Our picksCyber-Attack Insurance | Islamist Extremists in France | Spotting Misinformation, and more

Published 20 October 2020

·  FBI: Suspect in Alleged Extremist Plot Deleted Video Made Near Mich. Governor’s Home

·  A Trial in Europe Examines Iran’s Terror Ties

·  ISIS Attacks Surge in Africa Even as Trump Boasts of a ‘100-Percent’ Defeated Caliphate

·  Review of Security around Terrorist Prisoners after First Isis-inspired attack in UK jail

·  Root Out Islamist Extremism After Beheading of Teacher Samuel Paty

·  COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Is Associated with Beliefs on the Origin of the Novel Coronavirus in the U.K. and Turkey

· Home Working to Boost Cyber-Attack Insurance: Munich Re

·  College Students Struggle to Spot Misinformation Online as 2020 Election Approaches

· Tracking the Shifting Shape of Far-Right Political Violence

FBI: Suspect in Alleged Extremist Plot Deleted Video Made Near Mich. Governor’s Home (Kayla Ruble and

Devlin Barrett, Washington Post)
A Wisconsin man charged in connection with an investigation of alleged extremists plotting to kidnap Michigan’s governor told the FBI after his arrest that he destroyed video taken of some of the men conducting surveillance for their scheme, an FBI agent testified Friday.
Special Agent Richard Trask testified in federal court here about the arrest of Brian Higgins, who was charged a day earlier by state officials with providing material support for an act of terrorism. Higgins is accused of loaning night-vision goggles to the alleged conspirators and took dash-cam video of a “reconnaissance” mission to the vacation home of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

A Trial in Europe Examines Iran’s Terror Ties (Tom Ridge, U.S. News)
The trial of an Iranian diplomat may expose Tehran’s diplomatic networks as agents of terror.

ISIS Attacks Surge in Africa Even as Trump Boasts of a ‘100-Percent’ Defeated Caliphate (Danielle Paquette,

Souad Mekhennet and Joby Warrick, Washington Post)
On Aug. 5, militants carrying the black flag of the Islamic State launched a daring land-and-sea assault on the strategic port city of Mocimboa da Praia in northern Mozambique. In less than a week, they routed government forces and captured the entire town, declaring it the capital of a new Islamic province.
Days later, a different band of Islamist gunmen rampaged through a famous wildlife park for giraffes in Koure, Niger, just 35 miles from the country’s capital. Firing from motorbikes, they killed eight people, including six French humanitarian workers.
The two attacks on opposite sides of Africa are among the scores of violent episodes to shake the continent in what experts are calling a breakout year for extremist groups affiliated with al-Qaeda or the Islamic State. Less than two years after the fall of the Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq, the terrorist group is attempting a comeback in Africa, with far-reaching implications for a region already beset by poverty, corruption and the novel coronavirus.

Review of Security around Terrorist Prisoners after First Isis-inspired attack in UK jail (Lizzie Dearden, Independent)
Experts call for public scrutiny amid concerns a prison officer could be killed France Vows to Root Out Islamist Extremism After Beheading of Teacher Samuel Paty (Matthew Dalton, Wall Street Journal)

French Interior minister says 51 associations, including religious schools and mosques, will be visited by security services.

COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Is Associated with Beliefs on the Origin of the Novel Coronavirus in the U.K. and Turkey (Gul Deniz Salali and Mete Sefa Uysal, Cambridge University)
Much research effort is focused on developing an effective vaccine for combatting COVID-19. Vaccine development itself, however, will not be enough given that a sufficient amount of people will need to be vaccinated for widespread immunity. Vaccine hesitancy is on the rise, varies across countries, and is associated with conspiratorial worldview. 

Home Working to Boost Cyber-Attack Insurance: Munich Re (TechExplore)
German reinsurance giant Munich Re said Monday that it anticipates a boom in cyber-risk insurance in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Lockdowns and restrictions on movements to combat the spread of the virus meant that office workers have had to work more from home, with companies migrating business online.
That has resulted in a “sharp rise in cyber attacks”, according to Doris Hoepke, a member of Munich Re’s board.

College Students Struggle to Spot Misinformation Online as 2020 Election Approaches (Nathan Bomey, USA Today)
Don’t fall for the premise that young people, otherwise known as “digital natives,” are immune to misinformation. That’s the message from Stanford University researchers who say their new research provides further evidence that college students are prone to being deceived online.

Tracking the Shifting Shape of Far-Right Political Violence (Laura Bliss and Marie Patino, Bloomberg CityLab)
A Portland geographer who has monitored threats and vigilantism from right-wing groups says that incidents are growing less frequent, but more violent.