• DISINFORMATIONX's Crowdsourced Tool to Counter COVID Untruths mainly accurate, credible: Researchers

    By Mary Van Beusekom

    Community Notes, a crowdsourced COVID-19 vaccine misinformation countermeasure on X (formerly Twitter), generally corrected false posts accurately and pointed readers to more credible sources, according to researchers who evaluated the posts.

  • CYBERSECURITYComputer Scientists Unveil Novel Attacks on Cybersecurity

    By Katie Ismael

    Researchers have found two novel types of attacks that target the conditional branch predictor found in high-end Intel processors, which could be exploited to compromise billions of processors currently in use. Intel and AMD issued security alerts based on the findings.

  • GRID SECURITYNew Cybersecurity Center to Protect Grids Integrated with Renewables, Microgrids

    Bringing renewable energy to the power grid raises all kinds of “internet-of-things” issues because “everything is connected,” says an expert. Solar inverters are connected to the internet. Wind farm controllers are connected to the internet. And with each internet connection, energy resources distributed across the countryside are potentially vulnerable to cyberattacks.

  • GRID SECURITYFirst Regional Cybersecurity Center to Protect the Nation’s Electricity Grid

    U.S. Department of Energy awards $10 million grant to develop innovative solutions to mitigating cyber threats across the U.S. A new center will bring together experts from the private sector, academia and government to share information and generate innovative real-world solutions to protect the nation’s power grid and other key sectors.

  • WATER SECURITYFor the Colorado River and Beyond, a New Market Could Save the Day

    By Krysten Crawford

    The Colorado River, “the lifeblood of the West,” is in trouble. Decades of overuse and drought have sharply reduced its water supply, threatening an ecosystem that supports 40 million people and 5.5 million acres of farmland. Stanford economist Paul Milgrom won a Nobel Prize in part for his role in enabling today’s mobile world. Now he’s tackling a different 21st century challenge: water scarcity.

  • ENERGY SECURITYRivers Are the West’s Largest Source of Clean Energy. What Happens When Drought Strikes?

    By Syris Valentine

    With rivers across the West running low, utilities must get creative if they are to meet demand without increasing emissions.

  • OUR PICKSTrump Refuses to Rule Out Post-Election Violence | Airports Insider Threat | Why is Mexico Helping to Solve Biden’s Border Problem, and more

    ·  Trump Again Vows Mass Deportations and Won’t Rule Out Political Violence
    Trump refused to rule out violence if he were to lose the November election: “It always depends on the fairness of an election,” he said, declining to call on his supporters not to resort to violence again

    ·  The White House Has a New Master Plan to Stop Worst-Case Scenarios
    President Joe Biden has updated the directives to protect US critical infrastructure against major threats, from cyberattacks to terrorism to climate change

    ·  Airports, Insider Threat, and the Challenges of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)
    One of the most difficult threats to mitigate is an insider threat

    ·  Countering the Threat: Lone Wolves, Homemade Explosives, and the Path to a Safer Future
    Defending against lone wolves and homemade explosives

    ·  Why is Mexico Helping to Solve Biden’s Border Problem?
    Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has picked his side in the November U.S. election

    ·  The Threat of “AI Safety” to American AI Leadership
    Instead of harnessing the positive potential of AI, a new regime of rules and regulations mandated in the name of “AI Safety” actively threatens the technology’s promise

    ·  The Dangerous Rise of GPS Attacks
    Thousands of planes and ships are facing GPS jamming and spoofing. Experts warn these attacks could potentially impact critical infrastructure, communication networks, and more

  • WORLD ROUNDUPHow Will AI Change Cyber Operations? | Appeasement Is Underrated | The Militarization of Latin American Security, and more

    ·  UN Court Rules German Military Aid to Israel Can Continue
    The UN top court has opted not to implement emergency measures limiting German assistance for Israel. Nicaragua had filed charges that German arms supplies to Israel were enabling acts of “genocide”

