Sandia National Laboratories

Eric Bland in Discovery News:

The Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency released a report Monday on Internet security with recommendations. The focus of the commission, part of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, is to provide President-Elect Barack Obama's administration with insight on cybercriminal activities.

In recent years U.S. agencies, including the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security, have experienced computer break-ins.

Last year, the government posed a question for scientists: Could a computer program show how bombs might rip through jets?

Today, that question is answered. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque have created the first computer model that simulates a bomb blowing up a passenger plane. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is hoping that it will be an improvement from the traditional method of testing airplanes by blowing up actual bombs in retired jets.