Thursday, September 30, 2010
Defense Companies Developing 'Iron Man' Suit for U.S. Army
Army Gears Up to Outfit Soldiers in 'Iron Man' Suit
(Sept. 28) -- Defense companies are hoping someday to outfit soldiers with external skeletons that would bestow the wearer with superhuman capabilities.
That day may still be years away, but Raytheon, one of the companies working on this technology for the Army, is riding the coattails of "Iron Man," which helped popularize the notion of such high-tech armored suits, to show off the prototype it's already created. The company Monday released a video featuring actor Clark Gregg, who plays Agent Phil Coulson in the movie version of "Iron Man," talking about the latest updates to the suit.
While such technology may not have quite the capabilities provided by the "Iron Man" suit of comic book fame, it does have similar goals of bestowing the wearer with superhuman strength. A video of the second-generation exoskeleton robotics suit shows a test engineer karate-chopping wood, performing push-ups and lifting weights...
[Full Article]
Related Article:
Real-Life Iron Man: The Raytheon XOS 2 Exoskeleton [Wired.com]
(Sept. 28) -- Defense companies are hoping someday to outfit soldiers with external skeletons that would bestow the wearer with superhuman capabilities.
That day may still be years away, but Raytheon, one of the companies working on this technology for the Army, is riding the coattails of "Iron Man," which helped popularize the notion of such high-tech armored suits, to show off the prototype it's already created. The company Monday released a video featuring actor Clark Gregg, who plays Agent Phil Coulson in the movie version of "Iron Man," talking about the latest updates to the suit.
Raytheon
Raytheon's second-generation exoskeleton, essentially a wearable robotics suit, was unveiled recently at the company's Salt Lake City research facility. The suit is lighter, stronger and faster than its predecessor, yet it uses 50 percent less power.
[Full Article]
Related Article:
Real-Life Iron Man: The Raytheon XOS 2 Exoskeleton [Wired.com]
Labels: Army, Iron Man, Raytheon
Saturday, July 10, 2010
NSA Denies It Will Spy on Utilities
The NSA is denying a report from the Wall Street Journal that a secret program code-named “Perfect Citizen” will be monitoring civilian networks.
That’s from a rare public statement by the ultra-secret agency responsible for spying on outsiders and defending classified networks. The NSA, as a wing of the military, is largely prohibited from operating within the U.S.
The Journal reported Wednesday that defense contractor Raytheon won a $100 million contract that would involve sensors in the networks of “critical infrastructure” such as utilities and nuclear power plants. The sensors would report anomalies to the NSA via a partnership with Homeland Security, the Journal reported. According to an e-mail cited in the report, a Raytheon employee described it as a “Big Brother” system.
Our take on the original report is here...
[Full Article]
The NSA is denying a report from the Wall Street Journal that a secret program code-named “Perfect Citizen” will be monitoring civilian networks.
That’s from a rare public statement by the ultra-secret agency responsible for spying on outsiders and defending classified networks. The NSA, as a wing of the military, is largely prohibited from operating within the U.S.
The Journal reported Wednesday that defense contractor Raytheon won a $100 million contract that would involve sensors in the networks of “critical infrastructure” such as utilities and nuclear power plants. The sensors would report anomalies to the NSA via a partnership with Homeland Security, the Journal reported. According to an e-mail cited in the report, a Raytheon employee described it as a “Big Brother” system.
Our take on the original report is here...
[Full Article]
Labels: National Security Agency, NSA, Perfect Citizen, Raytheon
Thursday, July 8, 2010
U.S. Plans Cyber Shield for Utilities, Companies
The federal government is launching an expansive program dubbed "Perfect Citizen" to detect cyber assaults on private companies and government agencies running such critical infrastructure as the electricity grid and nuclear-power plants, according to people familiar with the program.
The surveillance by the National Security Agency, the government's chief eavesdropping agency, would rely on a set of sensors deployed in computer networks for critical infrastructure that would be triggered by unusual activity suggesting an impending cyber attack, though it wouldn't persistently monitor the whole system, these people said.
Defense contractor Raytheon Corp. recently won a classified contract for the initial phase of the surveillance effort valued at up to $100 million, said a person familiar with the project.
An NSA spokeswoman said the agency had no information to provide on the program. A Raytheon spokesman declined to comment.
Some industry and government officials familiar with the program see Perfect Citizen as an intrusion by the NSA into domestic affairs, while others say it is an important program to combat an emerging security threat that only the NSA is equipped to provide...
[Full Article]
The federal government is launching an expansive program dubbed "Perfect Citizen" to detect cyber assaults on private companies and government agencies running such critical infrastructure as the electricity grid and nuclear-power plants, according to people familiar with the program.
The surveillance by the National Security Agency, the government's chief eavesdropping agency, would rely on a set of sensors deployed in computer networks for critical infrastructure that would be triggered by unusual activity suggesting an impending cyber attack, though it wouldn't persistently monitor the whole system, these people said.
Defense contractor Raytheon Corp. recently won a classified contract for the initial phase of the surveillance effort valued at up to $100 million, said a person familiar with the project.
An NSA spokeswoman said the agency had no information to provide on the program. A Raytheon spokesman declined to comment.
Some industry and government officials familiar with the program see Perfect Citizen as an intrusion by the NSA into domestic affairs, while others say it is an important program to combat an emerging security threat that only the NSA is equipped to provide...
[Full Article]
Labels: big brother, NSA, Perfect Citizen, privacy, Raytheon, surveillance
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