Search and rescue beacons soon to make the digital jump

Tuesday, January 27, 2009 1st generation EPIRBs Starting February 1, Cospas-Sarsat will discontinue monitoring the frequencies that are used for analog-based emergency position-indicating radio beacons (EPIRB), the 121.5 and 243 MHz frequencies. Search and rescue (SAR) groups worldwide will only monitor the 406 MHz frequency, which is dedicated to digital locators. The 406 MHz digital…

Shots reported during Superdome evacuation

Thursday, September 1, 2005 Air evacuation of the Superdome was temporarily halted Thursday after shots were reportedly fired at a military helicopter. Evacuations by bus continue, despite an early news report to the contrary. Thousands of people taking temporary shelter in the Superdome and nearby areas in New Orleans are being evacuated after Mayor Ray…

Chinese researchers crack major U.S. government algorithm used in digital signatures

Wednesday, February 16, 2005 According to computer security expert Bruce Schneier, a widely-used cryptography algorithm, known as SHA-1, has been broken by three researchers at Shandong University in China. Designed by the US intelligence agency NSA, SHA-1 has been adopted as an official US government standard and has become widely-used in security applications worldwide, notably…

Wikileaks crashes under cyber attack

Wednesday, August 31, 2011 Wikileaks today announced via twitter that its website has crashed under an apparent cyber-attack; this following the recent release of tens of thousands of US State Department cables. Sources in the US say the mass-disclosure of cables is causing diplomatic setbacks, and embarrassment, for the administration of Barack Obama. Diagram of…