Global Security Challenge

GSC Blogs from February 2008 (8)



Rail Security - the Slow Metamorphosis of Trains into Airliners

Many aviation experts continue to complain that security controls at airports are inefficient and ineffective. Their arguments are only strengthened by the fact that testing the system usually reveals breathtaking gaps. Nevertheless, terrorists are know...

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A Look at Defence Investing: Funding from Asia

As it becomes more and more important to find and fund cutting edge technologies, we see countries turning to the venture capitalist route. Singapore is one of those countries and today we'll look at the fund established there and how it helps defence a...

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Web 2.0 - New Terrorist Threats or Security Opportunities?

The (ab)use of emails by terrorists has been a well known issue in the intelligence industry. In the averted train-plot in Germany last year, terrorists tried to (unsuccessfully) outsmart authorities' surveillance of email traffic by not actually sendin...

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More Statistics about Funding Security and Defence Startups

We thought we'd share some remaining statistics about the innovators that entered the GSC last year. Approximately 51% of the startups that entered were self-funded while nearly 30% had been funded by VCs. The remaining 19% had a mix of grant or angel f...

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Cyber Defence - warfare of the future?

With the heavy reliance of military, banks and even civilians on the Internet today, it's no surprise that criminal and terrorist activities are focusing their efforts on reeking havoc on the web these days. While it used to be individual hackers who st...

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The Balance of Military Spending in 2008

According to IISS's annual assessment of world-wide military capabilities and expenditures, Military Balance 2008, as the world gets richer more money is spent on defence. During times of economic prosperity it is easy to justify growing defence spendin...

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The EU Counter-Terrorism Strategy: how is technology involved?

The Counter-Terrorism CoordinatorAfter the Madrid bombings in 2004, the EU appointed its first Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Gijs de Vries, with the ambitious mission to facilitate exchange of information about border control, the security of travel do...

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Science and Innovation as a part of the UK's Counterterrorism Strategy

Maintaining a culture of innovation is difficult under the best of circumstances and within very big organizations and governments it is probably easier to through up your hands in frustration than to build in a system that properly finds, funds, and rewa...

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