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Conflict & Security
archives: July-August 2004
- 31 August 2004
"A little-noticed investigation by Swiss federal police has uncovered the existence of an apparent terror-support network with ties to the upper levels of Al Qaeda—including an operative believed to have played a role in the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole and the May 2003 bombing of a housing complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The discovery of a largely invisible Al Qaeda network in the peaceful alpine nation has gotten virtually no public attention outside of Switzerland. But criminal charges outlined in a July 30 Swiss prosecutor’s report seem to confirm the worst fears of many U.S. counterterrorism officials: that, despite a concerted assault by Western intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, Osama bin Laden’s organization has maintained a resilient operational structure that has a global reach. Learn more about this alarming Swiss terror case in Newsweek.
- 30 August 2004
"The border patrol has decided to go nuclear against those who want to sneak barrels of mustard gas, bales of marijuana or bundles of bucks into the country. Starting early next week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, agents will start testing a nuclear scanning device, called a Pulsed Fast Neutron Analysis system, that will show a border agent the molecular construction of all materials in an 18-wheeler without the agent having to open the truck. The $10 million system, which CBP installed in an old cotton field next to the Ysleta border crossing near El Paso, Texas, shoots pulsed neutrons through a cargo container's walls." U.S. Customs agents are set to begin testing on a new nuclear x-ray machine. Learn more in Wired News.
- 26 August 2004
"Al Qaeda has turned the Internet into a virtual classroom for its supporters around the world after U.S. troops drove Osama bin Laden's followers from training bases in Afghanistan, security experts say. The Internet played a key role in al Qaeda's planning and coordinating for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. landmarks. In the years since, the Web has taken on an even greater role in recruiting, spreading fear and propaganda, and executing attacks, according to the security experts. 'The Internet is even more dangerous than it was in the past,' said Rita Katz, director of the SITE Institute, in a telephone interview from Washington. 'Whatever you had in Afghanistan in the training camps, you have today on the Internet,' said Katz. Learn more at Reuters.
- 25 August 2004
"Nearly three years into the global 'war on terrorism', there is still an incomplete recognition of the strategic importance of energy security. The current focus on energy security remains lacking and limited, with a rather outdated reliance on the more traditional perspective of concentrating on the risks posed by instability and insecurity in the Middle Eastern oil-producing region. The Middle Eastern theater mandates such focus for three reasons: its role as the major source and gateway for global energy, the instability rooted in the very nature of its regimes, and as the original source of the new wave of Islamist terrorism. Yet as the repercussions of the attacks of September 11, 2001, continue to alter the global geopolitical landscape on several levels, comprehensive energy security is the integral edifice absent from the newly evolving architecture of international security." Read more of this startling commentary in the Asia Times.
- 24 August 2004
"A worm capable of using webcams to spy on users is circulating across the Net. Rbot-GR, the latest variant in the prolific worm series, spreads via network shares, exploiting a number of Microsoft security vulnerabilities to drop a backdoor Trojan horse program on vulnerable machines as it spreads. Once a backdoor program is installed on a victim's PC it's always game over - an attacker can do whatever takes their fancy. But Rbot-GR comes pre-loaded with functionality specifically designed to control webcam and microphones. 'If your computer is infected and you have a webcam plugged in, then everything you do in front of the computer can be seen, and everything you say can be recorded,' said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos." A strange new "peeping tom" worm is spreading across the internet. Read about it in the Register.
- 23 August 2004
"The risk of wars being fought over water is rising because of explosive global population growth and widespread complacency, scientists said on Friday. 'We have had oil wars,' said Professor William Mitsch. 'That's happened in our lifetime. Water wars are possible.' Scientists at the World Water Week conference which began on Sunday in Stockholm said that ignorance and complacency were widespread in wealthier countries. 'I don't know what will shake these regions out of complacency other than the fact there will be droughts, pestilence and wars that break out over water rights,' said Mitsch, professor of natural resources at Ohio State University. Mitsch told Reuters potential flashpoints included the Middle East." Experts believe that we may soon enter an era in which wars are waged over water. Learn more at Reuters.
