| 
| | Sign up | e-mail to a colleague | print version |
The Radio InterOperability System bridges the communications gap between disparate radios, satellite, cell, and VoIP phones
Scan stadiums or large areas for dangerous chemical vapors in seconds. Rely on Bruker instruments for special event protection.
Practicing international business law for more than 45 years New York (main office) Washington, Miami, Dublin, London, Zurich, Manila Tel (U.S.) 516-741-2666 Lally.Lally@verizon.net
Serving all your transportation, shipping, storage, and relocation needs. Military / ISO certified.
| | Allocation would be a major improvement over previous years; IEDs continue to take a toll, yet technological responses remain problematic; other budget winners include the Future Combat System and BioSense full story Designed for use within the Tactical Medical Coordination System, RFID system will track casualties and medical supplies via RFID wristbands placed on casualties in the field; SkyeModule M1-mini continues to earn raves after a banner 2006 full story Computer Sciences Corporation will convert A-files in anticipation of a guest worker program; DHS gains the ability to share critical data; CSC shows why it is such a lucrative takeover target full story Inspector general notes 321 arrests in a six-month period, including a disturbing number of rapes and flashings; defrauding the government also a serious problem; report recalls similar problems in Sweden full story
Biometrics & identity authentication Bankruptcy proceedings offer a ripe opportunity for Sony just as it launches its own video analytics suite; IPIX's gigapixel camera a tasty morsel; Steve Hunt provides an analysis of Sony's future success and IPIX's past failures full story Purchase gives Dutch company an even firmer grip on the ePassport inlay business; Multitape known for its etching technology full story After agency spends $750,000 to catalyze the market, vendors will have to contract with private laboratories for HSPD-12 certification; costs seen as on the downswing; seventy-five vendors have already been approved full story Trade association works to distinguish RF from RFID technology; privacy and utility major concerns as well; industry encouraged to ensure data protection and communicate more effectively with users full story
* Steven Goldberg replaces Brooks McChesney |
Radio-controlled IEDs remain the greatest threat to troops in Iraq these days, and thus developing systems to counter them is a major priority for the Defense Department. Not that such is an easy task. Readers may perhaps remember our earlier report that IED jammers currently in use in Iraq and Afghanistan have had the unfortunate effect of also interfering with tactical radio systems, particularly those belonging to the Naval Sea Systems Command. Not that the problems are unsolvable. They just require more money, which is exactly what they will get under the 2008 budget proposed this week by President Bush. DoD has asked for $4 billion in funding in its fiscal 2008 budget and $2.4 billion in its fiscal 2007 supplemental budget for the Joint IED Defeat Organization. These numbers are an improvement on the $1.9 billion allocated to the organization in 2007 and the $3 billion provided in 2006. Overall, Bush requested roughly $481.4 billion for the Defense Department for fiscal 2008 -- an 11.3 percent increase over 2007. A few specific budget winners in the president's proposal: The Army's Future Combat System, which will receive a $300 million increase for a total of $3.7 billion; $1.6 billion for research and development related to chemical and biological warfare; and $88 million for the BioSense biosurveillance program, $10 million more than approved by Congress for 2007. Bush has also requested $46.4 billion in funding for the DHS in fiscal 2008, of which $1 billion is planned for the SBInet program to support innovations and integration of infrastructure and technology along U.S. borders. Another $224.2 million has been requested to support the TSA screening operations. Altogether the budget request is an 8 percent increase over that of 2007. -read more in Bob Brewin's FCW report; to find more detailed information about the homeland security budget see the DHS Web site
Here is a technology certain to interest Newt Gingrich, who has dedicated his post-congressional life to digitizing medical care: Westminister, Colorado-based Skyetek (motto: "RFID as a feature") has teamed up with Glen Head, New York-based ACC Systems to develop a handheld RFID reader to identify, locate, and track casualties and medical resources. Designed for use within the Tactical Medical Coordination System (TacMedCS) deployed by military and civilian responders, the SkyeTek-ACC system will be used to read RFID medical wristbands placed on casualties or refugees, as well as electronic dog tags worn by personnel in the field. By collecting and processing such data, planners can more accurately distribute medical supplies. Under the deal, SkyeTek will provide ACC with its SkyeModule M1-mini RFID module. Smaller in size than a quarter, the M1-mini is said to be the world's smallest self-contained, multi-protocol 13.56 MHz OEM module on the market. "We selected SkyeTek for our RFID reader module because we believe the company's Advanced Universal Reader Architecture is a significant innovation in terms of reader technology," said ACC's Victor Sackett. "SkyeTek's M1-mini provides an optimum combination of performance, reliability, and tag support that places it at the forefront of the current marketplace." There is no doubt about it. In 2006 SkyeTek achieved 144 percent growth in revenue bookings year-over-year, fueled in large part by ReaderWare software license sales, which exceeded 50 percent of revenue this past year and are expected to surpass 60 percent during 2007. -read more in this report
