terrorism

DIY 'e-bombs' a threat to airliners

Box cutters, high flying geese and now this: a DIY electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon that can bring down a plane with a single microwave radio pulse blasted from the ground or even from the next seat over, according to experts.

The world's major military powers have tinkered with EMP warheads that broadcast radio-frequency shockwaves of hundreds of thousands of volts per meter. But now, any crackpot can build one of these "e-bombs" with low-cost equipment purchased online.

In analyzing electromagnetic weapons currently in development, the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, Israel, discovered that there is plenty … Read more

Internet not to blame for terrorism

A new report from the London-based International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence is yet another indication that the Internet is not the main culprit for society's woes. The report, "Countering Online Radicalization: A Strategy for Action," debunks the myth that the Internet is a major recruiting and training tool for extremists and would-be terrorists. The report focuses primarily on the United Kingdom but has implications for the United States and elsewhere.

The authors found "little evidence to support the contention that the Internet plays a dominant role in the process of radicalization.&… Read more

Even Microsoft's anti-Linux message isn't this bad

This anti-Linux Microsoft "ad" hit the Web a few weeks ago, but I just came across it last night and thought it was funny.

It's not funny because of its content but rather because some people actually think that it's a real ad put out by Microsoft to discredit Linux, one originally placed on a page describing how to multiboot operating systems.

I laughed out loud when I saw it, as it's clearly a fake. Whatever you may think of Microsoft, its marketing is classier than this. Well, some of its marketing, at least. ;-)… Read more

Government report: Data mining doesn't work well

The most extensive government report to date on whether terrorists can be identified through data mining has yielded an important conclusion: It doesn't really work.

A National Research Council report, years in the making and scheduled to be released Tuesday, concludes that automated identification of terrorists through data mining or any other mechanism "is neither feasible as an objective nor desirable as a goal of technology development efforts." Inevitable false positives will result in "ordinary, law-abiding citizens and businesses" being incorrectly flagged as suspects.

The whopping 352-page report, called "Protecting Individual Privacy in the … Read more

Fatal flaws found in terrorism database

One of the country's most important terrorism databases is on the verge of failure after suffering from gross mismanagement and technical design flaws that went ignored for months, a congressional investigation found.

A congressional committee on Thursday called for an investigation into a program called "Railhead," which was supposed to upgrade the National Counterterrorism Center's integrated terrorist intelligence database, called Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE). The database serves the United States' 16 separate intelligence agencies, and as of January, contained more than 500,000 names (PDF), according to the NCTC. The program has cost an estimated $… Read more

Terrorism hits India's high-tech hub

Whatever the motivations were for the apparent terrorists who exploded a series of small bombs in India's high-tech hub Bangalore earlier Friday, one thing they're not likely to succeed in doing is slowing that city's progress.

As Om Malik notes, residents of several cities in India have grown accustomed to terrorist attacks (Reuters has an account of the explosions that appear to have killed at least one person and injured many more.). They are a terrible part of life in a country that has struggled with extremism in various forms.

Bangalore, of course, is of particular interest … Read more

Firing automatic weapons from a Segway: good idea, or not?

A Chinese news site features a picture of anti-terrorist forces on Segway-back. Is this totally nuts, or a really good idea?

Three questions in the Segway versus no Segway debate: These guys should be in pretty good shape. Shouldn't they be able to run faster than one of these? Well, according to the Wikipedia entry for a Segway PT, the vehicle has a top speed of 12.5 mph. That works out to roughly a five-minute mile. With riot gear on, yeah, that's pushing it. Winner: Segway, if you're willing to be standing really tall all the … Read more

Report sees 'Hate 2.0' on the rise

No, we're not talking about vile blog commenters. A Jewish human rights group, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, released a report last week that says online terror and hate is on the rise, particularly on social-media sites.

According to a briefing detailed by The New York Times' Brad Stone, the Wiesenthal Center flagged about 8,000 "problematic" sites on the Web pertaining to terrorism and hate, a 30 percent increase from last year.

In addition to religious terror groups, the sites identified also pertain to anti-Semitic, racist, xenophobic, and various anti-religion and anti-government sentiments. And social media is … Read more

California city gets video surveillance fever

RICHMOND, Calif.--Taking a cue from surveillance camera-laden London, this San Francisco Bay Area city is installing security camera systems for the police and at the port to reduce crime and protect against terrorism.

The systems are being built and maintained by ADT, known for its home burglar alarm systems, and use a high-speed wireless mesh network.

Clusters of video cameras transmit data to wireless radios, which then send it over a 1-gigabit back-haul feed to servers in the Port of Richmond's security office, and for the city to police headquarters and the dispatch center. Eventually, the video will … Read more