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ESPIONGAEIs the EU Ready to Ward Off Spies and Foreign-Influence Peddlers?
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.
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IMMIGRATIONWhite House Says Plans to Address Causes of Migration Show Results
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.
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MILITARY TECHNOLOGYIran’s Neutralized Counterstrike: Israel’s Air Defense Operation Was Effective—Just Not Necessarily Replicable
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.
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MILITARY TECH NOLOGYAssessment of Israeli Strike on Iran near Esfahan
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.
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TIKTOKBanning TikTok Won’t Solve Social Media’s Foreign Influence, Teen Harm and Data Privacy Problems
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.
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CHINA WATCHAfD's EU Election Ticket Unchanged Despite China’s Spying Scandal
Maximilian Krah, the candidate of the far-right, populist AfD in June’s European elections, will stay on as candidate even though, on Tuesday, his senior aide was charged with spying for China. As is the case with other European far-right populist parties, the AfD is critical of NATO and the EU, and supports many of the policies of Russia and China.
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IMMIGRATIONMore Than 1.7 Million Illegal Entries in First Six Months of Fiscal 2024
More than 1.7 million foreign nationals have illegally entered the U.S. in the first six months of fiscal 2024, the greatest number for this time period in U.S. history. The 1,733,496 who illegally entered in the first six months of the fiscal year outnumber the 1,547,866 who illegally entered in the first six months of fiscal 2023 by more than 185,000.
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IMMIGRATIONThe Right’s Bogus Claims about Noncitizen Voting Fraud
Bogus claims of widespread voter fraud, even when they do not stoke hatred and fear of the foreign‐born, are grossly irresponsible. They exacerbate polarization and malign honest election administrators. Most of all, they undermine public confidence in our election system. The more people believe elections are rigged, the more they are likely to turn their discontents in a direction other than electoral politics. Some will go the passive route of resignation, withdrawing from civic involvements, making themselves the perfect subjects for strongman rule. Others will turn to militia activity or outright violence. Either way, the consequences for the American experiment in liberal democratic self‐rule will be unfortunate.
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ELECTION SECURITYCash-Strapped Election Offices Have Fewer Resources After Bans on Private Grants
Pushed by conservative activists over the last four years, 28 states have banned outside funding in elections over the past four years. These activists based their campaign on claims, rejected by the courts and federal regulators, that such private grants – for example, by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan — during the 2020 presidential election benefitted democratic voters.
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DATA SECURITYThis Tiny Chip Can Safeguard User Data While Enabling Efficient Computing on a Smartphone
Researchers have developed a security solution for power-hungry AI models that offers protection against two common attacks.
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NUCLEAR WORKFORCEThe U.S. Navy Has a Nuclear Workforce Problem
The U.S. Navy’s nuclear-powered fleet has been central to the country’s ability to project power globally for decades. But this world-class nuclear navy—including all current U.S. aircraft carriers and submarines—is under threat amid a steady exodus of highly trained officers and enlisted personnel.
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OUR PICKSNuclear Friend-Shoring? | ShotSpotter Keeps Listening for Gunfire After Contracts Expire | Cisco Firewalls Hacked to Access Government Networks, and more
· Nuclear Friend-Shoring? Issues With Uranium Enrichment Cooperation
The U.S. could cooperate with foreign partners on uranium enrichment to wean nuclear power plants off Russian fuel. But should it?· How States Are Investigating and Prosecuting the Trump Fake Electors
The current status of nationwide efforts to hold accountable the people behind the 2020 fake electors plot· The Unreality of Columbia’s ‘Liberated Zone’
What happens when genuine sympathy for civilian suffering mixes with a fervor that borders on the oppressive?· Congressional Push for Oil Sanctions Puts Biden in a Bind
New measures to punish Iran, Venezuela, and Russia could raise crude prices and hurt Biden in an election year· ShotSpotter Keeps Listening for Gunfire After Contracts Expire
Internal emails suggest that the company continued to provide gunshot data to police in cities where its contracts had been canceled· ‘ArcaneDoor’ Cyberspies Hacked Cisco Firewalls to Access Government Networks
Sources suspect China is behind the targeted exploitation of two zero-day vulnerabilities in Cisco’s security appliances -
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WORLD ROUNDUPWill Fearless and Tireless Robots Lead to More Terrifying Wars? | Reopening the Pegasus Spying Scandal | India Delivers Supersonic Cruise Missiles to Philippines, and more
· Will Fearless and Tireless Robots Lead to More Terrifying Wars?
