• DNA firms step up security over bioterrorism threat

    Until recently, designer DNA companies were rather relaxed about who was buying their products, and many refused to check their orders for potentially dangerous DNA sequences; this is changing, and the industry association in which many of these companies are members is leading a drive to increase security

  • 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

  • Battle rages over Baltimore port security

    Congress mandates that port security equipment purchased with DHS grants must be produced in the United States; DHS argues that if better equipment is produced by non-U.S. company, it should be allowed to buy it; the debate intensifies

  • Exporting biometrics outside the U.S. by the book

    The U.S. government controls the export of biometric hardware, software, and technologies; U.S. biometric companies would be wise to comply with the various control regulations

  • New rules for private guards

    Some 1,000 security companies operate in Greece, employing 50,000 people and making 90 million euros a year; the Greek parliament wants to tighten control of these companies

  • US-VISIT

    James Jasinski, CEO, Cogent Systems, comments on a young program that is discharging an immense responsibility

  • ACLU: Terrorist Watch List hits one million names

    ACLU claims terrorist watch list reached one million names; launches online watch list complaint form

  • TSA: ACLU’s terrorist watch list facts and figures are a myth

    The Transportation Security Administration refutes the facts and figures used by the ACLU in the latter’s claim that the list is now 1-million strong

  • Bioterrorism rule ineffective in salmonella outbreak

    Rules and regulations passed in the wake of 9/11 were supposed to tighten monitoring and tracking food items, so an outbreak of food-borne illness could be quickly traced to its source; food supply-chain practices make these rules and regulations difficult to implement

  • U.S. intelligence services aware of vast Chinese espionage campaign

    Multifaceted Chinese espionage campaign in the United States and other Western countries aims not only to steal military secrets, but also industrial secrets and intellectual property in order to help Chinese companies better compete in the global economy; Chinese government and state-sponsored industries have relied not only on trained intelligence officers, but also on the Chinese diaspora — using immigrants, students, and people of second- and third-generation Chinese heritage

  • Federal money for identity programs boost biometrics market

    A slew of U.S. government programs — US VISIT, the Real ID Act, TWIC, the FBI’s next-generation database, and many more — depend on biometric technology; the estimated value of potential contracts to implement federal identity-solutions programs has more than doubled since 2006, rising from $890 million to $2 billion this year; biometric companies fiercely compete — and lobby — for contracts

  • Banks' PIN codes susceptible to hackers' theft

    Network of PIN codes’ thieves nets millions of dollars; hackers are targeting the ATM system’s infrastructure, which is increasingly built on Microsoft’s Windows operating system and allows machines to be remotely diagnosed and repaired over the Internet

  • U.S.-EU private data sharing agreement near

    The United States and the EU are near an agreement to share private data of their citizens, including credit card information, travel history, and internet browsing information; one issue yet to be resolved: the right of EU citizens to sue the U.S. government for mishandling the information

  • U.S. Supreme Court rejects environmentalists' challenge to border fence

    DHS waived 19 federal laws so a fence could be built on the Arizona-Mexico border; two environmentalist groups challenged the ruling, but the U.S. Supreme Court rejected challenge

  • Air passnegers now must show an ID to be allowed on board

    Until this past weekend, a passenger who agreed to secondary search of his or her body and baggage at airport check-points was allowed to board even if they did not have — or refused to show — an ID; this policy was changed on Saturday