1959 Random Number Generator
A 1959 paper about a hardware random number generator attached to a computer.
View ArticleBurglars and "Feeling Secure"
From Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief by Bill Mason (Villard, 2003): Nothing works more in a thief’s favor than people feeling secure. That’s why places that are heavily alarmed and guarded can...
View ArticleHow Not to Test Airport Security
If this were fiction, no one would believe it. From MSNBC: Four days after police at Charles de Gaulle Airport slipped some plastic explosives into a random passenger’s bag as part of an exercise for...
View ArticleElectronic Voting in Ireland
The Irish Commission on Electronic Voting has released a 433-page report. It’s an excellent and detailed analysis of the e-voting system purchased by the Irish government.
View ArticleAirline Passenger Profiling
From an anonymous reader who works for the airline industry in the United States: There are two initiatives in the works, neither of which leaves me feeling very good about privacy rights. The first is...
View ArticlePhysical Access Control
In Los Angeles, the “HOLLYWOOD” sign is protected by a fence and a locked gate. Because several different agencies need access to the sign for various purposes, the chain locking the gate is formed by...
View ArticleBad Quote
In a story on a computer glitch that forced Comair to cancel 1,100 flighs on Christmas Day, I was quoted in an AP story as saying: “If this kind of thing could happen by accident, what would happen if...
View ArticleCanadian Airport Security Loses Uniforms
From CBC News: 1,127 uniform items belonging to Canadian airport screeners were lost or stolen in a nine-month period. I’m not sure if this is an interesting story or not. We know that a uniform isn’t...
View ArticleWi-Fi Shielding Paint
I have no idea how well this works, but it’s a clever idea. From Information Week: Force Field Wireless makes three products that it says can dramatically reduce the leakage of wireless signals from a...
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