    ·  The Militarization of Latin American Security, Then and Now
    Countries are turning to their armed forces to tackle domestic instability. That might have worked a century ago, but the circumstances have changed

    ·  Why No “Plain Statement Rule” Bars a President’s Prosecution for Murder
    It’s simple: the supposed “plain statement rule” doesn’t exist

    ·  How Will AI Change Cyber Operations?
    The U.S. government somehow seems to be both optimistic and pessimistic about the impact of AI on cyber operations

    ·  Xi Believes China Can Win a Scientific Revolution
    Beijing’s techno-nationalist policies are more geopolitical than economic

    ·  Appeasement Is Underrated
    Rejecting diplomacy by citing Neville Chamberlain’s deal with the Nazis is a willfully ignorant use of history

  • GAZA PROTESTSLawmakers Call for Accountability Over Pro-Hamas Campus Violence

    By Casey Harper, The Center Square

    Pro-Hamas demonstrations on college campuses have become increasingly intense, and even violent in recent days, pushing lawmakers to call for a change. Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida) has, along with Tim Scott (R-S.C.), introduced the Stop Antisemitism on College Campuses Act, which would end federal funding for colleges and universities “that support, authorize, or facilitate events that promote antisemitism.”

  • RUSSIAN DISINFORMATIONRussia Accuses Ukrainian Energy Company Linked to Hunter Biden of Financing Terror

    Russia’s top investigative body said it had opened a probe into a Ukrainian company that formerly had ties to the son of U.S. President Joe Biden, in what likely is an effort to spread disinformation in the midst of the heated U.S. presidential election campaign.

  • ARGUMENT: RUSSIAN DISINFORMATIONDon’t Buy Moscow’s Shameless Campaign Tying Biden to Its Terrorist Attack

    Russia has offered many different explanations to the ISIS-K’s 22 March 2024 terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow, but the most recent explanation offered by Russia is the most audacious yet: Russia now charges that the Ukrainian energy company Burisma financed the attack. Burisma is at the center of an effort by a congressional committee to impeach President Biden, but the case has all but collapsed. Hunter Stoll writes that Russia’s disinformation and propaganda apparatus appears to be searching for ways to keep Burisma in the news ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

  • CYBERSECURITYCybersecurity Researchers Spotlight a New Ransomware Threat – Be Careful Where You Upload Files

    By Selcuk Uluagac

    Today’s web browsers are much more powerful than earlier generations of browsers. Unfortunately, these capabilities also mean that hackers can find clever ways to abuse the browsers to trick you into letting ransomware lock up your files when you think that you’re simply doing your usual tasks online.

  • PUBLIC HEALTHCOVID May Have Eroded Doctors' Belief That They Are Obligated to Treat Infectious Patients

    By Mary Van Beusekom

    Broadly disseminated misinformation about the disease — e.g., how the virus spreads, effective treatments, vaccine efficacy and safety, and more – contributed to the erosion of doctors’ commitment to treat infectious disease patients because of doctors’ fear that they would contract the disease.

  • UNDERSEA WARFAREWhy the U.S. Will Stay Dominant in Undersea Warfare

    By Paul Dibb and Richard Brabin-Smith

    The United States has been so far ahead in submarine technology and secure underwater operations over the past 50-plus years that its submarines are virtually undetectable by either China or Russia.

  • OUR PICKSNo, a Shadowy Figure Is Not Buying Tents for Columbia Student Protesters | The False Choice in the Debate Over Artificial Intelligence Regulation | Software Backdoor is a Wakeup Call for Cybersecurity, and more

    ·  No, a Shadowy Figure Is Not Buying Tents for Columbia Student Protesters
    Conspiracies about outside forces funding and orchestrating the university protests at Columbia and NYU have taken hold online, primarily on X

    ·  The False Choice in the Debate Over Artificial Intelligence Regulation
    Should regulators focus on present-day or potential future AI risks? Both

    ·  Software Backdoor is a Wakeup Call for Cybersecurity
    the problem was discovered by happenstance, and the bad news is, we are often at the mercy of luck when it comes to detecting cybersecurity attacks before they are actually deployed and used