Chalk up another win to El Segundo, California-based Computer Sciences Corporation. Last year we reported that the company was being eyed as a potential takeover target by various private equity firms, in part owing to its success in landing deals with the IRS ($36 million), BAE Systems ($1.9 billion) , DuPont ($1.6 billion to $2 billion), and MBDA ($100 million). Now we can report an additional success: a $5.9 million deal with the Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency to develop the Integrated Digitization Document Management Program (IDDMP), which aims to convert so-called "alien files" (or A-files) from paper to digital format. USCIS maintains an archive of more than fifty-five million A-files, which are used to make decisions about immigrants' applications for citizenship and other benefits. Under the agreement, Computer Sciences will capture and retain scanned and electronic images for each file, which can each contain anywhere from one to hundreds of pages, and make them available to authorized users from a single document repository. "The system will allow Homeland Security users across the agency to search, track, organize and view records, process cases more quickly, and manage and share vast quantities of data while protecting sensitive information," said CSC's James Sheaffer. In the future the system might also serve as the backbone of a guest worker program. Other companies involved in the project are Alexandria, Virginia-based Perpetual Logic; San Francisco, California-based Taxonomy Strategies; and McLean, Virginia-based Washington Consulting. -read more in this company news release
DHS and its subordinate agencies -- Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Citizenship and Immigration Services -- are used to asking travelers to remove articles of clothing and submit to intrusive inspections. Such is the price an American citizen must pay if he wishes to be protected against the threat of foreign terrorists and illegal Mexican fry cooks. Sad to say, however, much of the disrobing is not being performed under what we might call official sanction--or for any official purpose. Readers may recall an earlier report of ours regarding what we called "passport pornography," in which Swedish border guards were collecting the photographs of beautiful young maidens in a special folder. America has similar problems. According to a recent report by the DHS Inspector General there were in one single six-month period "321 arrests, 333 indictments and 243 convictions" of department personnel, with many of the convictions for sexual crimes ranging from "exposure of sexual organs" to a juvenile female to attempted oral copulation and sexual battery under duress. (There were also the standard acts of bribery, theft of government property, and defrauding the government.) These reports are disturbing. The employee who is busy cheating the government out of its own property is at least thinking about his work. The flasher and rapist commit two sins: sexual immorality and goldbricking. -read more in Michael Hampton's Homeland Stupidity blog post
| | | Biometrics & identity authentication
Sony acquires IPIX's intellectual property for $3.6 million
Last year, we quoted Clara Conti, the CEO of Reston, Virginia-based IPIX remarking on the growth of the video analytics business: "When I started, there were only two companies doing video analytics," she said. "Now there are thirty companies doing this or at least claiming to do this." Perhaps by now there are more than thirty, but IPIX is not one of them any longer. The company is now in bankruptcy court, and the vultures are circling to snatch up the remains. One of these scavengers is Sony, which SecurityInfoWatch reports has acquired IPIX's core intellectual property at a price of $3.6 million. The portfolio includes IPIX's gigapixel camera for situational awareness software -- a good move for Sony which recently launched its own suite of video analytic technology with the DEPA product line. Our good friend Steve Hunt of 4A International had this to say: The IPIX technology is going to be worth a thousands time more to Sony Corporation than it ever could have been to IPIX. Sony is a company made up of engineers, and they make their money not only from their own branded products, but the biggest part of their revenue comes from all of the Sony components that they sell that other people put in their products. So the IPIX technology could appear in a number of cameras, processor, TVs and high-end video equipment. It could go in a thousand places once you rip it apart for its parts. Why did IPIC go under? Hunt explains: They didn't have the right partnerships, and they didn't play the game right, such as playing nice with other video management systems. Their sales channel also didn't work. You have to make your product available in a way that customers want to buy it, and they didn't succeed in creating that successful sales channel. -read more in this SecurityInfoWatch report
Now that its antenna inlay patent dispute with Germany-based Assa Abloy Identification Technologies has been resolved, Netherlands-based Smartrac N.V. is back in the thick of the ePassport game. The company, which is involved in seventy of the ninety-five e-passport projects worldwide, announced this week that it had acquired a 25 percent stake in Germany-based Multitape, also manufacturer of smart card inlays, as well as etched smart labels. Under the agreement, the tow companies will cooperate in the production of RFID components. "Multitape has great expertise in etching. We will obtain access to this technology as a strategically optimal supplement to wire-embedding technology, which continues to be Smartrac's core competence," said company CEO Manfred Rietzler. Of course, Smartrac does not need much help with the inlays themselves. Rather, the company is interested in Multitape's etching's abilities, etching being the method of cutting antenna structures out of a carrier substrate. "We regard etching technology as an option primarily for applications in logistics and access control," said Rietzler. "We are now ideally placed in these segments with high volumes and great growth potential, and can further extend our product portfolio." Smartrac also holds a 30 percent stake in Kulim, Malaysia-based Xytec Solutions, which holds patented inlay-manufacturing machinery. -read more in this company news release
| 
| Serving all your transportation, shipping, storage, and relocation needs.
