According to the FBI, the number of violent crimes reported by law enforcement for the first six months of 2012 increased 1.9 percent over figures from the same period in 2011.
Security software maker Bit9 said that computer hackers have breached its network, then launched a second round of attacks against some of its customers.
With potential applications in crop spraying, watering and land surveys, farmers might quickly overtake law enforcement as the robots' next big market.
$200 million-worth in automobiles, electronics and gold was purchased on some 25,000 fraudulent credit cards in an 18-person crime ring, prosecutors allege.