The proliferation of autonomous weapons will affect the future conduct of warfare. But we do not know how.· Anti-Piracy Lessons from the Seychelles
The success of the Seychelles Coast Guard shows how regional states, however tiny, can play an outsized role not only in countering piracy but also in maritime security in general· Amid China Tensions, India Delivers Supersonic Cruise Missiles to Philippines
India and Philippines have ramped up defense cooperation as concerns over an increasingly assertive China deepen in both countries· Seven Teenagers Arrested in Australia Anti-Terrorism Probe
The suspects, who are between 15 to 17 years old, were associates of the 16-year-old boy charged in the April 15 attack on Assyrian Bishop· Spain: Court Reopens Investigation in Pegasus Spying Scandal
Spain and France will share information from their separate investigations into the use of Pegasus software to spy on their politicians· Is Iran’s Strategic Patience at an End?
While this round of conflict appears to be over, more escalatory situations are likely to occur, and the likelihood of an extensive war between Iran and Israel has indeed risen -
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MISSILE DEFENSE15 Things You Don’t Know About Israel’s Air Defense Systems
Israel has sustained attacks from enemies throughout its history and has invested heavily in high tech defense technologies that are the envy of the world’s military.
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HAZARDOUS MATERIALSTransporting Hazardous Materials Across the Country Isn’t Easy − That’s Why There’s a Host of Regulations in Place
Transporting hazardous materials such as dangerous gases, poisons, harmful chemicals, corrosives and radioactive material across the country is risky. But because approximately 3 billion pounds of hazardous material needs to go from place to place in the U.S. each year, it’s unavoidable.
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SUPPLY-CHAIN SECURITYBaltimore Bridge Collapse Tests U.S. Supply Chains
The Baltimore bridge accident and the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have raised concern about the security of global supply chains. But supply chains have been resilient thus far, and U.S. efforts to fortify them are accelerating.
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DEEPFAKESDeFake Tool Protects Voice Recordings from Cybercriminals
In what has become a familiar refrain when discussing AI-enabled technologies, voice cloning is enabling increasingly sophisticated scams and deepfakes. The Federal Trade Commission held a Voice Cloning Challenge to encourage the development of technologies to prevent, monitor and evaluate malicious voice cloning.
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EXTREMISMCampus Antisemitism Surges Amid Encampments and Related Protests at Columbia and Other U.S. Colleges
College campuses have been the site of many tense anti-Israel protests and antisemitic incidents since the start of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war that began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 terrorist attack. Anti-Zionist student groups on over a dozen U.S. college and university campuses have established “encampments” in recent days to ostensibly protest Israel’s actions in Gaza and their academic institutions’ alleged “complicity” in those actions.
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IRAN’S NUKESIran's Nuclear Activities 'Raises Eyebrows' at IAEA
Iran’s enrichment of uranium and a lack of access to international monitors is fueling suspicions about its nuclear activities. The International Atomic Energy Agency said its committed to promoting dialogue with Tehran.
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OUR PICKSDoing the Math on the Dangers of AI | The Next US President Will Have Troubling New Surveillance Powers | Zumwalt-Class Stealth Destroyer, and more
· A National Security Insider Does the Math on the Dangers of AI
Jason Matheny, CEO of the influential think tank Rand Corporation, says advances in AI are making it easier to learn how to build biological weapons and other tools of destruction· One Problem for Renewables: Not Enough Rare Earths. One Solution: Recycling. But There’s a Hitch.
New report includes a detailed breakdown of the metals present in our electronic garbage, and how often they are being recycled· Zumwalt-Class Stealth Destroyer: Hypersonic Missile Truck or Giant Failure?
