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The two bombs that went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, killing three and injuring more than 260 people, changed the way major outdoor events are held in the U.S. As the 2014 running of the Boston Marathon inches closer, organizers stress new security protocols that will make the race a safer experience for all.

The number of law enforcement line of duty deaths in the U.S. dropped to its lowest level in six decades in 2013. Preliminary data released Monday in the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund's annual research bulletin noted that this was also the second year in a row the number of fatalities dropped and that the fewest number of officers were killed in firearms-related incidents since the 1800s

May there never ever be another Sandy Hook. However, if the situation arises where first responders need to address an active shooter, we want them to be ready. After taking part in Urban Shield, the hope is all tactical teams will use radio communications effectively - allowing connected teachers and tactical teams to enable the fastest response possible to keep students safe.

All commanders, starting at company level, are ordered to assess the command climate in their units within six months. The Army wants specific emphasis on handling sexual assaults. Army Directive 2013-29, issued Dec. 23, tells commanders to conduct command climate assessments using the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute Organizational Climate Survey. The DEOCS survey measures organizational, equal opportunity, equal employment opportunity and sexual harassment/assault response and prevention issues.

The events of Sept. 11, 2001 changed airport security forever. Many of the policies put in place in the aftermath of those terrorist attacks persist today. Agents from the Transportation Security Administration and Federal Aviation Administration, in particular, are tasked with following those directives to ensure safety at airports. However, a series of high-profile incidents-such as a November 2013 shooting of a TSA officer at a Los Angeles airport-raised concerns that airports lack sufficient manpower, training and resources to adequately prepare these personnel for that assignment.

New York State is offering a unique training program for law enforcement today in Utica, aimed at giving agencies resources and information to better address critical incidents, such as the death of one of their own in the line of duty or as a result of suicide. The state Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) developed the TRAUMA (Trauma Resources and Unified Management Assistance) program as part of its mission to offer trainings for law enforcement agencies and officers so they can better serve their communities. DCJS Executive Deputy Commissioner Michael C. Green said: "As a former prosecutor, I have seen first-hand the toll that a line-of-duty death or devastating injury can have on a department. Men and women on the front lines of this state's fight against crime may be reluctant to share their grief or on-the-job experiences with co-workers, family, and friends, which can lead to extreme stress. The aim of this training is to provide a line of defense for those officers to help themselves, each other and their families."

"[P]eople still choose comfort over security.  If you don't enforce a password policy, don't expect your users to do it for you." A fairly large instance of the Pony Botnet Controller produced so much data, we thought it would be interesting to look into some statistics regarding this particular attack. ~1,580,000 website login credentials stolen ~320,000 email account credentials stolen  ~41,000 FTP account credentials stolen ~3,000 Remote Desktop credentials stolen ~3,000 Secure Shell account credentials stolen

As I analysed various breaches I kept finding user accounts that were also disclosed in other attacks - people were having their accounts pwned over and over again. So I built this: HaveIBeenPwned.com

Agile development is no longer an alternative way to develop software. With the pace of technology adoption accelerating at a frenetic pace, agile is increasingly the only way to develop software. That is, if you want to stay in business.

The Transportation Department's information systems are vulnerable to serious security threats due to deficiencies with its enterprise architecture, controls and vulnerability remediation.

The Transportation Department's information systems are vulnerable to serious security threats due to deficiencies with its enterprise architecture, controls and vulnerability remediation.

The Internet of Things--a state in the not distant future when hundreds of billions of objects now disconnected from computer networks will routinely transmit data across the web--will require a new privacy paradigm, says the Future of Privacy Forum.

Free, over-the-air terrestrial television and radio broadcasting is a key element of disaster response, the International Telecommunication Union says in a draft report released in late November. The one-to-many nature of broadcasting means that so long as transmission capabilities exist, victims with access to receivers will have access to updated information. Unlike communications networks, which may fail after a disaster due to sudden and rushed demand to bandwidth or due to power loss, broadcast transmission is often robust and characterized by multiple local providers.

The outcome of the year's flurry of gun control legislative activity was similarly mixed, as this timeline of some of the most headline-making bills - and the fallout from them - demonstrates.

As of December 10, 96 officers have been lost in the line of duty. The "Silly Season" has arrived, when risk seems to escalate. Frank Borelli compiles a list of tips to keep brother and sister officers alive.

In March 2011 the Hawthorne, California, Police Department Community Affairs Unit hosted their first Coffee with a Cop event. Police and community members came together in an informal, neutral space to discuss community issues, build relationships, and drink coffee. Just two years later, Coffee with a Cop events are being hosted in more than 36 states across the nation.

Many of the principles involved in offensive tactics of Movement to Contact (MTC) can be used by law enforcement. For the purposes of this article, MTC has one objective and that's to close in with and engage the active shooter.

Terrorist organizations value lone wolves for their ability to carry out the goals of the organization with lower costs, little or no need to plan, and a lower probability of detection, Amit Kumar of Georgetown University said during a recent event at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. Lone wolf attacks also appeal to organizations because they can motivate terrorist sympathizers to act.

The head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's civil liberties office said the transition to a more transparent intelligence community will be slow. "The intelligence community is not designed and built for transparency. We're designed and built for the opposite," said Alexander Joel, the ODNI's civil liberties protection officer. He spoke on a panel at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies Dec. 4.

Chicago police will receive specialized "state-of-the-art" training on how to handle domestic abuse calls under a new inter-governmental task force plan aimed at curbing domestic violence.

Last month, a group of retired senior-ranking officers argued before a packed audience at the Capitol Hill Club that despite the near certainty of shrinking military budgets, there are ways to trim the Defense Department's spending without leaving the armed forces less-than-ready for combat. Their plan, they contend, could reduce the overall size of the military while actually increasing its combat power. And in doing so, it will support Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's call to revamp the military so that it remains sufficiently strong "under a cloud of budget restraints and uncertainty."