- 20 August 2004
"A Chinese laboratory said Friday that a deadly strain of bird flu has been found in pigs, expanding the number of species that can be infected with the disease. Bird flu ravaged poultry flocks throughout Asia earlier this year and killed 27 people in Vietnam and Thailand. Researchers at the Harbin Institute of Veterinary Medicine have found the deadly strain, known as H5N1, in pigs, a lab worker said by phone from the northern Chinese city of Harbin. He would give only his surname, Yang. Yang wouldn't give any other details." A brief notice, easily missed, raises the question of how secure we are from the threat of animal viruses. Read about it at My Way News.
- 19 August 2004
"Don't connect that new PC to the Internet before taking security precautions, researchers at the Internet Storm Center warned Tuesday. According to the researchers, an unpatched Windows PC connected to the Internet will last for only about 20 minutes before it's compromised by malware, on average. That figure is down from around 40 minutes, the group's estimate in 2003...The drop from 40 minutes to 20 minutes is worrisome because it means the average "survival time" is not long enough for a user to download the very patches that would protect a PC from Internet threats." Matt Loney and Robert Lemos bring us yet another cyberthreat at ZDNet News.
- 18 August 2004
"The idea of banning portable storage media in the workplace sidesteps the fact that internal security is a human issue, not a technical one. Not too long ago, the Gartner Group raised a minor dustup in the IT community by releasing a report claiming that portable storage media—including consumer devices such as cameras and MP3 players with built-in or removable memory—represent a new security threat to corporate networks. While I am almost always happy to see people talking about security beyond firewalls and virus scanners, this particular case represents a classic example of the way in which the tech community—including the media—regularly bungles security issues." In an opinion column, David Raikow disagrees with the Gartner Group and provides his own ideas on security at the Channel Insider.
- 17 August 2004
"Advances in nanotechnology, genetics and nuclear isomers are permitting the production of a new generation of weapons intended to maintain future US military superiority and deter ‘rogue states’ and terrorists...What kind of arsenals will the US have in the next five to 25 years? An array of futuristic-sounding weapons is moving beyond the imaginations of scientists and military officials into the arena of government and commercial research laboratories. The consequences of the uses of these weapons are yet to be examined fully.
" Andy Oppenheimer describes some of the new weapons systems being developed at Jane's Chem-Bio Web.
- 16 August 2004
"If a 10-kiloton nuclear weapon, a midget even smaller than the one that destroyed Hiroshima, exploded in Times Square, the fireball would reach tens of millions of degrees Fahrenheit. It would vaporize or destroy the theater district, Madison Square Garden, the Empire State Building, Grand Central Terminal and Carnegie Hall (along with me and my building). The blast would partly destroy a much larger area, including the United Nations. On a weekday some 500,000 people would be killed. Could this happen?
" Nicholas Kristof raises a difficult, but important, question in his column for the New York Times.
- 13 August 2004
"The widespread availability of sensitive information on corporate Web sites appears to have been largely overlooked by IT and security managers who responded last week to the Department of Homeland Security's warning of a heightened terrorist threat against the financial services sector. Freely available on the Web, for example, are 3-D models of the exterior and limited portions of the interior of the Citigroup Inc. headquarters building in Manhattan -- one of the sites specifically named in the latest terror advisory issued by the DHS. Likewise, details of the Citigroup building's history of structural design weaknesses, including its susceptibility to toppling over in high winds, the construction of its central support column and the fire rating of the materials used in the building, are readily available on the Web." Online data could easily be utilized by terrorists. Learn more in Computerworld.