Zumwalt will be pushing ten years old once its hypersonic weapons are installed, assuming its current yard period wraps up on schedule. That’s a sizable share of its service life· Extreme Right-Wing Terrorist Group Terrorgram to Be Banned in UK
The move would mean support for the group would be illegal, with punishments of up to 14 years in prison or an unlimited fine· German Culture Scene Unites Against Far-Right AfD Party
An alliance of some 4,500 theaters, galleries and cultural institutionssays it sees an AfD success in the June European elections as an existential threat to the pluralist democracy· The Next US President Will Have Troubling New Surveillance Powers
Over the weekend, President Joe Biden signed legislation not only reauthorizing a major FISA spy program but expanding it in ways that could have major implications for privacy rights in the US -
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WORLD ROUNDUPJapan’s Remarkable Call for American Leadership | Germany Arrests ‘Chinese Spy’ in Second AfD Scandal | China Weaponizes Disinformation Against Taiwan, and more
· Germany Arrests ‘Chinese Spy’ in Second AfD Scandal
Hard-right opposition party rocked by claims of Beijing infiltration and Russian cash· Israel Offers No Evidence for UN Refugee Agency Terror Claim
International donors suspended $450 million in funding after Israel claimed staff had joined the October 7 Hamas attacks· Pessimistic Young Germans Turning to Far Right, Says Study
German teenagers and young adults find themselves increasingly unsatisfied and likely to vote for the far right, according to a survey. Fears about prosperity are highlighted as a possible cause· Climate Change and Extreme Weather Impacts Hit Asia Hard
Asia is warming faster than the global average· Copernicus Report Shows Year of Weather Extremes in Europe
Drought, wildfires, floods and record heat in Europe: last year was one of extreme climate impacts for humans and nature. But there’s also some positive news· How Would China Weaponize Disinformation Against Taiwan in a Cross-Strait Conflict?
What might China’s future disinformation operations against Taiwan focus on and how can Taipei and its partners combat them?· Japan’s Remarkable Call for American Leadership
Japan clearly takes its role as America’s ally seriously -
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CHINA WATCHChinese Government Poses 'Bold and Unrelenting' Threat to U.S. Critical Infrastructure: FBI
FBI Director Christopher Wray on 18 April warned that risks the government of China poses to U.S. national and economic security are “upon us now”—and that U.S. critical infrastructure is a prime target. He said that partnerships, joint operations, and private sector vigilance can help us fight back.
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The long view
DEMOCRACY WATCHPreventing Another 'Jan. 6' Starts by Changing How Elections Are Certified, Experts Say
By Sara Savat
The 2024 presidential election may be a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, but preventing a repeat of Jan. 6, 2021 — when false claims of a stolen election promoted by Donald Trump and his allies led to an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol —will be top of mind this election year. Research finds broad support among public for nonpartisan certification commissions.
ELECTION SECURITYStates Rush to Combat AI Threat to Elections
By Zachary Roth
This year’s presidential election will be the first since generative AI became widely available. That’s raising fears that millions of voters could be deceived by a barrage of political deepfakes. Congress has done little to address the issue, but states are moving aggressively to respond — though questions remain about how effective any new measures to combat AI-created disinformation will be.
RANSOMWARERansomware Attacks: Death Threats, Endangered Patients and Millions of Dollars in Damages
By Dino Jahic
A ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, a company that processes 15 billion health care transactions annually and deals with 1 in 3 patient records in the United States, is continuing to cause massive disruptions nearly three weeks later. The incident, which started on February 21, has been called the “most significant cyberattack on the U.S. health care system” by the American Hospital Association. It is just the latest example of an increasing trend.
CHINA WATCHChinese Government Hackers Targeted Critics of China, U.S. Businesses and Politicians
An indictment was unsealed Monday charging seven nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their involvement in a PRC-based hacking group that spent approximately 14 years targeting U.S. and foreign critics, businesses, and political officials in furtherance of the PRC’s economic espionage and foreign intelligence objectives.
