Mobile Devices Could Save Lives

The EU is supporting a project called MARIUS, which enables the dissemination of information to the inhabitants of a stricken zone through SMS alerts, thanks to a helicopter equipped with a mini-mobile network. With this technology, rescue teams will be able to send SMS even within a zone where the mobile network is off. They will be able to transmit text messages which will facilitate rescues and save lives.

The “Mobile Autonomous Reactive Information System for Urgency Situations” or MARIUS is a project aiming at developing a pre-operational autonomous Command Post which can be deployed very quickly to manage every type of crisis. Coordinated by EADS, the project is mostly financed by the European Union.

The innovation in MARIUS lies in the integration of the following state-of-the-art elements, customized to fulfill the requirements of a generic crisis management system for security:

• An airborne segment equipped with EO/IR sensor, GSM detection and location sensor, SMS broadcast capability, a data link to the ground station and a radio system;

• A mobile crisis management system;

• The ground sensors (cameras) and their specific data link;

• A micro-drone to demonstrate airborne surveillance functions in case of disaster;

• The deployable wireless communications network.

The first tests in the laboratory were done in December 2006 during the integration phase and the consortium hopes to test the project on site in Valencia, Spain, by July 2007.

Wide Angle PTZ for Greater Security

Canon has introduced the VB-C300 Wide-Angle Pan/Tilt/Zoom (PTZ) network camera to address the problems of confined quarters and wiring limitations often faced by small businesses. Offering the widest angle of view of any PTZ camera on the market, the new feature-packed VB-C300 PTZ Camera, along with the introduction of Version 1.3 of Canon’s VK-64/VK-16 Network Video Recording Software allow security and video-monitoring professionals to capture high-quality video and deliver it via a LAN or the Internet.

Offering a wide 70 degree horizontal angle of view, the VB-C300 PTZ camera pans bi-directionally at plus or minus 170 degrees to deliver a total viewing angle that exceeds 360 degrees. This feature makes the VB-C300 PTZ camera well-suited to tight, indoor spaces. The camera comes equipped with a high-sensitivity progressive-scan 310,000-effective pixel CCD that helps deliver crisp, well-defined images of even rapidly moving objects, as well as powerful low-light (1 Lux at 1/30 shutter speed) performance. In addition, an Automatic Day/Night Mode switches from color video to light-sensitive black and white video, depending on available illumination.

Incorporating a Canon 2.4x Optical Zoom Lens with 4x Digital Zoom, the VB-C300 PTZ camera has an autofocus system designed to keep the majority of the camera’s image plane in sharp detail. The advanced lens design reduces the “fish-eye” distortion typical of extreme wide-angle lenses.

Full duplex, two-way audio support allows the VB-C300 PTZ camera to both send and receive audio simultaneously, which enables security professionals monitoring its video to hear and speak to people appearing on-camera, while using a microphone. Security professionals can speak into a microphone connected to their monitoring PC and be heard at the camera’s location through a powered speaker connected to the VB-C300 PTZ camera.

Undelete Lost Files, Photos and Music

Software Shelf (http://www.softwareshelf.com) has released its security and data recovery software File-Rescue Plus for Windows Vista. It supports and installs on Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 as well as Vista.

File-Rescue Plus recovers or undeletes “lost” or deleted computer data of every kind including photos, audio and video from every kind of device including hard drives, CDs, cameras, floppies, Jazz drives, Zip drives, Flash media, Smart media and others. Its features surpass earlier technologies. It recovers “lost” data from virus damaged drives. File-Rescue Plus also contains a “shredder” for extreme security. This is the Clean Free Disk Space Option allowing one to securely wipe all free disk space or deleted files on the computer.

Anyone may download a free trial version or buy online by clicking on www.softwareshelf.com or www.softwareshelf.co.uk.

Store Secrets in a Secure Data Vault

Everyone wants to keep data close at hand, but it is important to keep it safe too. With capacities ranging from 128MB to 4GB, Pretec i-Disk Secure offers durability and security with a unique rugged metal housing designed to keep your data safe against heavy impact as well as a suite of security utilities to keep your data safe from unauthorized access.

i-Disk Secure offers special security features such as Secret Zip which uses a password to encrypt and decrypt data, and Mobile Lock which can auto-execute a user’s pre-defined files for security purposes. It is also a security key to protect the computer from unauthorized access. By using the feature Photo Lock, a user can lock the PC to prevent unauthorized access while displaying a photo slideshow.

Military-Grade Security for All

Anyone can have their laptop invaded from the Internet or physically stolen. The media is full of stories about government officials and corporate executives who lost data when their unencrypted laptops were stolen. Even the FBI lost 160 laptops last year.

“Companies face huge liabilities when they use insecure laptops,” said Sandy Sandfort, CEO of Rayservers. “In the UK, the Nationwide Building Society was fined 980,000 pounds because of a laptop that was stolen from an employee.”

To counter these threats, Rayservers has introduced Secure-Out-of-the-Box laptop computers (http://gold.rayservers.com/laptops). Rayservers laptops offer 100 percent encrypted hard drives and privacy protected Internet access for safe communications.