When the ACLU of Massachusetts tried to get information from the TSA about how they test new security technologies, the answers we got were largely [redacted].

Source.

Cameras, both mobile and stationary, have been installed throughout the city. Ready to be deployed throughout the city of Miami Beach are a total of 62 light towers, twelve visual messaging boards and three watch towers.

Roughly 400 officers per shift from multiple agencies will pack the streets of Miami Beach.

In addition to extra bikes and ATVs, the Police Department has a new vehicle on loan referred to as an LTV.

CBS 4 News had the exclusive first look at this 140-thousand dollar light tactical all-terrain vehicle, similar to the ones used in the military.

Seriously? You need a $140,000 ATV for Memorial Day weekend? But wait, there’s more.

The camera uses infrared technology to detect heat signatures on the beach, so even in the dead of night, officers can see people on a small screen mounted inside the vehicle.

“We could easily pick up a heat signature on this camera close to 3/4 of a mile away,” the officer explained.

In a tech truck about a mile from the heart of the action, another network of surveillance cameras can be viewed on one giant screen.

Eighteen cameras placed throughout the city, in partnership with the Miami-Dade Police Department, will help alert officers if trouble occurs.

“When a crowd develops, people watching those cameras can let the officers know, ‘Hey, please respond to that area. Make sure everybody is safe. Make sure nothing is developing or becoming a problem’.”

What this really means is, “Hey people are congregating with others. Go stop it. We don’t want people gathering together on a major holiday weekend and having any fun.

Police will use license plate readers on the causeways to quickly scan for stolen vehicles or owners with outstanding felony warrants.

In addition, a massive DUI checkpoint is planned for the MacArthur Causeway heading into the beach on Friday night.

Again, Memorial Day weekend is usually full of people just enjoying themselves or drunk people. If you’re intent was to catch DUIs and stolen cars, why the need for that $140,000 vehicle?

In 2012, cops called the holiday weekend’s event a big success, and are hoping to build-on those improvements in 2013.

“We take every year into account to make the next year a lot better,” Det. Hernandez said.

The people didn’t complain last year when we were providing security theater, so we’re going to provide even more this year. Even the reporters have joined in on the enthusiasm of how nice a police state would be.

Video also on YouTube.

The vision of electric cars call for charge stations to perform smart charging as part of a global smart grid. As a result, a charge station is a sophisticated computer that communicates with the electric grid on one side and the car on the other. To make matters worse, it’s installed outside on street corners and in parking lots.

Electric vehicle charging stations bring with them new security challenges that show similar issues as found in SCADA systems, even if they use different technologies.

In this video recorded at Hack In The Box 2013 Amsterdam, Ofer Shezaf, founder of OWASP Israel, talks about what charge stations really are, why they have to be ‘smart’ and the potential risks created to the grid, to the car and most importantly to its owner’s privacy and safety.

Source.

Sadly, with or without budget cuts, the police aren’t even required to help citizens.

More.

Increasing numbers of ‘terror suspects’ are being arrested on the basis of online and CCTV surveillance data. Authorities claim they act in the public interest, but does this intense surveillance keep us safer?

“I woke up to pounding on my door”, says Andrej Holm, a sociologist from the Humboldt University. In what felt like a scene from a movie, he was taken from his Berlin home by armed men after a systematic monitoring of his academic research deemed him the probable leader of a militant group. After 30 days in solitary confinement, he was released without charges. Across Western Europe and the USA, surveillance of civilians has become a major business. With one camera for every 14 people in London and drones being used by police to track individuals, the threat of living in a Big Brother state is becoming a reality. At an annual conference of hackers, keynote speaker Jacob Appelbaum asserts, “to be free of suspicion is the most important right to be truly free”. But with most people having a limited understanding of this world of cyber surveillance and how to protect ourselves, are our basic freedoms already being lost?

Source.

During last week’s accident in which a semi plunged into a ravine near the Ohio Valley Mall, a scuffle broke out between a mall security guard and a woman taking photos of the accident.

Mall Director of Corporate Communications, Joe Bell, told WTRF on Monday that the fight occurred on mall property and the security guard was doing her job and was explaining to the woman that no pictures were allowed on mall property when the fight broke out.

Bell added no one was charged in the incident.

Ohio Valley Mall spokesman Joe Bell said the security guard who scuffled with another female last week was “in her right” to defend herself against the woman.