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLESAutonomous Vehicle Technology Vulnerable to Road Object Spoofing and Vanishing Attacks
Researchers have demonstrated the potentially hazardous vulnerabilities associated with the technology called LiDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, many autonomous vehicles use to navigate streets, roads and highways. The researchers have shown how to use lasers to fool LiDAR into “seeing” objects that are not present and missing those that are – deficiencies that can cause unwarranted and unsafe braking or collisions.
CYBERDETERRENCETantalizing Method to Study Cyberdeterrence
By Trina West
Tantalus is unlike most war games because it is experimental instead of experiential — the immersive game differs by overlapping scientific rigor and quantitative assessment methods with the experimental sciences, and experimental war gaming provides insightful data for real-world cyberattacks.
AIRPORT SECURITYPrototype Self-Service Screening System Unveiled
TSA and DHS S&T unveiled a prototype checkpoint technology, the self-service screening system, at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas, NV. The aim is to provide a near self-sufficient passenger screening process while enabling passengers to directly receive on-person alarm information and allow for the passenger self-resolution of those alarms.
SPACE DEBRISFalling Space Debris: How High Is the Risk I'll Get Hit?
By Zulfikar Abbany, Julia Vergin, and Katja Sterzik
An International Space Station battery fell back to Earth and, luckily, splashed down harmlessly in the Atlantic. Should we have worried? Space debris reenters our atmosphere every week.
WILDFIRESUsing Drone Swarms to Fight Forest Fires
Forest fires are becoming increasingly catastrophic across the world, accelerated by climate change. Researchers are using multiple swarms of drones to tackle natural disasters like forest fires.
DRONESTesting Cutting-Edge Counter-Drone Technology
Drones have many positive applications, bad actors can use them for nefarious purposes. Two recent field demonstrations brought government, academia, and industry together to evaluate innovative counter-unmanned aircraft systems.
IMMIGRATIONSocial Acceptance of Immigrants Working as Politicians or Judges Is Low
Often, the dominant society develops negative attitudes towards immigrants and their descendants because their integration is too successful – and not because they are unwilling to integrate. A possible explanation for negative attitudes towards successful immigrants could be the dominant society’s fear of immigrants occupying influential and value-based occupations. This applies, for example, for immigrants working in local politics or law.
ENERGY SECURITYStrengthening the Grid’s ‘Backbone’ with Hydropower
By Michael Matz
Argonne-led studies investigate how hydropower could help add more clean energy to the grid, how it generates value as grids add more renewable energy, and how liner technology can improve hydropower efficiency.
ARMS TRADEEuropean Arms Imports Nearly Double, U.S. and French Exports Rise, and Russian Exports Fall Sharply
States in Europe almost doubled their imports of major arms (+94 per cent) between 2014–18 and 2019–23. The United States increased its arms exports by 17 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23, while Russia’s arms exports halved. Russia was for the first time the third largest arms exporter, falling just behind France.
ENERGY SECURITYLNG Exports Have Had No Impact on Domestic Energy Costs: Analysis
U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) exports have not had any sustained and significant direct impact on U.S. natural gas prices and have, in fact, spurred production and productivity gains, which contribute to downward pressure on domestic prices.
CLIMATE CHANGE & NATIONAL SECURITYHow Climate Change Will Affect Conflict and U.S. Military Operations
By Doug Irving
“People talk about climate change as a threat multiplier,” said Karen Sudkamp, an associate director of the Infrastructure, Immigration, and Security Operations Program within the RAND Homeland Security Research Division. “But at what point do we need to start talking about the threat multiplier actually becoming a significant threat all its own?”
TECH APOCALYPSEThe Tech Apocalypse Panic is Driven by AI Boosters, Military Tacticians, and Movies
By Matthew Guariglia
From popular films like a War Games or The Terminator to a U.S. State Department-commissioned report on the security risk of weaponized AI, there has been a tremendous amount of hand wringing and nervousness about how so-called artificial intelligence might end up destroying the world. There is one easy way to avoid a lot of this and prevent a self-inflicted doomsday: don’t give computers the capability to launch devastating weapons.