What is "tripwire"

n. 1 A cord or wire arranged so that when snagged or pulled by an intruder, it will trigger a detector or trap or a device, such as a land mine. 2 Any means of detecting intruders.

A tripwire is a passive triggering mechanism. Typically, a wire or cord is attached to some device for detecting or reacting to physical movement.

A tripwire may be a wire attached to one or more mines — normally bounding mines and the fragmentation type — in order to increase their activation area.. Alternatively, tripwires are frequently used in boobytraps, whereby a tug on the wire (or release of tension on it) will detonate the explosives.

Soldiers sometimes detect the presence of tripwires by spraying the area with Silly String. It will settle to the ground in areas where there are no wires; if there are any, the string will be suspended in the air but not set them off due to its light weight. It was used by U.S. troops in Iraq for this purpose.

A newer method is the use of green line lasers to illuminate and detect trip and command wires. The bright laser line creates a fluorescence that can be seen by the bomb tech.

Tripwire, Inc. is a software company based in Portland, Oregon that develops, markets and sells information technology (IT) solutions that provide security and compliance automation. The company's software and hardware products provide organizations control over physical and virtual IT infrastructure.

Tripwire may refer to:

• Tripwire, a passive triggering mechanism used for military and trapping purposes.

Or, the term may be a name that is derivative of the device:

Tripwire is the third book in the Jack Reacher series written by Lee Child. It was published in 1999 by Putnam in America and Bantam in the United Kingdom. It is written in the third person.

Tripwire is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's mine detector, and debuted in 1983.

Tripwire is a 1989 American film directed by James Lemmo.

It is an action/adventure movie about a terrorist and government secret agent personal vendetta that began when a train hijacking goes badly awry and the terrorist's son is accidentally killed. The original music score was composed by Richard Stone. Originally intended for a theatrical release (it did get releases only in Europe between 1989 and 1990), the movie was released directly to video and laserdisc on March 21, 1990 in the U.S. by RCA/Columbia and in Canada on video only by Cineplex Odeon. The movie has not been released on DVD and as of December 26, 2009, Sony has not announced any plans to release the movie on DVD.