• 26 -- Second test of the water and Africa story codes

    The sovereign citizen movement, the roots of which lie in white separatism and anti-Semitism, now welcomes non-white adherents. Especially susceptible to recruitment efforts by the movement are African Americans – called “Moorish Americans” or “Moorish Natives” by movement members – from poor and neglected neighborhoods.“They are much more reflective of the demographics of society today,” a former FBI case manager notes.

  • E. coli outbreakGermany's E. coli outbreak mystery deepens

    Germany desperately tries to identify source of deadliest-ever recorded outbreak of E. coli, while country leaders concede that country was unprepared

  • Safer e-cards for passports, e-IDs, and electronic voting

    Researchers find serious security drawbacks in chips that are being embedded in e-passports and other e-IDs, and in credit, debit, and “smart” cards; the vulnerabilities of this electronic approach — and the vulnerability of the private information contained in the chips — are becoming more acute; using simple devices constructed from $20 disposable cameras and copper cooking-gas pipes, the researchers demonstrated how easily the cards’ radio frequency (RF) signals can be disrupted; the method can also be used to corrupt the results of electronic voting machines

  • "Fingerprinting" RFID tags will prevent counterfeiting

    RFID tags embedded in objects will become the standard way to identify objects and link them to the cyberworld; trouble is, it is easy to clone an RFID tag by copying the contents of its memory and applying them to a new, counterfeit tag, which can then be attached to a counterfeit product — or person, in the case of these new e-passports; researchers develop an electronic fingerprinting system to prevent this from happening

    • view counter

  • RFID market to reach $5.56 billion by end of 2009

    In 2008, the average price per RFID tag was $1.13; the total value of tags being sold in 2008 was $2.23 billion; this figure will increase to $5.56 billion in 2009

  • Products block unauthorized RFID reading of contactless cards

    More and more countries and organizations move toward adopting RFID-enabled, biometric e-IDs — driver’s licenses, passports, national IDs, and more; trouble is, these e-documents are susceptible to digital pickpocketing; a U.K. company offers solutions

    • view counter

  • Start-up offers technology to stop spread of communicable diseases

    Israeli start-up CartaSense has a monitoring technology — a tag that integrates a sensor, battery, micro controller, non-volatile memory, and a radio frequency circuit that transmits to a control unit — that allows farmers to know each animal’s vital statistics

  • Guest column Securing the homeland: Asset tracking in a layered security environment // by Ted Langhoff and Nishant Pillai

    The need to effectively secure and track cargo, not just at the port, but throughout the supply chain — long before its arrival in the United States — has become an important priority and factors significantly into efforts to ensure U.S. national security

  • New RFID technology tracks nuclear materials

    Argonne National Lab’s researchers develop RFID-based method to monitor the environmental and physical conditions of containers of nuclear materials in storage and transportation

  • Total RFID revenue to exceed $5.6 billion in 2009

    ABI Research says that “The recession has had an undeniable effect on deployment plans… but despite some project deferrals and terminations, there will be market growth, albeit fragmented”

  • Big problems with RFID deployment at Los Angeles-Long Beach ports

    The first day of using RFID tags caused a reported 1,500 trucks to be turned away from the Port of Los Angeles and delays of more than an hour at the Port of Long Beach

  • Not yet ready for prime time: RFID technology

    RFID technology is incorporated into more and more documents (e-passports, enhanced driver’s licenses); trouble is, the technology still suffers from privacy and security vulnerabilities

  • Battery-free, multi-detection wireless sensors

    Home food and beverage safety monitoring, remote water purity testing, more effective chemical and biological sensors are all potential applications

  • Briefly noted

    As ports RFID deadline approaches, applications flood in… eMentum wins $23 million Contract to provide identity management services to DOJ… Early spotting of a potential IT train wreck… Getting the facts straight on cybersecurity

  • Briefly noted

    U.S. Army signs $75 million contract for passive RFID… U.S. government to take over screening from airlines… IT security sector faces major changes… Senators propose changes at DHS