Border Security

News

The other border war: Profiles of corruption
Wed, 2010-03-17 04:20 PM
While narco-war rages along the Mexican border, are border agents and other DHS officials being turned to the Dark Side?Recently, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’...
DHS unveils tribal consultation and coordination plan
Tue, 2010-03-16 03:11 PM
DHS has unveiled an initiative for increased consultation and coordination with federally recognized tribes across the U.S., which it says “builds on current tribal partnerships to protect the safety...
SecuGen launches the iD-SERIAL fingerprint reader
Tue, 2010-03-16 02:56 PM
Santa Clara, CA-based SecuGen, an optical fingerprint device vendor, has unveiled its new iD-SERIAL fingerprint reader.The company describes iD-SERIAL as a complete biometric system that captures,...
DHS S&T is working on a chem-danger-alert app for your smartphone
Mon, 2010-03-15 02:38 PM
Would you pay an extra dollar or so for your next smartphone if it included an app that alerted you -- and DHS -- when you were near dangerous chemicals?That’s approximately the value proposition...
HTS integrates license plate recognition software with Simac’s Sphynxx
Mon, 2010-03-15 02:30 PM
Rishon LeZion, Israel-based Hi-Tech Solutions Ltd. (HTS), a developer and provider of optical character recognition (OCR) computer and vision systems, is integrating its license plate recognition (...
Bulgarian Customs employs AS&E's ZBV Z Backscatter Van
Mon, 2010-03-15 02:25 PM
American Science and Engineering, Inc. (AS&E) reports that the National Customs Agency of Bulgaria is now using the company's Z Backscatter Van (ZBV) mobile X-ray inspection system.The ZBV will...
Lionbridge awarded DHS contract for over-the-phone interpretation services
Fri, 2010-03-12 04:51 PM
Waltham, MA-based Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. has won a DHS / USCIS contract for over-the-phone interpretation services.  The contract, which the company expects to be worth approximately $7...
Eutecus unveils Bi-i V401X video analytics module
Fri, 2010-03-12 04:41 PM
Berkeley, CA-based Eutecus, Inc. has unveiled its new Bi-i V401X video analytics module, which implements Eutecus’ multi-core video analytics engine (MVE) on a single Field Programmable Gate Array (...
TSA to randomly survey 25,000 air travelers each year
Fri, 2010-03-12 01:05 PM
TSA is planning to ask about 1,000 random travelers at each of 25 U.S. airports to complete a customer satisfaction survey each year that will ask questions about screening equipment, procedures and...
IG reviews DHS contracts awarded through ‘other than full and open competition’
Wed, 2010-03-10 05:12 PM
DHS’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released the results of its congressionally mandated review of the department’s contracts awarded during fiscal year 2009 through “other than full and open...
It takes DHS about 35 seconds to collect fingerprints from all 10 digits
Tue, 2010-03-09 03:30 PM
It takes more than twice as long for the US-VISIT program to collect 10 fingerprints from each non-citizen arriving into the U.S. at an airport or land border as it did prior to 2007, when only two...
Neurotechnology’s MegaMatcher Accelerator 2.0 now available
Tue, 2010-03-09 03:28 PM
Vilnius, Lithuania-based Neurotechnology, a provider of biometric identification technologies, has released MegaMatcher Accelerator 2.0, which the company calls a packaged hardware and software...

News Analysis

IDenta says explosives ID kits identify underwear bomber’s PETN
Add Jerusalem-based Identa Corp. to the handful of companies that issued statements in the wake of the failed Christmas day attack on Flight 253, saying they have technology that can detect PETN, the powerful explosive that could have brought the...
HID Global extends iCLASS for Dutch Rijkspas program
Irvine, CA-based HID Global, the secure identity specialist, reports the launch of its Rijkspas-compliant ICLASS smart card reader, designed for Dutch government agencies adopting MIFARE DESFire EV1 smart card technology.The reader features DESFire...
Former NSA deputy director joins Proximex advisory board
Sunnyvale, CA-based Proximex, the developer of products for the physical security information management (PSIM) market, has announced that William Crowell, a security consultant and a former Silicon Valley CEO and NSA deputy director, has joined the...
General Dynamics opens new data center for USCIS
General Dynamics Information Technology, a business unit of Falls Church, VA-based General Dynamics, has opened a new enterprise data center in Westminster, CO, to serve as the technology operations and maintenance infrastructure support (TOMIS)...
DHS designates foreign countries eligible for H-2A and H-2B visa programs
DHS has published its annual list of countries whose nationals may petition to enter the U.S. under H-2A and H-2B nonimmigrant status, in effect becoming legal guest workers.Under DHS regulations, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)...

Commentary and Opinions

OPINION / Using good technology to find bad people

By Jonathan McDonald

Many government organizations are charged with combating terrorism, identifying criminals and effectively applying immigration policies. All these activities require that persons of interests (and organizations and networks) be accurately identified. Identification is an extremely complex process that is only compounded by increasing data volumes, complex relationships, and tightly coupled application and data architectures.

OPINION / Video conferencing technology offers new opportunities for homeland security collaboration

By William Sapp

In an operating environment where threats are imminent and the response must be equally swift, video communication technology can offer DHS and its communities of interest new ways to collaborate to improve homeland security operations.

Whether responding to a natural disaster or sharing intelligence to thwart a terrorist plot, video conferencing technology allows organizations to connect quickly and collaborate meaningfully.

Security diversions at the checkpoint: A Sikh perspective

Leaving Seattle recently, I was in for a surprise. As six of my colleagues and I stood in line for an airport security check, we were all told to step aside for secondary screening. They wanted to search our turbans -- mandatory religious articles of our Sikh faith. Each of us was pulled out of line while other passengers stared at the group being corralled. As several screeners investigated our turbans, the wasted time and resources made me uneasy.

OPINION / Two years later, where are we?

By Jim Giermanski

    In 2007, I wrote two articles on why 100 percent scanning was not doable. I laid out four fundamental reasons why 100 percent scanning would not work: its foreign acceptance, its limitation to seaports only, the non-existence of required technology, and the non-inclusion of land ports within the concept of critical infrastructure.

Two years later, where are we?

 

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