• "Swarm" UAV reconnaissance demonstrated

    Boeing successfully demonstrated autonomous communications and operation of dissimilar unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in flight tests over the rugged terrain of eastern Oregon; swarm technology is similar to how insects communicate and perform tasks as an intelligent group; the UAVs worked together to search the test area through self-generating waypoints and terrain mapping, while simultaneously sending information to teams on the ground

  • DHS unveils new terrorism awareness ads

    DHS secretary Janet Napolitano unveiled new television ads Wednesday for the public awareness campaign “If you see something, say something”; Napolitano said the videos are not intended to be alarmist, nor do they suggest only a vague threat, as did the security alert “color code” of years past

  • Lockheed Martin shows tiny surveillance UAV

    The Samarai UAV is sixteen inches long and weighs less than half a pound; while flying, it can stream live video from a camera that rotated around its center providing a 360 degree view without a gimbal; it can be carried in a backpack and launchedt from the ground or like a boomerang

  • DHS's new terrorist database rankles privacy groups

    A new DHS plan to create its own version of the FBI’s terrorist watch list that is exempt from the Privacy Act has privacy groups concerned; under the proposed plan, DHS would create the Watchlist Service which would bring the FBI’s suspected terrorist list in-house and expand on it

  • San Francisco to install real-time surveillance on buses

    Thanks to a $6 million DHS grant San Francisco’s MUNI buses will soon be equipped with a network of sophisticated high-tech video cameras that will allow the transit agency to view footage in real-time

  • China's big surveillance push

    In China’s latest push to keep tabs on its citizens, police in Beijing have ordered supermarkets and shopping malls throughout the city to install high-definition security cameras; the recent order comes as part of a broader expansion in monitoring technology which includes the addition of millions of surveillance cameras over the past five years and large increases in domestic security spending

  • Beachball-like observation UAV developed

    A beach ball-size drone can fly down narrow alleys, hover on the spot, take off vertically, bounce along the ground like a soccer ball — all the time transmitting live images from a video camera; it can travel above traffic or spy on a target through a window — and can also be used in search and rescue in disaster zones, where it could fly through buildings and even up and down stairways

  • New drone listens in on cell phone calls and hacks Wi-Fi networks

    At this week’s annual Defcon security conference for hackers, two hobbyists will showcase their sophisticated unmanned Wi-Fi detecting, cell-phone eavesdropping spy drone; the drone was assembled using an old Army target drone that had been converted to run on electric batteries and is now equipped with an HD camera, eleven antennas, and a cigarette pack sized computer that is loaded with hacking tools

  • China further limits Internet access

    In its continuing efforts to control the Internet, Chinese officials are now mandating that all cafes, hotels, and businesses in central Beijing install surveillance technology for Wi-Fi users; the new software would allow government officials to check the identities of users and monitor their activity at public computers; those who do not cooperate will face fines or even closure

  • Filipino man guilty of selling UAV on eBay

    Last week a Filipino man pleaded guilty to violating arms export and smuggling laws by selling parts from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on eBay; in February, DHS officials arrested Henson Chua of Manila, Philippines after he shipped undercover agents a three-foot long, hand-launched, computer-controlled RQ-11A/B Raven surveillance drone

  • Pakistani spies track immigrants in U.S.

    Last week the indictment of two Pakistani-Americans pulled back the veil on the extent of Pakistan’s spy network in the United States; led by Pakistan’s military spy agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the country’s efforts in the United States are primarily aimed at influencing lawmakers, keeping track of the Pakistani Diaspora, stifling dialogue critical of its military, and stymieing India — the country’s chief rival

  • Tiny flying machines revolutionize surveillance work

    Tiny aerial vehicles are being developed with innovative flapping wings based on those of real-life insects; incorporating micro-cameras, these revolutionary insect-size vehicles will be suitable for many different purposes ranging from helping in emergency situations considered too dangerous for people to enter, to covert military surveillance missions

  • Micro-robots emulate water-striding insects

    Researchers are working on building nimble micro-robots that are able to skim across the surface of water; the prototype devices emulate water-striding insects such as mosquitoes and water spiders, and could be used for military spy missions, water-pollution monitoring, and other applications

  • Designing a more effective crystal ball

    A new model for crowdsourcing predictions called Aggregative Contingent Estimation System (ACES) is transforming the way future events are forecast — combining the collective knowledge of many individual opinions in a unique way that improves accuracy beyond what any one person or small group of experts could provide

  • The world’s first "printed" aircraft flies

    Engineers have designed and flown the world’s first “printed” aircraft, which could revolutionize the economics of aircraft design; the plane is a UAV whose entire structure has been printed, including wings, integral control surfaces, and access hatches; it was printed on an EOS EOSINT P730 nylon laser sintering machine, which fabricates plastic or metal objects, building up the item layer by layer