Guests at the new Vdara hotel have been complaining that because of an architectural flaw on the glass skyscraper, the sun's rays are being magnified and reflected onto an area of the pool, causing severe burns.

This is going to be hard (and expensive) to overcome ...

Symantec is laying down a strategy for integrating the two encryption-software companies it acquired, PGP Corp. and GuardianEdge Technologies.

The authorities are investigating a security company that helps local officials illegally detain desperate citizens who come to the capital to file complaints against them, the state news media reported Monday.

"Just like martial arts, using pepper spray still requires that you practice every move until it flows from you like your very breath so that you're prepared in a life or death situation," says Captain Chris Pizzo.

A central Pennsylvania college was briefly locked down after a man carrying tools in a hip holster was mistaken for a gunman.

I think we may need to start teaching kids how to recognize and identify weapons before they get to college-age ...

The robber looks like a woman -- but police say it's actually a man dressed in a ladies' business suit. He duct-taped four employees and forced them into the vault.

At least it's a disguise ... maybe just not a well thought out one ...

When the victim of a vehicle prowl saw the suspect pedal past his house Sunday, he went into action — and got a stab wound.

Video included

About 30 minutes into the interrogation the male suspect says he needs to use the restroom and pulls out a gun – the man and woman then flee the room and escape.

If you're not sure enough to apply hand-cuffs and a pat-down, you probably aren't sure enough to detain ... of course, it's possible that the LPO was just going to do a formal 86, or whatever the equivalent is in that jurisdiction, but there wouldn't be much point in going all Armed E&E on them unless you believe you're being detained and held for the cops ...

A medical marijuana store was robbed in the middle of the afternoon on Friday. The person in charge of the store was forced to the ground at gunpoint.

Hmmm ... I predict that they all start to look like bank lobbies ...

He will spend the first two weeks in an isolation cell while police will investigate his case. Datsik surrendered a loaded handgun to immigration officials. He appeared in court wearing a shirt with s swastika and greeted those present with a Nazi salute.

That should get his asylum ...

These findings show the degree to which young adults in all three countries secure the devices that they use to access social networks, including PCs or laptops, mobile devices and handhelds such as iPads.

Surveillance video showed a man enter the store and point a handgun at the sales clerk.  He managed to get away with a bag of cash, authorities said.

Hmmm ... side-shooter ...

On Thursday night and Friday morning Waterloo Regional Police say a man used a screw driver to hold up three stores in Kitchener.

Never underestimate a crazy-looking dude wielding a screw driver ...

A phone tap showed the calls usually came from phone booths at UDF's and Shell stations. Laurie always called 911 but he was gone before cops could get there. So Laurie made a plan to help herself. "We went around to all UDF's, all from the area Shell stations, logged numbers in pay phone and in the stores."

A man allegedly caught carrying methamphetamine today outside the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula was also briefly suspected of possessing a bomb until authorities verified it was only fireworks.

Hmmm ...

When Massachusetts passed what arguably is one of the most stringent data protection laws in the nation last March, Ray Pata, the manager of systems and programming at A.I.M. Mutual Insurance Cos., found himself particularly challenged with the encryption of laptops, required by the new law.

According to Forrester cloud analyst Chenxi Wang, cloud data encryption can be scattershot.

A least ten people were arrested Tuesday night when police and state gambling control officers raided a private home that housed an illegal gambling operation, authorities said.

Black jails sound bad, and they are bad. Held there without the knowledge of their families or friends, those detained in them may be beaten, tortured, tied up, raped, etc. Conditions are squalid; food is terrible, toilets foul.

A Transportation Security Administration spokesman says part of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was briefly shut down because of a security breach.

Hours after accommodation for athletes was branded “unfit for human habitation”, a footbridge to the main stadium collapsed, injuring 23 people, five seriously.

It's odd that someone with the sense to cover an ear before dropping the hammer would be foolish enough to drop the hammer on a passer-by while standing in front of surveillance cameras ...

“The security officer from Thunder Valley was barely able to get out of the vehicle’s path before she sped to the exit and toward Athens Avenue,” Erwin said.

Getting in the vehicle path to begin with was not a real good idea ...

"Our findings show that end-user adoption of hard-disk encryption technologies aren't nearly as widespread as the use of antivirus, antispyware and firewall products," Opswat said. "Even when these hard-disk encryption features are included as a feature in the Windows OS, they remain unused for the most part."

The risk of permanently losing your data if you forget your pass-phrase probably doesn't help ...

