-
EU may investigate VoIP eavesdropping
Italian anti-crime authorities have asked the EU to look into regulating VoIP communication encryption; the Italian authorities presented evidence that crime rings and prostitution networks use Skype for the specific purpose of frustrating police investigators
-
-
Arresting me softly: NYPD to use Velcro handcuffs on kids
NYPD approves Velcro handcuffs for use on unruly children; cuffs are gentler than the steel model, and safer than Taser guns
-
-
U.S. Army, law enforcement agencies, working on EMP grenades
Electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, has been typically associated with high-altitude nuclear explosions — explosions which disable electronic devices hundreds of miles away from the explosion; militaries and law enforcement want a hand-grenade-size EMP device for use in war and crime-fighting
-
-
Trend: Manned-unmanned UAVs for battle, domestic surveillance
In both military and domestic missions, there are situations in which UAVs are preferable, and other situations in which manned aircraft are preferable (or even required); the solution: manned UAVs
-
-
U.S. faces lethal combination of transnational terrorism and criminal gangs
Sometime in the near future a lethal combination of transnational terrorism and criminal gangs is going to cross the U.S. border in force
-
-
More bad news for Taser guns: They raise deaths in custody
University of California-San Francisco study finds that sudden death of people held by California police increased sixfold in the first year after police departments there began using Taser stun guns
-
-
Tampa authorities use a new Super Bowl security system
The system uses a software program called E-SPONDER, which is built into Microsoft Surface, a tabletop, touch-screen display
-
-
Beyond fingerprints: The FBI's next generation database
New, mammoth database will include not only enhanced fingerprint capabilities, but also other forms of biometric identification like palm prints, iris scans, facial imaging, scars, marks, and tattoos — in one searchable system
-
-
N.Y. policeman illegally obtains, uses U.S. terror watch-list information
NYPD sergeant uses a colleague username and password to access the FBI terrorist watch-list; he then obtains information about an individual on the list — an individual locked in a child custody fight with a friend of the sergeant — and provide the information to the friend’s lawyer
-
-
New car-stopper uses squids' tentacle-based approach
Looking for an answer to stop fleeing cars or suicide trucks hurtling toward their target, an Arizona company developed a tentacle-based device that ensnares the vehicle and brings it to a halt
-
-
U.S. worried that Mexico may be on verge of collapse
With drug-related killings doubling in 2008 over 2007, and with drug lords becoming more brazen in their attacks on the state, the U.S. Joint Forces Command warns of the potential for “rapid and sudden collapse” of the Mexican government
-
-
Offset, or "Move off the Straight Line"
The human body likes to move in straight lines; standing still or moving in straight lines, however, is a dead giveaway to your opponent of your whereabouts, and makes you an easy target for returning fire
-
-
The largest data breach ever?
In what may yet be the largest personal information breach ever, Heartland Payment Systems, which processes payroll and credit card payments for more than 250,000 businesses, announces that consumer credit card data may have been exposed
-
-
U.K. military employs hovering droids in Afghanistan
Hovering petrol-powered prowler patrols to check Afghan ambush alleys so soldiers do not have to; device may be used by law enforcement in urban areas — and future systems may carry weapons
-
-
Security specialist Core Systems sees U.S. prisons as opportunity
Belfast-based Core Systems provides biometric equipment to prisons in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland; it is now expanding to the United States; with a prison population of 2.2 million; “In the prisons business, the United States is the market leader,” says Patricia O’Hagan, company’s co-owner
-
The long view
Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?
Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”
“The Federal Government Is Gone”: Under Trump, the Fight Against Extremist Violence Is Left Up to the States
As President Donald Trump guts the main federal office dedicated to preventing terrorism, states say they’re left to take the lead in spotlighting threats. Some state efforts are robust, others are fledgling, and yet other states are still formalizing strategies for addressing extremism. With the federal government largely retreating from focusing on extremist dangers, prevention advocates say the threat of violent extremism is likely to increase.
Luigi Mangione and the Making of a ‘Terrorist’
Discretion is crucial to the American tradition of criminal law, Jacob Ware and Ania Zolyniak write, noting that “lawmakers enact broader statutes to empower prosecutors to pursue justice while entrusting that they will stay within the confines of their authority and screen out the inevitable “absurd” cases that may arise.” Discretion is also vital to maintaining the legitimacy of the legal system. In the prosecution’s case against Luigi Mangione, they charge, “That discretion was abused.”
How DHS Laid the Groundwork for More Intelligence Abuse
I&A, the lead intelligence unit of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) —long plagued by politicized targeting, permissive rules, and a toxic culture —has undergone a transformation over the last two years. Spencer Reynolds writes that this effort falls short. “Ultimately, Congress must rein in I&A,” he adds.