Category Archives: Security

Lady in Red

The poem allegedly was chalked on an alley wall where John Dillinger was shot

Stranger stop and wish me well,
Just say a prayer for my soul in hell.
I was a good fellow, most people said,
Betrayed by a woman dressed all in red

A third of the entire Bureau of Investigations (pre-FBI) budget in 1934 was spent on hunting Dillinger

Utility breach wildfires

While working on cyber security for utilities I noticed this report on “utility breaches” by the Associated Press

Improperly maintained utility lines were to blame for three wildfires that swept through San Diego County last fall, killing two people and destroying 1,347 homes, state regulators said.

The California Public Utilities Commission said the October fires were started because San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and Cox Communications violated state regulations regarding the maintenance of power lines.

Two of the fires started when utility wires touched in strong winds, the commission said in a report released Tuesday.

A third started when a tree limb fell onto one of the utility’s power lines, the report said.

Yet more evidence that breaches are a hot topic. Also food for thought while factoring the risk of critical asset protection.

Cannachopper

The Dutch have launched a cannabis sniffing aircraft in an attempt to find growers. The so called ‘Cannachopper’ is described by ED.nl as an unmanned mini helicopter equipped with odor detection and imaging equipment to trace hemp fields:

Voor het eerst wordt dinsdag in Nederland een speciale minihelikopter ingezet om illegale hennepteelt op te sporen. Dat gebeurt in de Achterhoek. De zogeheten ‘cannachopper’ is uitgerust met geur- en beelddetectiemateriaal en kan vanuit de lucht hennepvelden traceren.

I guess you could say robots are really taking off.