The vulnerability affects the .NET framework running on all versions of Windows. The issue has been known since 2002, but two researchers created a new hacking tool that can take advantage of the flaw to crack the hashing algorithm and view data contained in website cookies.

Intel who developed the defense mechanism to the Blue Ray movies, confirmed that the “Master Key” leaked is real and threatens to sue anyone who uses it.

Interesting strategy ...

Based on observations that typhoon intensity tends to remain level when ocean surface temperatures are high, Ise Kogyo postulated that this could be thwarted by mobilizing submarines to waters in the typhoon's path and dropping ocean surface temperatures by pumping up cold water from below.

Hmmm ...

“Australians in New Delhi should be aware that the Commonwealth Games will be held in a security environment where there is a high risk of terrorism,” Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade department said on its website in a travel bulletin issued today.

As it grew into one of the world's most sophisticated terrorist groups, the Tamil Tigers perfected suicide bombings, developing the sickening weapon that soon became a favorite of Palestinians against Israel and of Islamist militants fighting moderate Muslims and the West in New York, Baghdad, London, Bali, Istanbul and elsewhere.

Women who took the class felt more prepared to handle an attack than when they first walked in, and left with a sense of empowerment. For most participants, the techniques that they were taught were brand new.

I suggest keeping in mind that empowerment isn't all that helpful in an attack. Studying a non-sport martial art a couple of hours a week for the rest of your life is way more effective ...

Security at Woodmont Baptist Church believe they caught the man responsible for several recent thefts.

I don't even know where to start on this one ...

There are reports that the government is eyeing acquisition of Chinese smaller submarines, which once again tantamount to risking the national defense, especially keeping in view the Indian ambitions to create naval hegemony in the Indian Ocean by outclassing Pakistani and Chinese navies.

Crunchy, interesting and with some cool pics ...

In still other words, what if we chose to accept the fact that every few years, despite all reasonable precautions, some hundreds or thousands of us may die in the sort of ghastly terrorist attack that a democratic republic cannot 100-percent protect itself from without subverting the very principles that make it worth protecting?

I'm glad someone it finally getting around to asking this ...

(via Bruce)

Mosher punched [and] slapped the security officer in the face, kicked him in the groin and bit him on the arm, said the Sheriff's Office.

It doesn't sound like she was doing it very effectively ...

The recent suicide bombings at the Jakarta Ritz and Marriott hotels show executive protection professionals that hotel security should be taken seriously.

One of the biggest problems one will encounter in EP at hotels is the difficulty in registering anonymously (invisibility). This is usually a result of statute and regulation. If you have to travel, try to stay with friends or associates that understand security and are willing to expend the utils necessary to ensure yours ...

The lawsuit, filed by Patrick Magorien of Sacramento, stems from a security breach involving attorneys who were suing Anthem and gained access to private information of people who had applied for insurance.

It will be interesting to see whether they were forced during discovery to lose control of the info, or just didn't bother to prevent it ...

Pierce stood between two metal boxes somewhat bigger than phone booths, arms held overhead, and held the position about five seconds.

I have a hard time believing this is necessary. They should be able to walk through without even being aware that they're being scanned ...

A cynic might say PG&E is concerned outsiders will blow up its pipes before it does.

It pays to be suspicious ...

Authorities in Seminole County are considering charges against a man who boarded his daughter's school bus to send her classmates a message.

Depending on which components of this story turn out to be true, I think it may prove to be quite edifying ...

Much to the chagrin of the entertainment industry, the encryption that protects most high-definition video content has officially been cracked, an Intel spokesman told FoxNews.com. But don't expect illegal hardware to flood the market anytime soon, he said.

A scrawny 16-year-old native of Australia, Stanley watched in horror one day as an elderly man was beaten by two men in a Melbourne subway station. The men then threatened Stanley and his friend when they tried to help.

That'll do it ...

Kocher suspected somebody in the business of making HDCP-compatible devices, who had access to at least 50 individual keys, was able to reconstruct the master key — if it turns out to be real.

Redmond said the armored car workers normally are armed.

Today's the day, every day, guys ...

Tuesday Seagate announced that its Momentus Self-Encrypting Drive (SED)--the world's first laptop HDD with built-in encryption--has secured FIPS 140-2 certification from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

These are the first questions people typically ask: Is encryption or tokenization more secure? Which approach provides the desired level of security? If compliance is an issue or concern, then how does the selected method achieve and maintain compliance? Is there an awareness of the data profile?

Interesting ... if somewhat crunchy ...

In no uncertain terms, Bush said: "The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and war."