“The security guard was doing her job. She was in a large crowd of people taking pictures and tried to disperse them,” said Bell. “For whatever reason, the situation escalated.”

Joe Bell needs to watch the video and see exactly why the situation escalated.

It’s really hard not to laugh at this entire situation. Neither the mall security woman nor the people taking pictures seem very intelligent in this video. At least the people were just laughing and weren’t equipped with handcuffs, taser, and an idea that they are a legal authority equivalent to the police.

The video below describes the sheriff says no one did what they were supposed to do. Everyone had a cell phone, yet no one thought to call the police.

WTRF 7 News Sports Weather – Wheeling Steubenville

Videos from LiveLeak.

If LiveLeak doesn’t work, you can view the video on YouTube as well, though you have to log in first.

Link to download page for those interested.

A less technical intro.

Still confused?

Source.

Read more.

The use of drones facilitates our efforts to define the geology and to find oil, says researcher Aleksandra Sima at CIPR about the drone that she and her fellow researchers have just acquired to take aerial shots of rocks.

Sima is a member of CIPR’s Virtual Outcrop Geology (VOG) group. The group’s main task is to create digital maps in 3D of potential oil fields. Using laser scanners, infrared sensors and digital cameras, the researchers create realistic, virtual models. Every tiny pixel of an image can store information on minerals and rocks.

These high-tech models help the geologists to criss-cross the landscape, not unlike what you will find on Google Earth. This virtual fieldwork enables the researchers to gather information on anything from the type of rock to the thickness of the sedimentation; all with the help of a few mouse clicks on the computer.

– A landscape’s surface often reflects what lies beneath ground and corresponds with the rocks below the seabed. When we have an overview of the rocks and minerals in one area, it is far easier to make estimates about where to find oil and how the oil flows, says Simon Buckley, senior researcher at CIPR and head of the VOG group.

Dronejakt på olje from UiB – Universitetet i Bergen on Vimeo.

Florida has activated its 13-county system in which they say regular citizens will be able to report suspicious activity related to terrorism. The new systems stresses the “see something, say something” mantra to Floridians. The iWATCH system, individuals have the convenience of making the report online.

The site provides examples of red flags to watch for, such as people with an unusual interest in building plans or who are purchasing materials useful in bomb making. Important places to watch include hobby stores and dive shops.

The list also includes malls, hotels and motels, financial institutions, and rental properties. We all know that if you rent something, you’re probably a terrorist.

Download (PDF, 595KB)

Unfortunately, most individuals don’t have the expertise to know if their neighbor is simply buying the something because it is a part of their hobby or because they have nefarious intentions. Law enforcement encourages you to report them anyway. This way, their name is in a database and can be watched in the future.

Reports entered in the iWATCH system are sent to the individual counties through a central clearing house. It is also passed to other counties, in case the information can be connected to something similar or related. The program was set up using a $150,000 state grant and piggybacks on an existing information-sharing system law enforcement uses now.

The sites combine iWATCH with the county name, or in Jacksonville’s case the city, to direct the report. The site for Jacksonville is www.iwatchjax.com.

Other counties in the program are: Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Flagler, Gilchrist, Levy, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns and Union.

While the police must show that the are doing something to prevent terrorism, this system has the potential to cause more problems than it solves.

Individual citizens do not pick out terrorists as their neighbors. Those that have been caught were either set up by the FBI or caught after they committed their crimes. Although not considered terrorism, neighbors in Cleveland had no idea their neighbor had three girls in his home for years. How would they pick out a careful, methodical terrorist?

Those making reports must provide their name and contact information.

For iWATCH, people are less likely to be targeted by rumors or malicious accusations. Also, it gives investigators the opportunity to further interview the person reporting the activity.

This is a good thing. If law enforcement pays attention, they may be able to catch a person who is abusing the system. Hopefully, that will happen before some innocent person’s life is ruined.

In the long run, this program is about the government continuing its pressure upon the people of the United States to live in a constant state of fear. Ordinary citizens will believe that there are numerous terrorists in the United States simply because this program exists. They will then begin to second guess every single purchase they make and begin looking upon their neighbors as suspicious because they purchased something that could be used for terrorism (Hint: Most things you purchase could be used for crimes. It doesn’t mean it will be.). As an American, I would still rather be a victim of terrorism than live in a society where everyone lives in fear, reports on their friends, family, and neighbors, and is generally not allowed to do anything without the government saying it’s suspicious.