By the end of this year, NASA hopes to find about 90% of the largest asteroids that could potentially strike Earth, a blast that could throw dust into the atmosphere and cause firestorms and acid rain. These asteroids can be as large as mountains but are at least 1 kilometer (3,280.8 feet) in diameter. NASA estimates that 900 of these objects are in potentially hazardous range of Earth.
Autonomous agents are still in the labs but could eventually play a critical role in areas ranging from setting market prices to creating more resilient networks.
A new DARPA program is research new intelligence technology to make it possible for humans and computers to "think together" in real time to "anticipate and preempt terrorist threats," according to official program documents.
Government officials and communications experts are assessing the public safety and security implications of a newly posted online article that provides directions for making cheap devices that can jam Global Positioning System (GPS) signals.
Richard Clarke, chairman of the U.S. President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, warns that al-Qaeda's brand of terrorism has a growing cyber element and that the nation's economy is at risk.
Researchers are developing computer systems that systems become their own security experts, adapting to threats as they unfold and staying one step ahead of the action.
New intrusion-detection software is being developed that mimics biological immune systems, learning to watch for unusual events. Other software randomly generates "detectors," throws away those that match normal behavior, and retains those that represent abnormal behavior.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is accepting research proposals to create a self-aware computer system that would reason in a variety of ways, learn from experience and adapt to surprises. It would be aware of its behavior and explain itself. It would be able to anticipate different scenarios and predict and plan for novel futures.
The number of organized hacking syndicates targeting financial institutions around the world is growing at a disturbingly fast rate. And so is the number of banks willing to pay these high-tech extortionists hush money to protect their reputations, according to a security expert at The World Bank.
An interview with security guru, Bruce Schneier. Among other observations, Schneier argues that the threat of cyberterrorism is overblown.