• U.K. police targets Internet cafés in anti-terror effort

    The U.K. police are testing a new tool in the fight against terrorism: surveillance of Internet cafés; owners and patrons are asked to watch for — and report to the authorities — suspicious behavior; owners are asked to scan the hard drives in their shop on a regular basis to look for suspicious browsing and communication patterns; monitoring of Internet cafés’ computer use has been tried in several
    countries, including India and the United States; civil libertarians worry that without a clear definition of suspicious behavior or suspicious Web
    browsing, individuals with outside-the-mainstream political or religious views may be targeted

  • UAVs help CBP agents keep an eye on the border (when there are no clouds)

    The U.S. Customs and Border Protection currently operate six UAVs: there are three Predators in Arizona, two in North Dakota, and one is being tested for maritime anti-narcotics duty in Cape Canaveral, Florida; proponents say that supporters say that despite the high price tag — the Predator’s camera alone can cost more than $2 million — it is worth it

  • DHS freezes funds for U.S.-Mexico border security system

    In 2006 Boeing won the contract for the ambitious Secure Border Initiative Net (SBINet) project — a system of cameras, radar, and other sensors aiming to detect illegal immigrants as they cross the U.S.-Mexico border; after countless technical glitches and many delays, DHS freezes funding for the project to allow it too assess how to deal with Boeing’s failures and decide on future steps

  • U.K. Home Offices praises University of Reading CCTV research

    The Computational Vision Group at the University of Reading has developed computer systems which emulate human vision and is currently working on improving the effectiveness of CCTV for safety, security, and threat assessment purposes; the systems will be used in crowd image analysis, spotting unattended luggage, and detecting threats to aviation both on the ground and in the air

  • Ad for Israeli supermarket chain inspired Mossad's Dubai slaying

    Discount supermarket chain commercial draws inspiration from surveillance footage of Dubai assassination; shows actors carrying tennis rackets, wearing wigs, hats; an actress wearing a wide-brimmed floppy hat mimics Israel’s policy of maintaining deniability, saying she “couldn’t admit to anything”

  • Underground intelligence satellite navigation will work off lightning strikes

    The U.S. ubiquitous eye-in-the-sky satellites have driven more and more people and things of interest to disappear underground (just think Iran’s nuclear weapons program); deep tunnel complex shields an organization from the prying eyes of satellites, and it is also good protection against a sudden bombing raid; the U.S. military wants to be able to peek and conduct operations underground

  • New surveillance camera offers panoramic view, zoom-in capabilities

    Not unlike the surveillance cameras that tracked Will Smith’s every move in the movie “Enemy of the State,” Adaptive Imaging Technologies’ “panoramic telescope” may yet revolutionize the field of surveillance: the camera can, at the same time, monitor a panoramic field of view and zoom in on any spot in real time with exceptional clarity

  • Toronto police to buy encrypted radios

    The Toronto police will spend CAN$35 million on encrypted radios; new system may shut out public eavesdroppers — by tow-truck drivers, the media, scanning enthusiasts — starting with the June 2010 G20 summit

  • The last frontier: DARPA wants to make the Earth's crust transparent

    Seeing through the Earth’s would allow the development of tools to protect civilian populations from the ravages of natural disasters; these same tools could be used for military purposes against enemies — detecting, targeting, and destroying hard and buried underground facility (UGF) targets

  • Geospatial Corporation maps the world under the Earth's crust

    Pennsylvania-based Geospatial Corporation — company’s motto: “Mapping the underground / Managing the global infrastructure” — offers a solution which creates detailed 3D maps of underground regions; the Pentagon has already contracted Geospatial to create 3D maps of the deep earth beneath their “critical facilities”

  • Boeing develops Phantom Eye UAV, hopes for bigger share of UAV market

    The unmanned aircraft market is currently dominated by Northrop Grumman and General Atomic; Boeing wants to change that, and it is working on the Phantom Eye — a UAV with a 150-foot wingspan which will carry a payload of as much as 450 pounds up to 65,000 feet in altitude; the UAV will be powered by a hydrogen-fueled Ford compact truck engine

  • Unmanned helicopter to monitor the consequences of nuclear disasters

    Engineering students at Virginia Tech designed a UAV for flying into American cities blasted by a nuclear weapon or dirty bomb; the unmanned helicopter’s main mission would be to assist military investigators enter an American city after a nuclear attack in order to detect radiation level

  • German court says EU phone, e-mail data retention policy must be changed

    In 2006 the EU approved a law requiring phone and e-mail providers to hold customer data for six months in case the data is needed by law enforcement; a German Federal Constitution Court called the law “inadmissable” and ruled that changes would be needed to limit its scope

  • Axis shows innovative and affordable HDTV Network Cameras

    AXIS M32 Series and P3304 offer a flexible and easy-to-install HDTV solution; M1054 is the smallest and smartest HDTV network camera on the market; at ISC West, Axis will provide conference attendees with product demonstrations and information, as well as insight into the latest video surveillance technologies

  • DSC continues to innovate in security monitoring, Internet security communications, and wireless security products

    DSC is a big player in electronic security, manufacturing control panels and IP alarm monitoring products; the Toronto-based company has manufacturing facilities in Canada and Italy, and its products are sold in 140 countries