inside a building, over a hill or crest, or down a tunnel
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DARPA seeks deep-learning AI to cope with flood of information
The growing use of UAVs to loiter over enemy territory and send images and streaming videos back to HQ has created a glut of information; DARPA seeks a better, deeper, and more layered artificial intelligence to help the intelligence community cope with the avalanche of information coming in
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Dennis Blair ousts ONI Inspector General
Last November, the Inspector General (IG) at the U.S. Office of National Intelligence issued a report in which he highlighted ongoing problems inside ONI and the intelligence community, including poor communication, turf battles, incompatible computer systems, and mission confusion; last Friday, Dennis Blair, director of ONI, fired the IG
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