History, Security

French trials and Denard again goes free

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Here’s a late twist to the story of Gilbert Bourgeaud (aka Bob Denard), the infamous mercenary: apparently his lawyer argued in French court that Denard simply was acting on behalf of the government to destabilize foreign nations including the Comoros. The French authorities have rejected his claims and ruled that Denard should get a five-year suspended sentence. The BBC describes him thus:

Bob Denard, 77, contributed to bloody conflicts across Africa for nearly 40 years, but the French mercenary is best known for his interventions in the Comoros Islands, one of which has led to his conviction in a French court.

He once described himself as “a soldier never an assassin”, and has claimed he was acting in the interests of France or other European powers, though he was once accused of plotting to assassinate a French prime minister.

So, to recap, Denard led a sucessful military coup against Ahmed Abdallah in 1975 (after the islands declared independence from France). Denard then led another coup in 1978, this time installing Abdallah as President. In 1989 President Abdallah was killed by Denard’s men, but Denard avoided any charges in French court for wrongdoing. Then in 1995 Denard staged another coup in the Comoros, which “failed” when the French army moved in to “restore order”…and so Denard, a free man, settled in Paris to await sentencing for what he described as serving French interests.

Imagine trying to keep information secure when you never really know who you work for and who will be next in power or what they will declare right and wrong. Non-repudiation and plausible deniability is an important factor in these international webs of intrigue.

In slightly related news, an intelligence officer turned General (now retired) has continued to argue that he was not only ordered by the French Government to torture Algerians, but that it is the right thing to do in times of conflict:

The Paris appeals court confirmed that General Paul Aussaresses, 84, must pay a fine of 7,500 euros ($8,300) – the punishment handed down by a criminal court in January last year.

Aussaresses admitted torturing and killing 24 Algerian prisoners-of-war in a book he published in 2001 about the conflict.

[…]

Aussaresses said Friday’s ruling was “stupid”. He added that he had “neither remorse nor regrets” and would appeal to France’s highest criminal court.

Energy, Security

Automobile security culture clash

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Some amazing developments are happening in the world of automobile engineering. First, have a peek at the armored Ford Syn. No need to worry about leaving your laptop in your urban assault armored car vault. It’s a safe on wheels, but what’s the fuel/price tag for this level of protection?

The design of the Ford SYNUS concept was inspired by bank vaults and armored cars. The vehicle is designed for a population moving out of the suburbs and back into big cities.

What does that say about the current feelings in corporate America? Don’t make the cities safer, make the boxes we live in stronger? Ugh. There has to be a more reasonable balance of resources, one that recognizes the inherent flaw in trying to apply a financial data risk model to a daily commute vehicle.

Let me try to put that a different way: urban spaces are broken down into natural security zones that we often refer to as “neighborhoods”, with many overlapping groups with common goals. It’s not always roses, but compare this to suburban areas that often lack layers of protection and end up leaving families with the self-imposed responsibility of defending themselves from outsiders. Rural dwellers are thus the most extreme in the spectrum as they often are literally on their own when it comes to security. So, if you were to design an urban vehicle for future security needs, would it be for those from outside the city coming to visit and believing they need all the robustness of a moon-landing vehicle, or for people who want to re-assimilate into a truly “developed” urban area and to extend a shared support structure…if you get my drift.

Now contemplate the open airy look of the Peugeot Moovie. Amazing to see something like this. It just seems so right, although the idea of a stable smooth surface and consistent power grid or alternative fuel source (e.g. well-engineered public infrastructure) means…well, you probably know where I’m going with this. Nothing like seeing the pictures of the Moovie to put a little hope back in your saddle, even if it means moving to somewhere other than a barren wasteland of armored SUVs.
Crunch
And finally, a dose of reality. Michellin has announced the Tweel and suggested that pneumatics are finally going to be a thing of the past. I’m looking forward to the motorcycle version of this technology.

The problem with the centuries-old air-filled design was that air, just like information, always wants to be free. Hmmm, can we envision a world of tweel-like data security?

Security

Blocking the blocks on surveillance cameras

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No need for the old sock trick, the Georgia Institute of Technology has a news release (in handy pdf format) that they have just started working on a method to block surveillance cameras.

The current prototype uses visible light and two cameras to find CCDs, but a future commercial system might use invisible infrared lasers and photodetecting
transistors to scan for contraband cameras. Once such a system found a suspicious spot, it would feed information on the reflection’s properties to a computer for a
determination.

“The biggest problem is making sure we don’t get false positives from, say, a large shiny earring,â€? said Summet. “We need to make our system work well enough so that it can find a dot, then test to see if it’s reflective, then see if it’s retroreflective, and then test to see if it’s the right shape.â€?

Once a scanning laser and photodetector located a video camera, the system would flash a thin beam of visible white light directly at the CCD. This beam – possibly a laser in a commercial version – would overwhelm the target camera with light, rendering recorded video unusable. Researchers say that energy levels used to neutralize cameras would be low enough to preclude any health risks to the operator.

Nice that they worry about our health, even though they use rather absolute terms (“any health risks”). They also suggest a few markets, including silver screen digital rights management:

Stephen Fleming, Georgia Tech’s chief commercialization officer, said motion-picture groups are actively looking for technology to foil piracy. Movie distributors might even promote cameraneutralizing systems by refusing to send films to theaters that don’t install anti-piracy systems.

I can see a hot new fashion trend in movie-going circles: retroreflective lens-shaped earrings.

Security

Football player without a helmet

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Here’s a sad story:

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did not have a valid motorcycle license when he crashed into a woman’s car last week….

Roethlisberger will be issued $388 in fines and fees for riding without a license and not wearing a helmet, police Collision Investigator Dan Connolly said today. Only licensed motorcyclists are allowed to ride bareheaded in Pennsylvania, with certain restrictions.

The RoadcrafterI wonder if he would play football helmet-less if the team allowed it? Odd that a professional football player of all people would not wear a helmet, but even more odd that he had no license. You might say this is the football uniform of the motorcyclist. It’s called the “Roadcrafter”. No big numbers, no flashy logos, just protection. It comes without a coach, as well, who can tell you how to play smart. And maybe that’s the problem with motorcycle protective rider gear these days. Who really promotes it?

I’ve heard many people question why his contract did not have an exclusion for helmet-less riding, or to exclude motorcycles altogether. Fair points to consider. And here are a couple more risk factors:

  1. His Suzuki Hayabusa is an extremely powerful race-bike with a 1300cc engine that can put out nearly 700hp
  2. Both drivers had green lights, but the police say the car driver should have yielded way to oncoming traffic

Zoom zoom
Well, maybe in the future the gear will become cool enough for people to think of it as desireable as well as mandatory for a quick survivability boost. Take a look at the new BMW concept helmet to see what I mean. It’s like security meets the marketing and sci-fi department. Paint a Steeler logo on the side and you’re ready to roll. Or maybe the motorcycle helmets should look exactly like a football helmet…