July 2014 | Page 56

w hat ’ s th e B u z z ? Electronic suspension preferred over conventional suspension in all tested situations Tenneco Inc. has published results of a survey showing that consumers experience a feeling of increased comfort, control and safety when driving cars equipped with intelligent (electronically-adjusted) suspension systems versus the same cars equipped with conventional suspension systems. They are also willing to pay for electronic systems. In the survey, conducted for Tenneco by TNS Infratest, 94% of sports utility vehicle drivers rated the overall driving experience with a semiactive suspension system as very good or excellent, compared with a rating of 73% for passive suspension systems. In the compact car segment, 86% of drivers rated their overall driving experience as very good or excellent compared with 61% for passive systems, while 88% of upper middle class) segment drivers rated semi-active suspension systems as very good or excellent versus 77% for passive systems. The most significant improvement with intelligent suspension systems reported across all segments ➲ CVSA2 is Tenneco’s newest generation of lightweight semi-active dampers. Each damper features two independent electro-hydraulic CES valves for the rebound and compression motions to provide an increased tuning range to reach even higher comfort levels. CVSA2 uses electronic (CES) valves developed by Tenneco in conjunction with Öhlins Racing was vehicle comfort with road holding, stability, agility, control and safety all scoring strongly versus conventional systems. In addition, the ability to change the suspension mode at will resulted in a strong increase in scores for flexibility and driving fun versus conventional systems. Following the consumer survey, a series of quantitative tests by TÜV SÜD using vehicles equipped with MonroeIntelligent Suspension confirmed better wheel to road contact, which helps avoid sideslip and over steer, especially during cornering on uneven road surfaces. In more dynamic driving situations, such as lane changes or obstacle avoidance, the reduction in body movement was found to bring greater stability, which helps increase the feeling of comfort and safety. ITWeb Security Summit Spooks the Delegates The ninth annual ITWeb Security Summit was held from 27 to 29 May 2014 at the Sandton Convention Centre, with a stellar panel of international and South African speakers bringing their global expertise on world trends in surveillance and piracy, indepth insights into the failures of the infosec community, the impact of the Snowden revelations, and much more. And for anyone attending the summit the message was stark and clear: No matter your station in life, you are being monitored, and you can basically do nothing about it, except to know that you are a surveillance target and that your only defence is awareness and continuous monitoring of your system. International keynote speakers included Jacob Appelbaum, Charlie Miller, Christopher Soghoian and Haroon Meer. In addition to the extensive agenda and interactive workshops, an expo ran adjacent to the 2014 summit, showcasing the latest in products, solutions and services. Endorsed by ISACA and the (ISC)² Gauteng Chapter, the summit served as the most important annual gathering of South Africa’s business and ICT decision makers with a security mandate. aBr will be revisiting this summit in future issues. ➲ Seen at the expo was the Technica Learning ➲ Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist ➲ Jacob Appelbaum, an independent computer Resources stand, manned by Michael Turnbull and Andrew McIntosh and senior policy analyst with the Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at the American Civil Liberties Union, discussed government surveillance in a post-Snowden world security researcher, hacker and core member of the Tor Project, gave a global overview of surveillance and privacy | words in action 54 july 2014