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U.K. start-up develops file-sharing monitoring tool
Businesses can face serious consequences from illegal file sharing which takes place on their network, whether the files contain confidential client data or copyrighted material; new tool helps companies monitor file sharing
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DHS: Progress and priorities, II
Since its creation more than five years ago, DHS has made significant progress — uneven progress — in protecting the United States from dangerous people and goods, protecting the U.S. critical infrastructure, strengthen emergency response, and unifying department operations
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France delays Big Brother database
The French government, in an effort to fight crime and juvenile delinquency, launched a police database aimed at gathering information on suspects as young as thirteen; civil libertarian groups protested the scope of the information to be gathered, and the government, for now, has relented
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U.S. gets a C grade in WMD report
A blue ribbon panel of former high security official says terrorism threat remains real, and that the U.S. government’s efforts to counter WMD threats leave much to be desired
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Rethinking strategy for finding bin Laden
The effort to bring Osama bin Laden to justice has so far failed; there are many reasons for that: Half-hearted efforts by the Pakistani authorities; failure to win the hearts and minds of tribal leaders in Pakistan’s Northwest Territories; limits Pakistan imposed on direct U.S. action inside Pakistan; the invasion of Iraq, which consumed vast resources which otherwise would have been invested in the effort against al-Qaeda; and more; U.S., Pakistan, are now rethinking the strategy
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The H-1B program: Mend it, don't end it
Any required labor-market test must facilitate extraordinary alacrity; delays of years, months, or even weeks are unacceptable; similarly, H-1B workers should be paid the same wage as their U.S. counterparts: The H-1B program should not be a means by which “cheap foreign labor” is imported
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Urgent inquiry as more personal data missing in Britain
Another data loss blunder in Britain, as a disc containing the personal details of 5,000 employees of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), who may include many prison officers, went missing
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Germany tightens data protection laws after scandals
After a wistle-blower revealtions, the German authorities decided o find for themselves how easy it was managed to obtain personal information on consumers; government agents managed, in only a few days, to buy six million items of personal data — for just €850 euros ($1,230); the government decided that tightening of regulations was necessary
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Handgun to the front
Defending against a handgun threat is more difficult on the street than in a training facility; the right training under the right conditions would increase the chances of surviving a possibly lethal encounter with an armed assailant
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Israel foils Hezbollah attempts to kidnap Israelis abroad
In February, Hezbollah’s secretive head of operation, Imad Mughniyeh, was killed in a brilliant covert operation in the middle of Damascus; Israel denied any involvement, but the Lebanese organization said it would retaliate; Israel has since been worried about Israelis abroad being kidnapped
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New fingerprint analysis technique to be used to identify bomb makers
University of Leicester researchers develop new technique to identify fingerprints on metal; technique can pick up fingerprints on metal even after they have been wiped off
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U.K. to spend £40 million on mobile biometrics for police
Project Midas will allow police to use fingerprint information to identify people at the scene of incidents in real or near real time
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Prisons of the future: High-rise structures, smart cards for inmates
Israel is building new prisons based on new concepts: High-rise structures which will deter escapes (how many prisoners will risk a jump from the tenth floor?), and smart cards which will allow inmates to roam unescorted — but monitored
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Science and the anthrax case: Case closed?
The authoritative scientific journal Nature says that the FBI’s evidence against Bruce Ivins is impressive, but that the case is not closed as many important questions remain unanswered
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Mexicans turn to radio implants as kidnapping for ransom soar
Kidnapping for ransom has become a growth industry in Mexico; in response, more and more Mexicans are having tiny radio transmitters implanted under their skin so they can be quickly tracked and rescued
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More headlines
The long view
Why Was Pacific Northwest Home to So Many Serial Killers?
By Jacob Sweet
Ted Bundy, Gary Ridgway, George Russell, Israel Keyes, and Robert Lee Yates were serial killers who grew up in the Pacific Northwest in the shadow of smelters which spewed plumes of lead, arsenic, and cadmium into the air. As a young man, Charles Manson spent ten years at a nearby prison, where lead has seeped into the soil. The idea of a correlation between early exposure to lead and higher crime rates is not new. Fraser doesn’t explicitly support the lead-crime hypothesis, but in a nimble, haunting narrative, she argues that the connections between an unfettered pollution and violent crime warrant scrutiny.