- 12 August 2004
"'Cues from chatter' gathered around the world are raising concerns that terrorists might try to attack the domestic food and drug supply, particularly illegally imported prescription drugs, acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Lester M. Crawford says. In an interview with The Associated Press, Crawford said Wednesday that he had been briefed about al-Qaida plans uncovered during recent arrests and raids, but declined further comment about any possible threats. Crawford noted the 1982 Tylenol case, in which packages of the extra-strength variety of the leading painkiller were removed from store shelves on Chicago's west side, filled with cyanide and returned to stores for purchase. Seven unsuspecting consumers were killed, and the incident prompted widespread adoption of tamperproof packaging." Learn more about this possible threat in Yahoo News.
- 11 August 2004
"Forged documents could be signed off for good with a new technique that produces a 3D hologram of handwriting. Through virtual reality and image processing, tiny pressure bumps in writing can be analysed to spot fakes. Conventional techniques have involved using 2D analyses to examine the sequence of pen strokes. The 3D method could be a 'powerful tool' for forensic experts, said the physicists, whose findings are reported in an Institute of Physics journal. Called 3D micro-profilometry, the technology could provide a solution for cracking down on will, cheque, and credit card counterfeiters, as well as the forgerers of other important handwritten documents." New hologram technology could put an end to forgery. Learn more at the BBC.com.
- 10 August 2004
"If you're going to the Olympics, you'd better be careful what you say and do in public. Software will be watching and listening. Recent leaps in technology have paired highly sophisticated software with street surveillance cameras to create digital security guards with intelligence-gathering skills. 'It is a very vast network and it is the first time it is being done on such a scale at an international level,' Greek police spokesman Col. Lefteris Ikonomou told The Associated Press...It gathers images and audio from an electronic web of over 1,000 high-resolution and infrared cameras, 12 patrol boats, 4,000 vehicles, nine helicopters, a sensor-laden blimp and four mobile command centers. Spoken words collected by the cameras with speech-recognition software are transcribed into text that is then searched for patterns along with other electronic communications entering and leaving the area." Learn more about this unprecedented surveillance system at CNN.com.
- 9 August 2004
"There is a growing consensus in the US that new technologies could help intelligence services do a better job at sharing vital information. The 9/11 commission's final report paints a picture of 15 different US intelligence services using 15 different databases, with none of them able to interact with one another. It is what could be described as a 'dumb' network. It is based on a decades-old model in which information can be shared only within each organisation...But some privacy experts worry about a system that makes the government better at spying and sharing information." In the wake of the recent report by the 9/11 commission, some experts calling for the use of better, more integrated, technology by the nation's intelligence agencies. Learn more at the BBC.com.
- 6 August 2004
"Electronic voting systems have drawn fire from courts, lawmakers, and citizens groups--and now they're under attack by hackers. It's an organized assault, too. E-voting technology expert Rebecca Mercuri, a Harvard research fellow who has been outspoken in her opposition to such systems, has issued a 'Hack the Vote' challenge, trying to illustrate what she calls their unreliability and vulnerability. Mercuri suggests electronic voting machines be hacked during their preelection testing, so officials will abandon them before an actual election. The first person to undetectably change vote tallies can claim $10,000 from a separate challenge." Both proponents and skeptics of e-voting are encouraging hackers to try and break into electronic voting systems. Learn more in Yahoo News.
- 5 August 2004
"Robocop it is not, but a security company in Tokyo is hoping that a cross between a dodgem car and the robot R2D2 will soon be helping Japanese companies scare off, or help apprehend, intruders. Secom, a company better known for supplying human security guards, has developed a six-wheeled surveillance robot which can be either remotely controlled or pre-programmed. It can chase intruders, take high definition video pictures of them, issue loud warnings and release a dense, billowing cloud of smoke to frighten them off...Target markets for the droid include airports, ports and hazardous industrial sites, where the robot can either patrol on a pre-programmed route or be controlled over a Wi-Fi link." Read more in the New Scientist.
