• InfrastructureRobot Dog Helps Infrastructure Maintenance Researchers

    A mobile robotic dog named “Spot,” able to climb stairs, navigate rough terrain, and respond to commands, offers researchers an autonomous technology for innovations in infrastructure maintenance and repair.

  • Water securityWarming to Affect Water Availability for Hydropower, Public Water Supply in Wales

    New research shows that as the temperature increases, water supplies in Wales dwindle, leading to shortages for both the hydropower industry and public water consumptions. As the temperature rises, more water will have to be released from reservoirs to satisfy consumer demands – but such releases will lower water levels in the reservoirs below the needs of hydropower generation.

  • IranU.K. Top General: Western Powers Must Retaliate for Iran’s Drone Strike on Oil Tanker

    By Jamie Dettmer

    General Nick Carter, chief of the British Defense Staff, said Western powers need to retaliate for an Iranian drone strike on an oil tanker, which killed a British security guard and the ship’s Romanian captain. “What we need to be doing, fundamentally, is calling out Iran for its very reckless behavior,” he said.

  • IranIran “10 Weeks Away” from Weapon-Grade Uranium

    Israel’s defense Minister Benny Gantz to foreign diplomats that Iran is now only ten weeks away – if it decided to move forward – from enriching sufficient quantities of uranium to weapon-grade level, so that it would have available the fissile material needed for a nuclear weapon.

  • IranIran’s Strategic Challenge to Israel

    In a report prepared for the newly elected president of Israel, the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) highlights the main strategic challenges facing Israel and policy recommendations for addressing those challenges.

  • ARGUMENT: Water systems securityWater Systems Vulnerable to Cyberthreats

    In February, a hacker tried to manipulate the water utility’s computers in Oldsmar, Fla. so that the level of lye in the water would be raised. Joel Griffin writes that “had the perpetrator not been caught…. this cyber-attack could have resulted in actual physical harm to residents and potentially even deaths. The simplicity of this cyber-attack … also illustrates the gravity of the situation facing water utilities,” as they try to implement contemporary IT security solutions to decades-old equipment ad operational technology.

  • Supply chain resilienceHybrid Cars Twice as Vulnerable to Supply Chain Disruptions as Gas-Powered Cars

    The global computer chip shortage has hit car manufacturers especially hard, indicating the importance of supply chain resilience. But hybrid and electric cars contain many other scarce elements and materials, making them more vulnerable to supply chain problems than gas-powered models.

  • WildfiresDHS S&T Selects Two Industry Partners for Second Phase Wildland Fire Sensor Research

    DHS S&T selected two industry partners for the second phase of research on wildland fire sensor. The first phase research was conducted in June 2021, and the next phase of the program will focus on hardening the sensors for longer-term field deployments.

  • WildfiresHow Years of Fighting Every Wildfire Helped Fuel the Western Megafires of Today

    By Susan J. Prichard, Keala Hagmann, and Paul Hessburg

    Why are wildfires getting worse? Climate change is a big part of it. But, ironically, a chronic lack of fire in Western landscapes also contributes to increased fire severity and vulnerability to wildfires. It allows dry brush and live and dead trees to build up, and with more people living in wildland areas to spark blazes, pressure to fight every forest fire has increased the risk of extreme fire.

  • Our picksPredicting Terror Attacks | Terrorists as Hackers | Watch the U.K. to Understand Delta, and more

    ·  Biden Officials Open to Tightening Law Authorizing War on Terrorist Groups

    ·  Watch the U.K. to Understand Delta

    ·  Unvaccinated People Need to Bear the Burden

    ·  Safety versus Security: An Asymmetrical Opportunity for Right-Wing Extremism in Australia

    ·  Islamist Hate Preacher Anjem Choudary Is Kicked Off Instagram Days after He Was Banned from Twitter and Facebook

    ·  Prosecutors Probe Terrorism among Reasons Behind Italy Region Hacking – Sources

    ·  A Model to Predict Terror Attacks Ahead of Time

    ·  What I Heard in the White House Basement

    ·  DHS Tech Directorate Sets Goals to Guide Risk-Aware Artificial Intelligence Use

    ·  Federal Agencies Are Failing to Protect Sensitive Data, Senate Report Finds

  • CybersecurityU.K., U.S. and Australia Publish Advice to Fix Global Cyber Vulnerabilities

    A joint advisory from international allies is offering advice for the most publicly known software vulnerabilities. The cyber agencies share details of the top 30 vulnerabilities routinely exploited by malicious actors in 2020.

  • ARGUMENT: Cyber workforceU.S. Gov. Facing a Severe Cyber Workers Shortage When They Are Needed the Most

    The U.S. government is struggling to find and hire cybersecurity workers precisely at the time it needs such workers most in order to protect the government and its cyber systems from an unprecedented, and ever-more-menacing, wave of cyberattacks.

