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TSA keeps list of people who forgot driver's licnese, passport at home
TSA began storing the information in late June, tracking many people who said they had forgotten their driver’s license or passport at home; the database has 16,500 records; agency says it is changing its policy on the list
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Amtrak purchased additional Sabre 4000 from Smiths Detection
Rail operator buys additional hand-held IMS detection devices better to detect and identify explosives, narcotics, chemical warfare agents, and toxic industrial chemicals on trains and in stations
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QRSciences Holdings acquires Spectrum San Diego
The acquisition will boost QRSciences’ product offering of security related applications including the detection of explosives and narcotics, metal detection and imaging
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TSA to expand regulation of private aviation
TSA plans to regualte, for the first time, the 15,000 private planes now flying with no security rules; these planes use a network of 4,700 small airports which themselves are only lightly monitored for security
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Judge imposes gag order on Boston subway hackers
Three MIT students hacked smartcards used by the Boston subway system; they were planning to make a presentation about the hacking at this weekend Defcon event in Las Vegas — but a U.S. district judge imposed a gag rule on them
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UTD students place 2nd in Robotic submarine competition
Students’ 11th-hour changes help propel team to top Ranks in underwater challenge
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Microchips in e-passports easily forged
Dutch researcher uses his own software, a publicly available programming code, a £40 card reader, and two £10 RFID chips to clone and manipulate two passport chips to a point at which they were ready to be planted inside fake or stolen paper passports; the altered chips were then passed as genuine by passport reader software used by the UN agency that sets standards for e-passports; the researcher took less than an hour to alter the chips
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Agreement reached over border fence on U Texas campus
Part of the U.S.-Mexico border fence would have cut across the campus of the University of Texas-Brownsville/Texas Southmost College; the university and DHS reached a compromise — but the university must finish building its proposed border protection solution by the end of the year
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Self-healing wire to bolster avaiation safety
In 1996 an explosion downed TWA flight 800 off the shore of Long Island, killing all 230 passengers and crew; University of Dayton researcher who identified a plausible cause of the explosion has developed a self-healing wire designed such explosions in the future
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TSA may fine airlines over mistaken terrorist IDs
The ACLU says there are one million names on the DHS terrorist watch list, while TSA says there are only 400,000; whatever the exact figure is, TSA wants to make sure that the airlines do not misidentify innocent passengers as terrorists, and threatens to sue airlines which do so
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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
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Greyhound slaying sparks debate over Canadian bus security
Drivers’ union calls for metal detectors, but bus company says this is impractical as the vast majority of passengers are more likely to board buses at gas stations, convenience stores, and other roadside stops than central terminals
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Air cargo security: Shippers cite expense of new TSA initiatives
Shippers say some of TSA cargo security initiatives are too expensive, requiring between $150,000 to $500,000 or more per facility; “It is unrealistic to assume that a typical indirect air carriers (IACs) can afford this equipment for use in his own company,” shipper organization’s spokesperson says
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New Zealand to use biometrics to monitor immigration
Technology will allow border control staff to conduct biometric checks on inbound and outbound passengers
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TSA testing shoe scanning technology
he Transportation Security Administration is testing show scanning machines from L2 Communications; this is a step toward eventually allowing passengers to keep their shoes on when they go through the security checkpoint
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The long view
Calls Grow for U.S. to Counter Chinese Control, Influence in Western Ports
Experts say Washington should consider buying back some ports, offer incentives to allies to decouple from China.