• Problems continue for virtual U.S.-Mexico border fence

    With most of the 661-mile border fence complete, DHS is gearing up for testing a section of the fence near Tuscon; if the system survives this first round, it will be handed off to the Border Patrol in early 2010, who will put the technology through some real world scenarios

  • CBP orders advanced cargo and customs screening from OSI

    OSI’s Security division, Rapiscan Systems, has received approximately $29 million in orders from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to provide multiple units of its cargo and vehicle inspection solutions

  • New airport security scanners raise concerns

    Canada’s privacy watchdog said it agreed with federal authorities that full-body scans should be used at Canada’s airports; security personnel would be in a separate room while viewing the image and would never come in contact with the person being screened

  • Obama's approach to illegal immigration has businesses worried

    The Bush administration tried to reduce that number by trying to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the country; the Obama administration announced a new strategy: going after an illegal immigrant’s employer and its managers

  • Reveal Imaging awarded $3.9 million for personnel inspection system

    The company said it plans to use multiple sensor technologies and automation to avoid the need for human operators to separate threats from harmless objects using multiple monitors

  • Questioning TSA's behavior monitoring program

    Robert Burns, who is nin charge of implementing TSA’s behavior detection program at airport, admits that TSA’s behavior detection officers will be looking both for people who exhibit suspicious and nervous behavior — and for those who do not, because failure to appear nervous as evidenced by monitored bodily functions, “is just as indicative of being something that has to be resolved” as is the person who exhibits those signs”; former Congressman Bob Barr says: “In other words, you can’t win”

  • U.K. Border Agency reinstates DNA tests, sort of

    Africans who want to immigrate to the U.K. found a relatively easy way to do so: they seek political asylum, saying they come from war-ravaged countries; the U.K. Border Agency wanted to make sure, by checking their DNA, that they come from the war-ravaged countries they claim to come from; scientists criticized the scheme as “naive” and “scientifically flawed,” so the UKBA suspended it — only to reinstate it the next day, partially

  • Backscatter technology: the future of airport security scanning?

    Manchester Airport is testing backscatter scanning technology from Rapiscan; the Rapiscan system works by bouncing X-rays off an individual’s skin to produce an outline image of the person’s body

  • Michigan airport turns off Web site over malware risk

    The Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids temporarily pulled its site in response to an unspecified malware threat

  • Kachemak sees growing interest from military, law enforcement

    Alaska-based Kachemak Research Development developed an advanced vehicles’ undercarriage inspection system; the military and law enforcement are interested

  • CSC replaces Unisys in a half-billion-dollar TSA account

    A 2006 DHS IG review criticized Unisys for handling TAS’s Information Technology Infrastructure Program (ITIP) services contract; CSC has now won the five-year contract, potentially worth $493 million

  • French may take intrusive measures to prevent inside-the-body bombers

    Security experts are split over whether inside-the-body suicide bomb is a serious threat; the French say they may not take any chances, and warn that security measures at airports may become more intrusive

  • U.S. cannot track foreign visitors who overstay their visas

    Last year, 39 million foreign travelers were admitted into the United States on temporary visas; based on the paper stubs, homeland security officials said, they confirmed the departure of 92.5 percent of them; most of the remaining visitors did depart, officials said, but failed to check out because they did not know how to do so; more than 200,000 of them are believed to have overstayed intentionally

  • Imagining new threats -- and countering them

    DHS air transport security lab is in the business of imagining new threats — then developing the technologies to counter them; their dream? To build a “tunnel of truth” in each airport lined with hidden sensors, scanners, and rays; passengers would get zapped and sniffed as they passed, and would not need to take off their shoes, toss their liquids, or anything else

  • Small business alliance enters homeland security arena

    A group of companies formed the Strategic Security Alliance to increase the visibility of its member firms and make them more competitive in the homeland and maritime security markets