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Experts: Internet crime might cause global catastrophe
Damage caused by cyber crime is estimated at $100 billion annually; tech-savvy gangs from China, India, Eastern Europe, and Africa were coming up with ever more sophisticated ways of swindling money from vulnerable people
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New York City opens counterterrorism center
The $100 million project was launched after 9/11; the facility would eventually receive video footage from 3,000 cameras posted in and near the financial district, an area of about 1.7 square miles
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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?
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DHS to regulate ammonium nitrate
Ammonium nitrate mixed with fuel oil commonly is used as an explosive in mining and has been used by terrorists — such as Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma; DHS proposes to regulate its use
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U.K. local authorities lack intelligence for effective counter-terrorism
A government study finds that government counter-terrorism funding to local authorities and neighborhood policing over the last two years has yet to translate into a coherent strategy to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting violent extremists
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Train as you fight
To be effective, the training of soldiers and policemen must be done with training conditions resembling the conditions the trainee will face in a real fight; a policeman or soldier will not have time to warm up and stretch before a real encounter; they will also not be fighting wearing shorts, T-shirts, and tennis shoes; the real fight will not stop when they feel pain or discomfort
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Where is James Bond when we need him?
The villains James Bond was fighting — Dr. No, Goldfinger, and Blofeld — looked improbable in the 1960s; these miscreants of globalization — part master criminal, part arms smuggler, part terrorist, part warlord —are now the stuff of reality
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Briefly noted
Global CCTV market analysis 2008-12… U.S. intelligence agencies spend $47.5 billion in 2008… Changing role for DHS in cyber security… Auditors: Private security in Iraq cost over $6 billion… China begins investigation of tainted eggs
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Messaging pictures as a safety device
A Pittsburgh-based startup allows you to take pictures of threatening individuals you may encounter in hairy situations, and message these pictures to a secure “vault”; if you do not come back to your home or office by a specified time, the date- and time-stamped pictures are made available to the police
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Debate over safety of taser-proof vests
A U.S. body-armor company is selling taser-proof vests to police units; some argue that the vests make officers less safe because taser-toting bad guys would now aim for the officer’s head; the response: this is like arguing that bullet-proof vests make officer less safe because the bad guy would aim for the head
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Debate over safety of taser-proof vests
A U.S. body-armor company is selling taser-proof vests to police units; some argue that the vests make officers less safe because taser-toting bad guys would now aim for the officer’s head; the response: this is like arguing that bullet-proof vests make officer less safe because the bad guy would aim for the head
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U.K. security services push for expanded surveillance power
U.K. security services are pushing for a massive expansion of electronic surveillance in the United Kingdom, in the face of opposition from the Treasury and the Cabinet Office
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U.S. government to take counterterrorism local
The federal government says local police efforts to record and share activities that could be related to terrorism are critical to the government’s counterterrorism effort; the creation and coordination of a uniform system of reporting among thousands of jurisdictions is a problem, though
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SA police to buy mini-UAVs
South Africa is host to the 2010 Soccer World Cup; in preparation, the SA police is buying mini-UAVs and integrating them into the force; the UAV — Kiwit — is carried in a suitcase, weighs 3.5 kg, and can be assembled by a single person in five minutes
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The "Israeli Lean"
The debate about the most effective shooting stance has divided supporters of the Weaver Stance from proponents of the Isosceles Stance; there is a third stance which offers many advantages: the Israeli Lean, which is based on the Point-Shoot
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