Science & Tech

'Hey Siri, Fire For Effect': US Army Seeks Voice-Controlled Gear

In the desert, a dusty touchscreen might not recognize a soldier’s sand-covered gloves. There might be a way around that.

Science & Tech

US Intelligence Wants Computers That Spot Fake Fingerprints

Researchers at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency aim not only to spot prosthetic thumbs, it will also learn to predict attacks never seen before.

Science & Tech

Pentagon Mapmakers Are Using Social Media to Chart Syrians' Exodus

Officials admit the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's approach has its limitations.

Business

Is The Government Getting Stingier With Cyber Threat Data?

Virginia Tech's network security chief thinks so. He says overclassification is making it harder to prep and respond.

Science & Tech

Pentagon Launches First-of-Its-Kind Bug Bounty Program

The idea is to find and fix vulnerabilities before the bad guys do. Certain restrictions apply.

Science & Tech

Behind the Air Force's Fast-Growing Cyber Research Budget

The service wants to quadruple its money for defending networked aircraft, launch systems, satellites and a whole lot more.

Science & Tech

Hacker May Have Punched Through FBI Cyber Security With One Phone Call

It doesn’t matter how technically secure your data is if it’s protected by gullible humans.

Science & Tech

White House Wants to Revamp Cybersecurity In New $19B Plan

President Obama's last budget also calls for a new chief information security officer and $62 million to help hire 10,000 new workers.

Science & Tech

US Homeland Security's $6B Firewall Has More Than a Few Frightening Blind Spots

A recent audit revealed the National Cybersecurity Protection System—aka EINSTEIN—does not scan for 94 percent of common computer vulnerabilities. But that's not all of its shortcomings.

Science & Tech

Look Who's Worried About the NSA's 96 Percent Retention Rate

It might seem counterintuitive that someone maintaining a workforce of 30,000 coders and analysts is concerned about too much loyal talent.

Science & Tech

The US Thinks China May Have Stolen Military Robot Designs

U.S. officials have ordered an investigation into whether China might be gaining an unfair competitive advantage in the robotics race.

Science & Tech

This Cyber ‘Safeguard’ Is Hurting US Defenses

Tech execs and DHS' cyber czar say a multinational pact keeps them from sharing information about intruders' tools.

Science & Tech

Pentagon Will Investigate NSA Crackdown on Would-Be Snowdens

The Defense Department inspector general has Congress' attention with a new probe into rogue IT employees.

Science & Tech

Feds Scrambling to Close Backdoor in Widely Purchased IT Gear

One former NSA employee calls it "a perfect case example of why cryptographic backdoors are so dangerous in the real world.”

Science & Tech

US Considers Using Portable DNA Labs, Iris Scans to Vet Syrian Refugees

Throughout the Syrian civil war the UN has relied on portable eye-scanning machines to register fleeing Syrians, but the US has yet to make use of that data.

Threats

New OPM Cyber Chief Is Bracing for an ISIS Hack

The U.S., said the agency's first-ever senior cyber and information technology adviser, has to 'assume that at some point in time they may be successful.'

Science & Tech

State Department Says Hackers May Have Stolen Sensitive Data

The revelation, buried in a new inspector general report, is the first acknowledgment that foreign spies might have grabbed national secrets during a months-long campaign last fall.

Science & Tech

ISIS-Endorsed Encryption Provider to Begin Screening Customers

The software company Silent Circle hopes to mitigate nefarious use of encryption by closely monitoring how it's clients pay for the service.

Threats

Lawmakers Demand US Military Carry Out Pretend Cyber War Against China, Russia

In an unprecedented move tucked into the defense authorization bill, Congress ordered U.S. Cyber Command to carry out simulated 'war games' against Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.