- 4 August 2004
"Simple queries using the Google search engine can turn up a handful of sites that have posted credit card information to the Web, CNET News.com learned on Tuesday. The lists of financial information include hundreds of card holders' names, addresses and phone numbers as well as their credit-card data. Much of the credit-card data that appears in the lists found by Google may no longer be valid, but CNET called several people listed and verified that the credit cards numbers were authentic. The query, the latest example of 'Google hacking,' highlights increasing concern that knowledgeable Web surfers can turn up sensitive information by mining the world's best-known search engine." Learn more about this disturbing finding at News.com.
- 3 August 2004
"In a way, Sept. 11, 2001, was a kind of dry run for the country's medical examiners and coroners. While thousands of people died, their bodies didn't pose a major risk to rescuers. And the final disposal of the remains has gone smoothly. Next time, the dead may be a huge threat to the living. Alarmed by the prospect of serious dangers, officials are paying more attention than ever to the medical risks posed by the aftermath of a terrorist attack. Just last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an alert to coroners and medical examiners about how to protect themselves while still doing their jobs." Some worry that improper disposal of the dead could pose a dangerous threat in the aftermath of a massive terrorist attack. Learn more in Wired News.
- 2 August 2004
"A few months from now, Peter Anthony Schlesinger hopes to zap a laser beam at a couple of chickens or other animals in a cage a few dozen yards away. If all goes as planned, the chickens will be frozen in mid-cluck, their leg and wing muscles paralyzed by an electrical charge created by the beam, even as their heart and lungs continue to function normally. Among those most interested in the demonstration's outcome will be officials at the Pentagon, who helped fund Schlesinger's work and are looking at this type of device to do a lot more than just zap the cluck out of a chicken." American researchers are developing "directed energy" weapons that could render individuals immobile and shoot missiles down in mid-air. Learn more in USA Today.
- 30 July 2004
"Sven Jaschan, self-confessed author of the Netsky and Sasser viruses, is responsible for 70 percent of virus infections in 2004, according to a six-month virus roundup published Wednesday by antivirus company Sophos. The 18-year-old Jaschan was taken into custody in Germany in May by police who said he had admitted to programming both the Netsky and Sasser worms, something experts at Microsoft confirmed. (A Microsoft antivirus reward program led to the teenager's arrest). During the five months preceding Jaschan's capture, there were at least 25 variants of Netsky and one of the port-scanning network worm Sasser." A single person holds the dubious distinction of being responsible for more than 70 percent of this year's computer viruses. Learn more at News.com.
- 29 July 2004
"Privacy advocates may not be the only people taking issue with the current crop of radio-frequency identification tags--merchants will likely have problems with a lack of security as well. Low-cost RFID tags--many which are smaller than a nickel and cost less too--are already being added to packaging by retailers to keep track of inventory but could be abused by hackers and tech-savvy shoplifters, said Lukas Grunwald, a senior consultant with DN-Systems Enterprise Solutions GmbH. While the technology mostly threatens consumer privacy, the new technology could allow thieves to fool merchants by changing the identity of goods, he said. 'This is a huge risk for companies,' Grunwald said during a discussion at the Black Hat Security Briefings here. 'It opens a whole new area for shoplifting as well as chaos attacks.'" RFID tags are the newest products being targeted by hackers. Learn more at News.com.
- 28 July 2004
"I recently was invited to the Pentagon to watch a film depicting field tests of a new weapons program called the
Active Denial System, which, it occurred to me, could have been named by an unhinged cognitive therapist. For safety's
sake during this test run, the ''crowd'' -- played for the most part by off-duty soldiers -- flings bright green tennis
balls at the uniformed servicemen instead of rocks. As one member of the crowd hurls a ball, a soldier operating the
Active Denial System (it looks like a squat satellite dish) targets an unruly protester in the weapon's viewfinder,
squeezes a trigger that releases a beam of energy and, in a split second, one ''civilian'' howls and scampers away,
fanning his rear end...What they were feeling was a blast of electromagnetic energy that causes a great deal of pain but
does no lasting harm." The military is working to develop non-lethal weapons. Learn more in the
New York Times Magazine.