  • ExtremismSocial Media Platforms Do Little to Limit Online Anti-Semitic Content

    A new report shows how social media companies fail to act on anti-Jewish hate on their platforms. As a result of their failure to enforce their own rules, social media platforms like Facebook have become safe places to spread racism and propaganda against Jews.

  • Explosives detectionImaging Tool under Development Reveals Concealed Detonators — and Their Charge

    A Sandia Lab researcher is working on building a new kind of neutron-based imaging system which will enable people to safely examine sealed metal boxes when opening them could be dangerous, whether this is because inside is an explosive weapon or a malfunctioning, high-voltage fire set at a missile range.

  • Port securityFurloughed Port, Airport Workers Could Be Targeted by Organized Crime

    The U.K. National Crime Agency has issued an alert to furloughed port and airport workers warning they may be vulnerable to organized crime groups seeking to exploit the Covid crisis. The alert warns that as global restrictions on the movement of people and goods are further relaxed, staff who have a detailed knowledge of controls and processes around the border could be targeted.

  • Port securityEnsuring Reliability of Air Cargo Screening Systems

    DHS, which is responsible for ensuring the security of air cargo transported to the United States, says the threat from explosives in air cargo remains significant. A new GAO report addresses how DHS secures inbound air cargo, and the extent to which TSA’s field assessment of a CT screening system included key practices for design and evaluation.

  • FirefightersFire Season Heats Up, and Burnout Looms

    By Grace Hindmarch, Aaron Clark-Ginsberg, and Jay Balagna

    To the dangerous conditions such as scorching temperatures, drought across 90 percent of the West, and intense wildfire, we must now add another: a looming crisis of burnout among wildland firefighters.

  • Our picksBeginning of the Age of Bioterrorism | DHS Air Cargo Security | Last Days of Osama Bin Laden, and more

    ·  Evidence Suggests Russia’s SVR Is Still Using ‘WellMess’ Malware, Despite U.S. Warnings

    ·  ‘Vultur’ Malware Uses New Technique to Steal Banking Credentials

    ·  FTC’s Right-to-Repair Ruling Is a Small Step for Security Researchers, Giant Leap for DIY Hackers

    ·  Audit Recommends Enhancements for DHS Air Cargo Security Programs

    ·  The Beginning of the Age of Bioterrorism

    ·  The Last Days of Osama Bin Laden

    ·  Call to Shut Down Swedish Islamic School over ‘Link to Extremism’

    ·  ‘Domestic Extremism’ Is Greatest Terror Threat Facing Us, Says DHS Secretary Mayorkas

    ·  Online Communications, Real Life Consequences

    ·  Jihadists Flood Pro-Trump Social Network with Propaganda

  • Our picks: RansomwareRansomware Could Lead to War | Ransomware Attacks Hit Record | Whole Towns Are Targeted, and more

    ·  “It’s Quite Feasible to Start a War”: Just How Dangerous Are Ransomware Hackers?

    ·  Russia’s New Form of Organized Crime Is Menacing the World

    ·  Aussie Orgs Most Likely to Pay Ransomware Attackers: IDC

    ·  Ransomware Attacks Hit Record $300 Million in First Half of 2021: Report

    ·  Police Computer Systems Ill-Prepared to Cope with Ransomware Attack

    ·  Ransomware Attacks: No Longer a Matter of “If,” but “When”

    ·  How Data-Driven Patch Management Can Defeat Ransomware

    ·  Inside a Ransomware Negotiation: This Is How ‘Asshole’ Russian Hackers Shake Down Companies

    ·  Texas Ransomware Attack Shows What Can Happen When Whole Towns Are Targeted

  • China watchLawmakers Looking to Curb Chinese Ownership of U.S. Farmland

    By Yinan Wang

    The Chinese threat to American food security, so far, would seem minimal: As of December 2019, Chinese agricultural real estate holdings in America totaled about 78,000 hectares, which is about 0.02 percent of America’s roughly 3.6 million square kilometers of total farmland. Still, U.S. lawmakers are seeking to restrict Chinese purchases of American farmland amid fears that such purchases could ultimately pose a threat to the U.S. food supply chain.

  • ARGUMENT: Cyber offenseResponsible Cyber Offense

    There is responsible conduct in cyberspace, and there is irresponsible conduct. Perri Adams, Dave Aitel, George Perkovich, and JD Work write that “If the SolarWinds operation was a case of somewhat responsible hacking within the bounds of acceptable state action (even if Russia is far from a responsible actor in cyberspace), the Exchange operation, by contrast, demonstrates how an irresponsibly conducted espionage operation can escalate into collateral damage and instability.” They write that, despite critical preventive efforts, “offensive operations will continue apace in the foreseeable future—conducted by the United States, its allies and its adversaries. The choice is whether and how to engage in them responsibly and minimize cost to societies.”

  • EncryptionA Backdoor in Mobile Phone Encryption from the 1990s Still Exists

    Researchers have discovered a security gap in modern mobile phones which is very unlikely to have been created by accident. In fact, it should have been removed back in 2013.The researchers say that the properties that render the cipher so insecure can’t have happened by accident.