In hopes of stopping drug trafficking, gun running and money laundering from Mexico into Chicago, the Chicago police department wants to install 200 cameras along 1,200 miles of interstate highways to snap photos of license plates of suspected criminals. Advocates of the proposal contend there are many other benefits, such as catching other criminal activities such as speeding, and helping to locate missing children. [...]
Here at BrickHouse Security we get a lot of requests for tips about personal safety. Although you probably face what could be a dangerous situation everyday, there are some simple steps you can do to ensure your safety. The best practices come from a combination of technological and electronic devices, self defense techniques, and good old common sense. From learning how to avoid threatening circumstances to knowing how and when to use personal safety devices, we have compiled a list of the top ten tips for personal safety. [...]
We’ve all heard about the problems with ATM skimming. This year, at the Black Hat Las Vegas conference on July 28 and 29, security researcher Barnaby Jack will give the presentation on “Jackpotting Automated Teller Machines,” detailing a new multi-platform ATM rootkit. He will speak about how ATMs can be compromised network-based and remotely. The talk is not supposed to give hackers ideas of what they can do and get away with; rather the ATM industry will learn how to protect itself and prevent hackers from committing these acts in the future. [...]
Some Twitter users may be confused as to why they are following people they never chose to follow. This annoyance is thanks to a new Twitter bug just discovered that allows a Twitter user to control who follows them, without the consent of those users. In addition, some users’ following and followers listings have been deleted and stand at zero. Twitter said in a statement that “follow/unfollow is temporarily offline while we fix a bug.” Also, Twitter wrote on its blog that “we identified and resolved a bug that permitted a user to “force” other users to follow them. We’re now working to rollback all abuse of the bug that took place. Follower/following numbers are currently at 0; we’re aware and this too should shortly be resolved.” [...]
In light of the recent bombing attempt in Times Square, the NYPD’s plan to install a high tech surveillance network in Midtown Manhattan seems to have regained steam. NY officials installed high tech and expensive surveillance cameras after 9/11 in lower Manhattan with future plans to expand uptown. Since then, there has been much debate on the issue and budgetary constraints. After Saturday’s bomb scare in Times Square, the ideas to expand surveillance coverage between 34th to 59th streets from east side to west has regained attention. [...]
After an attempted bombing in Times Square the evening of May 1, police and investigators are now scouring through hours of surveillance camera footage to help fill in the holes of what really happened. A car filled with propane tanks, jugs of gasoline, firecrackers, and fertilizers was noticed by street vendors when it began to fill with smoke. What could have been [...]
Tylenol has recently recalled several of its medicines for children because they may contain an unsafe amount of the active ingredient, minuscule metal particles, or inactive ingredients that do not comply with FDA standards. In total there are seven products being recalled with 43 different sizes and flavors. The ones on the recall list include specific infant and children liquid Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec, and Benadryl. This includes all unexpired Tylenol Infants’ Drops, Children’s Tylenol Suspensions, Infants’ Motrin Drops, Children’s Zyrtec liquids in bottles and Children’s Benadryl Allergy liquids. The recall has been sent because the company has became aware of manufacturing deficiencies although there have been no reports of anyone getting sick. [...]
Wildlife officers in Ogden, Utah used a GPS tracker to monitor the activities of bobcat trapper and accused poacher Jared Beal, who went to approximately 35 trap sites between November 2007 and January 2008. The evidence acquired from tracking his vehicle was enough to bring him to court. Beal now must face 12 counts of wanton destruction of protected bobcat wildlife, with half of those as felony counts, and each counts signifying that several bobcats were caught and killed illegally. Overall 31 bobcat pelts were found in Beal’s possession when he was arrested in January 2008, far over the legal permit limit of six. [...]
Runaway Squad, a television series on A&E dedicated to finding and bringing home runaway kids, recently aired an episode that focused on a case they solved with help from Brickhouse Security. The episode features Tayvela, the fifteen year-old daughter of a hardworking (but often not around) Haitian immigrant studying to be a nurse in the United States. When Tayvela went missing, her mother turned to Runaway Squad to find her teenager.
Retired NYPD officer and current Private Investigator Joe Mazzilli and his team used Brickhouse Security’s Cell Phone Spy to download essential information that led to a crucial break in the case. Using the Cell Phone Spy, they discovered Tayvela’s passwords to her email addresses and social networking sites and also pictures of her being exploited on the Internet. With Mazzilli’s expertise on the subject and the evidence they had, the investigators speculated that Tayvela had become part of a gang that was exploiting her to make money. Through more investigative work Mazzilli’s team was able to locate her in a Brooklyn brothel, and they were ultimately able to reunite her safely with her mother, almost nine months after she originally disappeared. [...]
In New York City’s northern suburb of New Rochelle, the city wants to implement 20 surveillance cameras to help police with criminal investigations and help the public feel more at ease knowing that the cameras are there for their safety. [...]
Nowadays GPS trackers and GPS navigation systems are becoming more and more popular. Oftentimes, customers approach us about devices called GPS jammers, devices that makes GPS tracking impossible. What we then tell them is that GPS jammers are illegal and unethical. And here’s why.
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You already know about the many ways a camera is typically used: recording good times with your friends and family, capturing vacation memories, and protecting your home from invaders, just to name a few. But Gregory Egan of Raleigh, North Carolina, thought outside the box when he used BrickHouse Security’s Panther Handheld Night Vision Camera and Recorder for a unique purpose: to capture video of hatching Loggerhead turtles. [...]
“Amanda’s Bill,” a proposed law that would require repeat domestic violence offenders to wear GPS devices to be tracked by police and the victim, will finally be voted on later this week. Even though domestic abuse offenders know that they are not allowed to go near their victims, sometimes that is not enough to stop another attack. [...]
Hoping to discourage crime, the city of Vallejo, California intends on planting five surveillance cameras on light poles around its Vallejo City Park and more in other areas of town by July 1. This security project is part of a city wide endeavor to revamp the historic city landmark, although making the surveillance cameras a reality has been challenging because of budget constraints and logistics. The idea was conceptualized three years ago, but last fall the city crafted new legislation concerning surveillance camera use and the process was temporarily halted when questions of who would be monitoring the footage came into play. [...]