- 27 July 2004
"Jet fighter pilots could command a whole swarm of planes from the air, using a system developed by a British aerospace company. QinetiQ - formerly the UK government's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency - has developed technology that would allow a pilot to control up to five aircraft during a mission, without needing to constantly keep a check on them. So far, the system has been demonstrated as part of a new simulator developed by QinetiQ, modeled on the Eurofighter. The system allows a pilot to program a group of up to five unmanned planes to perform a simple task, like searching an area for enemy vehicles." New technologies could allow pilots to command their own squadrons of unmanned drones. Learn more in the New Scientist.
- 26 July 2004
"Efforts by the US authorities to counter cyber-crime and terrorism have been criticised in an official report. It said the Department of Homeland Security's cyber-strategy suffered from poor coordination and communication, as well as an inability to set priorities. The internal report warned that the US 'still faces a number of challenges to address long-term cyber-threats and vulnerabilities.' It described cyber-terrorism as one of the US's top five security threats. The unit also comes under fire for poor communications and failing to provide effective leadership in issues of cyber-security." A report has just come out criticizing The Department of Homeland Security's National Cyber Security Division, arguing that the division has not done enough to protect the nation against "cyber-threats." Learn more at the BBC.com.
- 23 July 2004
"Greek police get no vacation this August. The military has warships and anti-terrorist commandos primed. NATO will offer surveillance planes. Washington has sent over radiation scanners. Another security front line is quietly watched over by a French executive armed with only a clipboard and flow charts. His foes include distant hackers, invisible computer viruses, code-burrowing worms and the Trojan horses of the cyber age. 'We can't let our guard down for even a moment,'said Claude Philipps, program director for major events at Atos Origin, a Paris-based technology firm." In addition to all of the physical security that will be present at the summer Olympic games, organizers have also hired cyber-security personnel. Learn more at CNN.com.
- 22 July 2004
"Over the past 12 years it has become customary to refer to the Russian military establishment as decayed, under-armed, under-trained and under-supplied, thereby in effect writing it off as second-rate... However, even in the current dire circumstances, Russia never stopped being a powerful entity that produced state-of-the-art military technologies - a trend that continued from its inception as a modern state. While its army, navy and air force are in dangerously derelict conditions, every part of the formula for Russia's resurgence as a military powerhouse is still in place." Ironically, now that the Cold War is over the Russian military is developing some of its most advanced weapons--some of which rival, or even surpass, Western technologies. Learn more in the Asia Times.
- 21 July 2004
"The first virus designed to infect handheld devices powered by Microsoft's Windows CE software has renewed debate over whether a flood of mobile malicious software could be on the way. The new virus, known as 'Duts,' has not as yet succeeded in infecting any computers outside of the laboratory. It was developed as a 'proof of concept' program by an underground group calling itself 29A. The same group created the first virus for mobile phones, Cabir, in June 2004. Some experts say the emergence of Duts and Cabir may represent an ominous shift in virus writers' interests...The concern is that a computer virus will eventually be released that might spread rapidly between devices that connect to mobile phone networks." Learn more about these disturbing new viruses that attack mobile devices in the New Scientist.
- 20 July 2004
"As a vice president at security software leader Symantec Corp., Matthew Moynahan applauds Microsoft Corp.'s effort to make its Windows operating system safer from attack. But Moynahan is not so excited about the flood of help-desk calls almost certain to come when Microsoft releases a comprehensive security overhaul of Windows XP next month. His company's Norton anti-virus software runs on about 100 million desktop computers. To make the new Microsoft system work smoothly with Norton, customers will need to download a Norton update. The company already is bracing for the change." Under intense pressure to make windows more secure, Microsoft is about to issue a comprehensive new security package. Many worry, however, that other software will now also have to be retooled. Learn more in the Pittsburgh Tribune.