Military / ISO certified. |
Bad news for prospective HSPD-12 vendors. The General Services Administration (GSA) has announced that it will soon cease paying vendors to test their products and services as HSPD-12-compliant. In May the agency installed a free testing lab in order to help companies move forward on the much-delayed mandate and has spent $725,000 on equipment and supplies to support the program. This could not go on forever, and so starting 23 April, testing "will be borne on a cost-reimbursable basis by the supplier," with GSA certifying independent testing labs who will be paid directly by the vendors. These costs, however, are expected to be relatively minor. "The efficiency of testing improves with experience; we would expect the cost to firms to be less than the costs to GSA to approve the initial approved products," said Steven Kempf of the Federal Acquisition Service. Over the past eight months, GSA has tested products or services in twenty-two categories and approved 166 products from seventy-five different vendors. Thirty service vendors were approved, as were an additional five to provide public-key infrastructure digital certificates. -read more in Jason Miller's Washington Technology report
Smart Card Alliance publishes best practices for RF industry
It is time to crack the books. Our friends at the Smart Card Alliance Identity Council have released a guide to best practices in the RF identity management market -- the idea being to ensure customer privacy while at the same time ensuring the integrity and utility of the cards. Almost as important from the alliance's perspective is distinguishing between its RF member base and the RFID marketplace. "These new documents achieve a twofold purpose," said executive director Randy Vanderhoof. "Providing rules for good behavior when using RF-enabled technology in identity management and clearly delineating the differences between RFID and contactless smart cards that use RF and provide security and privacy protection in identity applications." The alliance made the following recommendations: - Implement security techniques, such as mutual authentication, cryptography and verification of message integrity, to protect identity information throughout the application
- Ensure protection of all user and credential information stored in central identity system databases, allowing access to specific information only according to designated access rights
- Notify the user as to the nature and purpose of the personally identifiable information (PII) collected - its usage and length of retention
- Notify the user about what information is used; how and when it is accessed and by whom; and provide a redress mechanism to correct information and to resolve disputes.
"Adherence to these best practices not only helps ensure the validity, security and integrity of vital identity information, but at the same time addresses the concerns of citizens and government officials about privacy and the growing threat of identity theft," said Vanderhoof. -read more in this alliance news release
* Steven Goldberg replaces Brooks McChesney: Sunnyvale, California-based Vidient Systems, best known for its behavior recognition and video analytics software, has named Steven Goldberg as its new president and CEO. The positions were previously held by Vidient founder Brooks McChesney, who will now serve as executive vice president. Goldberg served most recently as entrepreneur-in-residence at the Menlo Park, California-based venture capital firm Venrock Associates and served previously as president and CEO of Campbell, California-based ARCWAVE, a developer of wireless networking equipment. Read more in this company news release size=1 width=450 style='width:337.5pt' align=left>
| 
| Innovative polymer solutions |
| Events
ISC West International Security Conference and Expo -- Las Vegas, Nevada -- 03/28-30- ISC West is where end-users of security, systems integrators, dealers, and installers cover all their security needs. Held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, ISC West will again be one of the premier security events covering most of the security industry. To register, see Web site
CIPATE 2007 - 2nd Annual Beijing International Security Conference -- Beijing, China -- 05/17-19- With a rising focus on the social security of the 2008 Olympics, Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau is responsible for the safety of the event and enforcing the Capital's security. Hosted by the Bureau, CIPATE 2007 is an exclusive official fair before the 2008 Beijing Olympics covering government representatives, police officers, Olympic committee's security division, fire services departments, security consultants, anti-terrorism experts, embassies, customs, and planning divisions. See Web site
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
The Homeland Security (HS) Daily Wire is a daily newsletter offering news on
and analysis of the business aspects of the homeland security sector
Sign up for free: signup@hsdailywire.com
Editor-in-chief: Ben Frankel -- editor@hsdailywire.com
Managing editor: Michael Davis -- management@hsdailywire.com
Senior writer: Avi Klein -- aklein@hsdailywire.com
Staff writer: Sean Cheang -- scheang@hsdailywire.com;
Web designer: Catherine Musinsky -- information@actioninteractive.net
Director of sales: Susan DeMello -- susan.demello@hsdailywire.com
Publishers: Stewart Cass, Grant Lally
Advertising: advertise@hsdailywire.com or 202.328.1640 x 102
Editorial communications: editor@hsdailywire.com
Events calendar: events@hsdailywire.com
*Subscribers with AOL and Lotus Notes e-mail accounts may experience difficulties
receiving the newsletter. We suggest you use another e-mail account. If you cannot, and you
experience problems receiving the newsletter, please contact us
To unsubscribe, click unsubscribe
If there are problems with the link, please e-mail management@hsdailywire.com
with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line 
Homeland Security Daily Wire | 1606 20th St. N.W., Third Floor | Washington, D.C. 20009 | 202.328.1640
©copyright 2005-2007 Analytica Wire, Inc. ®All rights reserved
| | |
|
|
Made4biz Security
Translating real-world security knowhow into state of the art security systems.
Made4biz Security
Turn on Sound for Demos:
Bill Gates Demo (Location-based)
Elvis Demo (Location/Context-based)
Clint Eastwood Demo (Temporal-based)
Subscribe to
Posts [Atom]
Technorati Profile
RSS Syndication
|
Made4Biz Dynamic IT Security News
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home