I seem to recall Islam having a lengthy history of sword-point conversion ... and there's very little evidence that it's ended ...

China's military buildup, as well as the activities of its navy and air force, are a common concern among many countries in the region. Japan must repeatedly hold constructive talks with China, and strongly and tenaciously call on that country to dispel such concerns.

Perhaps you should consider not getting them dispelled ...

IT security has long operated on a simple principle: Because the firm owns all user endpoint devices that access company information, securing the devices means that data on them is secure. But what if that foundational principle no longer applies? The increasingly insistent and inconvenient spread of sensitive data to non-company-owned devices suggests that it doesn't.

Prosecutors say a man installed his own surveillance cameras above ATM machines at two suburban banks to record customers' PIN numbers.

A 3-year-old boy in Xinyi of Xuzhou in East China's Jiangsu province died under the wheels of a BMW, which ran over the boy four times in less than 30 seconds.

The Chinese seem to be losing their minds lately ...

They were arrested at about 12.30pm with a green paper bag containing male genitals suspected to have been chopped off a body at the hospital.

I never realized that there was a market for body parts in a sack ...

A Chinese national was sentenced Monday in San Diego federal court to 96 months in prison for trying to buy secret encryption equipment used by the U.S. and NATO militaries.

Hewlett-Packard is close to a deal to buy ArcSight, a maker of security software, for about $1.5 billion, a person briefed on the matter said on Sunday, as the computing giant continues its recent buying spree.

It's good to see that all the biggies are continuing to acquire security and encryption firms ... I just hope they aren't doing it to take the products out of the marketplace ...

The accident happened on September 3, but was only revealed after enquiries from the Sunday Herald following a tip-off from insiders. HMS Astute, the Royal Navy’s latest reactor-driven submarine, was hit by a ramp slipping from a crane during loading.

The small craft that made the trip — named Jiaolong, after a mythical sea dragon — was unveiled publicly late last month after eight years of secretive development. It is designed to go deeper than any other in the world, giving China access to 99.8 percent of the ocean floor.

Looks like someone has their nose to the grindstone ...

The research arm of security firm Panda Security revealed that on average 375 keywords or brands are hijacked every week and used in the URLs of these malicious web pages.

The American Red Cross had three notebooks stolen from a company office in 2006 — but all information was properly encrypted, so their data was safe. In a more serious 2006 incident, a computer analyst had a notebook stolen with the personal information of more than 26 million U.S. veterans.

It's a crime that seems impossible to comprehend - a heartless act designed to disfigure an attractive young woman to cause a lifetime of pain.

On the contrary, it's easy to comprehend ... what's difficult is defending against it. Try to have your awareness and intuitator tweaked all the way up, and then don't be there when the acid-thrower comes. As I mentioned, it's very difficult to defend against ...

In the absence of further information, written information security policies are by default generally considered information that is “for internal use only” or “restricted.”

Interesting read ...

This is world-class bad-ass ... be sure to watch to the very end. That's where the best camera angle is shown ...

Here’s a hint: If you are going to do a drug swap, don’t do it under a security camera.

All together now: That's why they call it 'dope'!

The Dutch Navy has four submarines of this class, of which one is deployed on anti-piracy operations off Somalia to track radio signals and follow pirates' boats.

On Thursday, a new worm hit the Internet, and it’s been spreading by emailing the address books of infected users, according to McAfee Labs.

To worries about full-body X-ray at airports, add this: little-known Homeland Security searches of travelers' laptops, cellular phones, digital cameras and other electronics — without a stated reason.

Our Linux pals keep application software on one partition and data on another. It's somewhat less convenient to do this with MS products but it is do-able, just don't forget to learn about shadow volumes and such. Then, if you have to take your computer through customs, save your data partition in encrypted files in the clouds, on encrypted optical disks that you mail to your destination or both. Then over-write the data partition with a military-grade file shredder. If the computer gets checked, it is for all intents and purposes a 'fresh' install. They may still keep it, but your data is likely to remain opaque plenty long enough for your patent  application to be registered or whatever, and that's what you want.

The international police agency Interpol warned governments worldwide Thursday of an increased chance of terror attacks if the planned event takes place.

This assumes that the baddies have been cutting us slack because of our good behavior or something. They hit us every chance they get and we could all start wiping with pages out of the Koran and there still wouldn't be a damn thing they could do about it that they aren't already doing ...

Datsik watch

“Well done Slava!” Demushkin praised Datsik. “We were amused. I wouldn’t tell you where he was even if I knew anything.”