- 19 July 2004
"The Central Intelligence Agency has begun a series of terrorism briefings for state and local law enforcement personnel, for the first time dispatching counterterrorism experts to cities and small towns to warn of the possibility of an attack by Al Qaeda this year, government officials said this week...The arrival of a C.I.A. analyst in a small town appears to be a stark contrast from the agency's past approach, some local police chiefs and sheriffs said. Few of them have ever met an intelligence analyst or ever received more than a dry, often uninformative intelligence bulletin containing information already made public by the news media." In a decidedly new approach, the CIA is sending experts on counter-terrorism to small towns across the U.S. in an effort to train local law-enforcement officials. Learn more in the New York Times.
- 16 July 2004
"After the disappearance last week of two removable data storage devices, officials at Los Alamos National Laboratory yesterday announced a halt to classified research while they conduct an inventory of sensitive data. The halt affects the majority of work at Los Alamos, one of the nation's two nuclear weapons research laboratories. The loss of the storage devices was discovered July 7 during preparations to run an experiment in the laboratory's weapons physics division. The devices have not been found." One of the United States' leading nuclear weapons research facilities has stopped all work after reporting the loss of sensitive data storage devices. Learn more in the New York Times.
- 15 July 2004
"President Bush is scheduled to sign on Thursday a bill that would boost criminal penalties against phishing and many other forms of identity fraud, also called identity theft. Known as the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act, or ITPEA, the measure sets up punishment guidelines for anyone who possesses someone else's identification - related information with intent to commit a crime. Though solid numbers are hard to come by, identity fraud has been called the fastest-growing crime in the United States, affecting millions of Americans at a cost of billions of dollars a year." President Bush is scheduled to sign a bill that many hope will curb identity theft--a form of crime that is raging out of control. Learn more at News.com.
- 14 July 2004
"A futuristic gadget which disables suspect vehicles with radio waves could soon be used by police in car chases. It's their latest weapon in safely ending pursuits. The invention of a device which is effectively a stun gun for cars has roused the interest of senior officers. They believe it could offer a safe alternative to high speed chases, which all too often result in deaths. The number of people killed by crashes involving police cars in the UK is 'far too high', the Police Complaints Authority warned last year. With cop-show style chases off-limits, the potential for inventive ways to halt a runaway car has never been greater." Researchers are developing novel ways to stop cars, including radio waves that would "stun" a car and super-strong nets. Learn more at the BBC.com.
- 13 July 2004
"Music fans, beware: Britain's Ministry of Defense has become the latest organization to add the iPod to its list of high-tech security risks. The pocket-sized digital music player, which can store thousands of songs, is one of a series of banned gadgets that the military will no longer allow into most sections of its headquarters in the UK and abroad. Devices with large storage capabilities -- most notably those with a Universal Serial Bus (USB) plug used to connect to a computer -- have been treated with greater suspicion of late by government agencies and corporations alike. The fear is that the gadgets can be used to siphon information from a computer, turning a seemingly innocuous device into a handy tool for data thieves." Apple's iPod is the latest consumer device to create privacy concerns for governments and corporations. Learn more in Yahoo News.
- 12 July 2004
"The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is a fine aspiration. But, as Pontius Pilate said to Jesus, 'What is truth?' For decades, researchers have grappled with the problem of creating a machine that can tell, definitively, whether a person is lying. Until recently, their efforts have been unsatisfactory. The current generation of lie-detection technologies has been put under scientific scrutiny and found wanting. But science, ever resourceful, is coming up with new ideas. Soon, at least in some cases, that old courtroom platitude may itself come to resemble the truth more closely." The efficacy of lie detection has frequently been called into question. Yet, new techniques that focus on the brain itself could prove more effective. Learn more in the Economist.
- 9 July 2004
"A new way of identifying metal and explosives could provide a valuable tool in the fight against terrorism. Airport security has become big business following the terrorist attacks in the US. A system that detects both metal and non-metallic weapons using terahertz light has been developed by technology firm TeraView. It could make passenger screening at airports more effective and quicker, say experts...Terahertz light sits between microwave and infrared on the electro-magnetic spectrum. It has a number of properties that can be harnessed to screen passengers. Unlike X-ray, it is perfectly safe to use on people. It can pass through clothing, paper and plastics to detect metal, ceramic or plastic weapons." Learn more about this new screening system in the BBC.com.