    ·  Russia Vetoed a UN Resolution to Ban Space Nukes
    A ban on weapons of mass destruction in orbit has stood since 1967. Russia apparently has other idea

    ·  Massive Policing for Paris Olympics to Include Security Checks for Some of the Capital’s Residents
    Special anti-terrorism measures will also apply to all buildings near Olympic venues

    ·How Australia Struggled to Get Elon Musk’s X to Remove Video of a Terrorist Attack
    Australia argued that X hasn’t really removed the video because Australians can still use a virtual private network—which masks a user’s true location—to watch it

  • WORLD ROUNDUPPushing back Against China’s Fishing Practices | Is India an Autocracy? | The Strategic Unseriousness of Olaf Scholz

    ·  More Comprehensive Plan to Push back Against China’s Fishing Practices
    Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in general and Chinese fishing practices in particular do pose significant threats to international and U.S. national security

    ·  Is India an Autocracy?
    The erosion of democratic norms didn’t begin with Narendra Modi

    ·  Suddenly, Chinese Spies Seem to Be Popping Up All Over Europe
    A flurry of arrests this week reflect the continent’s newly toughened response to Beijing’s espionage activities and political meddling

    ·  After 30 Years of ANC Rule, Zulu Heartlands Are Backing a Gay White Man
    A young mayor is bridging old divisions of race and culture in KwaZulu-Natal and offering hope to poverty-stricken families let down by Nelson Mandela’s party

    ·  The Strategic Unseriousness of Olaf Scholz
    His latest trip confirms that Germany’s China policy is made in corporate boardrooms

  • IMMIGRATIONWhite House Says Plans to Address Causes of Migration Show Results

    By Aline Barros

    The White House’s strategy for curbing migration to the United States from Central America zeroes in on job creation, economic investment and support for human rights. Biden administration officials say is showing results, but analysts caution against unrealistic expectations.

  • MILITARY TECHNOLOGYIran’s Neutralized Counterstrike: Israel’s Air Defense Operation Was Effective—Just Not Necessarily Replicable

    By Peter Mitchell

    The immediate outcome of the thwarted Iranian missile attack on Israel is the clear evidence it provides that integrated air and ground air defense systems can provide adequate coverage against saturation attacks—at least under certain conditions. The point is, few other countries will be able to recreate Israel’s air defense successes.

  • MILITARY TECHNOLOGYAssessment of Israeli Strike on Iran near Esfahan

    By David Albright, Sarah Burkhard, Victoria Cheng, Spencer Faragasso, and Mohammadreza Giveh

    The Israeli attack on the S-300 missile defense system deployed around Iran’s nuclear facility in Esfahan demonstrated the capability of Israeli stand-off weapons to target deep inside Iran, evading detection and air defenses, leaving Iran’s nuclear and military facilities more vulnerable to attack.

  • ESPIONGAEIs the EU Ready to Ward Off Spies and Foreign-Influence Peddlers?

    By Ella Joyner

    After a spate of foreign influence scandals at the European Parliament and in national capitals, EU officials are scrambling to get a handle on suspected Russian and Chinese espionage ahead of the June elections.

  • TIKTOKBanning TikTok Won’t Solve Social Media’s Foreign Influence, Teen Harm and Data Privacy Problems

    By Sarah Florini

    Concerns about TikTok are not unfounded, but they are also not unique. Each threat posed by TikTok has also been posed by U.S.-based social media for over a decade. Lawmakers should take action to address harms caused by U.S. companies seeking profit as well as by foreign companies perpetrating espionage. Protecting Americans cannot be accomplished by banning a single app. To truly protect their constituents, lawmakers would need to enact broad, far-reaching regulation.

  • CRIME DETECTIONDeep Learning Model Helps in Crime Detection and Crime Hot Spot Prediction

    By David Bradley

    New research has turned to emotional data alongside machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) techniques to develop technology that might one day help us better understand the criminal mind and perhaps even predict criminal activity so that it might be prevented.