• Hacker reveals how to compromise e-passport systems

    An anonymous technology researcher discusses the ease with which e-passports may be compromised by hackers

  • U.S. considers waiving visa requirement for Israelis

    U.S. may add Israel to the Visa Waiver program in 2009, after Israel implements a new biometric passport for Israeli citizens

  • Briefly noted

    Dems want DHS to target criminal illegal immigrants… “A delicate balance” between port security and business requirements… Somalia: Pirate’s vital routes attacks cause shipping costs to soar

  • Alternatives to the H-1B visa, pt. 2: L-1 "International Transferees"

    The demand for H1-B visas far outstrips its supply; one alternative is the L-1 visa which allows companies to transfer employees to, and allows investors to form start-up operations in, the United States

  • Coast Guard chooses new patrol boat

    Years after Congress urged the U.S. Coast Guard to speed up its patrol boat replacement program, the service finally picked a design and a shipbuilder for its new cutters; the winner: Bollinger Shipyards

  • Detroit airport to offer germ-free security checkpoints

    Worried about microbes, bacteria, and fungi released at airport security checkpoints as travelers take off their shoes and place their belongings in a tray? At Detroit Metro Airport’s new North Terminal you will not have to worry, with the application of new anti-microbial treatment

  • Coast Guard to expand biometric project

    There has been a 75 percent in the number of illegal immigrants attempting to cross the Mona Passage from the Dominican Republic into Puerto Rico in the past two years; the Coast Guard is not sure the drop is all due to the service’s biometric measures, but it thinks the technology has something to do with it

  • Northrop tests Guardian anti-missile system

    On 8-9 September, Northrop Grumman successfully tested the Guardian anti-missile system; from heights exceeding 50,000 feet, the system successfully detected, tracked, and directed a laser to intercept a target missile

  • Texas county weighing border fence alternatives

    Cameron County, Texas, must decide which option is more beneficial to it: DHS’s fence plan which the county does not like, but which will see $37 million in contracts go to local businesses, or resubmitting the county’s alternative fence plan, which DHS had already rejected, exploiting the fact that DHS has postponed the 31 December fence deadline

  • Seucring airports by reading people's minds (or bodies)

    DHS is testing a machine which, from a distance, senses changes in individuals’ perspiration, respiration, and heart rate typically associated with anxiety one feels before committing a terrorist act

  • Alternatives to the H-1B visa, pt. 1: O-1 "Extraordinary ability"

    The U.S. immigration services received more than 163,000 petitions for the 65,000 regular H-1B visas allocated for FY2009; the homeland security, hi-tech, and services sectors, as well as academic and research institutions, need another way to bring to the United States qualified foreign workers and researchers; one such way is the O-1 “Extraordinary Ability” visa

  • Briefly noted

    Debating whether DHS should have cybersecurity responsibilities… FDA revisits refused foods issue… DoD tests contractors’ ID cards

  • FAST-certified trucker tries to smuggle drugs into U.S.

    The Free And Secure Trade (FAST) program allows truckers who drive back and forth across the U.S. border to pre-register with Customs, thus giving them the status of low-risk traveler; one FAST-certified driver used status to smuggle drugs

  • Lockheed Martin team delivers first littoral combat ship to U.S. Navy

    Dealing with terrorist threats from the sea, and with other threats in the shallows, the Navy requires a different type of equipment, the and the littoral combat ship is part of the answer

  • Concerns over TWIC roll-out delays

    TWIC aims to provide 1.2 million U.S. port workers with forgery-proof biometric IDs; so far only 500,000 workers have been enrolled, and DHS pushed completion of enrollment from 25 September to 15 April; lawmakers are not happy