The cocaine trade between Mexico and the U.S.

“‘They erect this fence,’ he said, ‘only to go out there a few days
later and discover that these guys have a catapult, and they’re flinging
hundred-pound bales of marijuana over to the other side.’  He paused and
looked at me for a second. ‘A catapult,’ he repeated. ‘We’ve got the
best fence money can buy, and they counter us with a 2,500-year-old
technology.'”

Read more about the story at The NY Times

Citation:
CRYPTO-GRAM by Bruce Schneier (personal communication, July 15, 2012)

Google to build ultra-fast broadband networks

WASHINGTON – Google plans to build experimental, ultra-fast Internet networks in a handful of communities around the country.

The search company said Wednesday that its fiber-optic broadband networks will deliver speeds of 1 gigabit per second to as many as 500,000 Americans. Google Inc. says those systems will be more than 100 times faster than the networks that most Americans have access to today.

In a blog post, the company said the networks will let consumers download a high-definition, full-length feature film in less than five minutes and allow rural health clinics to send 3-D medical images over the Web.

Google says it will seek input from communities that might be interested in getting one of the testbed networks.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100210/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_google_broadband_network

Mysterious virus strikes FBI

By Steven Musil CNET News
Posted on ZDNet News: May 22, 2009 4:44:36 AM

The FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service were forced to shut down parts of their computer networks after a mystery virus struck the law-enforcement agencies Thursday, according to an Associated Press report.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that it had disconnected from Justice Department computers as a precaution after being hit with the virus, while an FBI spokesperson would only say that it was experiencing similar issues, according to the report.

“We too are evaluating a network issue on our external, unclassified network that’s affecting several government agencies,” FBI spokesman Mike Kortan told the AP.

The virus’ type and origin are unknown, but spokespeople for both agencies said agencies’ access to the Internet and e-mail was shut down while the issue was evaluated.

Government regulations require agencies to report any security issues to US-Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), but a call to CERT late Thursday for comment was not immediately returned.

This article was originally posed on CNET News.