Stories like this one and the Barefoot Bandit are enlightening because being on the lam is the ultimate security exercise ...

Broadcom announced today the initial release of its new open source wireless drivers for Linux.

Some good news for the Microsoft resistance ...

He said that on Sept. 3, three men working together had one of them deliberately set off a shoplifting detection alarm while another exited the store with about 120 Blu-ray movie discs during the confusion.

The Codebreakers unveiled a new display featuring the rare SG41 – the last cipher machine developed by Germany during the Second World War.

There's a reason this personal submarine is designed for researchers and wealthy explorers. Prices span the range from the smallest C-Explorer at $360,000, and the five-seater at just over $1 million.

Authorities are becoming increasingly frustrated with an individual or group of individuals responsible for setting more than 30 fires in North Highlands, Carmichael and South Sacramento since September 3rd.

Sounds like kids to me ...

Friends don't want to envision it, but they said a mediation attempt easily could have been Casto's final act when he was killed execution-style Sunday during a robbery at an Ingles grocery story in Cumming.

Today's the day, every day ...

The Medford police chief's job at a Pennsylvania casino is raising more questions about public safety in the township, a week after a Courier-Post investigation revealed high-ranking officers were ordered to conduct special residential patrols in Shamong.

Parx seems to be making the news quite a bit, lately ...

A former martial arts fighter with a history of violence and racist beliefs has escaped from a psychiatric facility outside St. Petersburg. Media reports claim he has already committed a crime.

Hmmm ... went all Shinobi on 'em ... although from the description of the facility they were pretty much asking for it ...

I tried not to act surprised, but there it was happening smack dab in front of me: two cheaters at a blackjack table. Every few hands, when a pit supervisor was out of range, one would distract the dealer so that his accomplice could “cap” or “pinch” a bet.

Most of the stuff described in the article is typically done in-house with technology rather than through third-party wetware and it's already going on all the time, but the basic techniques are interesting if you aren't familiar with 'em ...

Two men were shot last night in an ambush after three vehicles blocked their car from leaving a Kansas City apartment complex.

It's always a good idea to have considered what you're going to do once someone blocks you in. Depending on the circumstances and threat-level, you may want to park on the street rather than in the courtyard or maybe a couple of blocks over. Always have an E and E plan in place ...

Three men shot and wounded a security guard and a patron in the parking lot of an Azusa nightclub early Sunday, police said.

Today's the day, every day ...

A Tallapoosa woman has been arrested and will be charged with theft after surveillance video captured her stealing a wounded toddler's donation jar.

Hmmm ... this will bring about the 'public outcry' sentencing enhancement ...

The man, who was not identified, apparently wanted to commit “suicide by cop,” according to Las Vegas police. The bomb was not real, and he was taken into custody unharmed.

Things are back to normal at Los Angeles International Airport after a security snafu briefly closed a terminal and delayed eight flights early Saturday.

She said she was talking "Northern New Mexico politics" with a group of people — including Lovato and Robert Romero — when Fischer Romero "attacked" her from the side, pulling her hair, scratching her face and knocking her to the ground.

Ahh, Casino Security ... it isn't only glamorous in Las Vegas ...

Robbers set a clothing store ablaze, killing at least six people in the normally peaceful capital of Barbados, police said Saturday.

Hmmm ... sounds like weak fire code ...

"It sounded like an injured cat it didn't really sound like a cry for help, it was just a constant cry," says Christina Boatright. "It wasn't like a 'help, help, help' cry it was a like an 'ahhhhhhhh,' it was an excruciating cry."

Today's the day, every day ...

At that point, a male employee pulled out a semi-automatic handgun. It was unclear who fired first, but there were multiple shots as the would-be robbers fled, returning fire at the store's employees, said Curran.

It's a good idea to keep in mind that you may be precipitating a bloodbath instead of saving everyone ...

At approximately 3:35 p.m. Thursday, Parx Casino security noticed a Ford Explorer parked illegally in the lot. They then observed the grandson in the passenger seat.

Hmmm ... you might want to think about discovering this stuff BEFORE it becomes something that your customers are going to be arrested for. Having paying customers arrested is usually bad for business.

So if some dude in Mexico City tries to man-rape you don’t attempt some sort of epic knife-fight with him, just hurt him and run before the DVD breaks.

Always sound advice ...

The items -- a cell phone taped to a Pepto-Bismol bottle, three cell phones taped together and several watches taped into a bundle -- were found in the checked luggage of Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi, 48, formerly of metro Detroit.

If this WASN'T a test run, it was certainly a provocative bit of stupidity ...