A Lesson Of War

May 1, 2003 12:00 PM, Larry Anderson, Editor

The war in Iraq provided another showcase for high-tech weaponry, demonstrating once again the efficiency and effectiveness with which technology can take on the unpleasant tasks of war. Our military heroes played an invaluable role, but the results of their efforts were enhanced impressively by the well-planned use of technology.

It's a gameplan that will serve the nation well as we continue down the path of securing our Homeland. Too often, additional security at home translates into more officers and more guards — more people — with little thought given to how technology could boost the effort. As the war in Iraq has proven, it's the well-balanced combination of people power and technology — of guards and gadgets — that most effectively gets the job done.

This issue of Government Security includes discussions of a broad range of technologies —from biometrics to access control to video surveillance, and even including security robots (page 42). We present this technology discussion in the context of how it can be used in the real world.

Also in this issue, we embark on what will inevitably be an ongoing discussion of information security, specifically of how governments everywhere can protect their computer systems from cyber-attacks. The value of information contained on computer systems throughout our governments is incalculable, and protecting it effectively is an important facet of securing U.S. critical infrastructure.

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This month in Access Control

• Targeting The Customer
• Electronic Pedigrees
• One Hero Among Many
• Who? What? When? Where? Why?
• More from September's issue