- 8 July 2004
"For most of our history, privacy was a luxury—we were too busy just staying alive. Clustering together in caves, our distant ancestors knew who the best hunters were, and who was sleeping with whom. Later, in the fiefs, villages, and towns, everybody knew who was dependable, who was a drunk, who had money. Amid such intimacy, anonymous sociopathology was pretty hard to pull off. Later on, when we didn't really need to huddle for security, we came to see privacy as 'a fundamental human right.'" As new technologies emerge, people are beginning to question whether privacy really is a fundamental right. Learn more in the IEEE Spectrum. Also, be sure to check out our new article by Jeff Harrow, who asks, Is Privacy Going the Way of the Buggy Whip?
- 7 July 2004
"The Boeing Co. hopes to be a big player in 'net-centric' warfare, launched two years ago when a Special Forces operative used a hand-held global-positioning device and a laptop to guide B-52 strikes against terrorist positions in Afghanistan. 'Net-centric operations' allow ground forces to communicate through a computer web with airborne and other units. The technology enables front-line troops and commanders in the rear to get a true picture of the battlefield and shortens response time." The U.S. military is working to tie all of its component parts into highly coordinated, "net-centric," groups--a task which requires cutting edge technologies. Learn more at Yahoo.com.
- 6 July 2004
"A TiVo-style digital video system makes it easier for officers to record law breakers and avoid frivolous lawsuits, while saving them valuable storage space unlike bulky analog tapes. The Tyler Police Department in East Texas outfitted its 60 patrol cars with systems that take a steady stream of video. It includes a special 'pre-event' feature that automatically goes back and saves the minute of footage before an officer hits the record button to mark the video. 'Now that I've got them on video, I figure, "Let's go to court, I'd be happy to play them for you,"' Tyler police officer John Weavers said." The use of digital video cameras is transforming the way police fight crime. Learn more in Wired News.
- 5 July 2004
"In coming years, the likes of giant defense contractors Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin may have to make room for tiny start-ups and big drug companies that make antidotes for bugs instead of bombs. Project Bioshield, a bill passed by Congress and expected to be signed shortly by President Bush, authorizes $5.6 billion over the next decade to induce drug and biotech firms to develop new vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic tools to counter biological attacks on the United States. Determining the right amount to spend on biodefense isn't easy when the size and likelihood of the threat are so unclear." The U.S. government is working to provide massive funding for the defense against biological attacks. Yet, it is unclear if such programs will be effective--or even necessary. Learn more in the Christian Science Monitor.
- 2 July 2004
"A police officer stops you on the street, then taps something into a device in the palm of his hand. The next minute, he knows who your relatives are, who lives in your house, who your neighbors are, the kind of car you drive or boat you own, whether you've been sued and various other tidbits about your life. Science fiction? Hardly. A growing number of police departments now have instant access via handheld wireless devices to vast commercial databases that contain details on just about anyone officers encounter on the beat." Many police departments are drawing on databases that provide all sorts of personal information. Some believe that these services are invaluable crime-fighting tools, while others voice concerns about privacy. Learn more at CNN.com.
- 1 July 2004
"In 2004, a scientist who speaks out against government efforts to thwart terrorism does not win any popularity contests in Washington. So Dr. Richard H. Ebright, a molecular biologist with an intimate understanding of the science underlying the use of deadly germs as weapons, has received no warm invitations to participate in federal panels on domestic security. The government and many security experts say one crucial step is to build more high-security laboratories, where scientists can explore the threats posed not only by deadly natural germs, but also by designer pathogens...Dr. Ebright, on the other hand, views the plans as a recipe for catastrophe." A prominent scientist is arguing that labs that study volatile biological agents actually increase the risk of a deadly attack. Learn more in the New York Times.
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