• Identifying Types of Cyberattacks That Manipulate Behavior of AI Systems

    AI systems can malfunction when exposed to untrustworthy data – what is called “adversarial machine learning” — and attackers are exploiting this issue. New guidance documents the types of these attacks, along with mitigation approaches. No foolproof method exists as yet for protecting AI from misdirection, and AI developers and users should be wary of any who claim otherwise.

  • The True Dangers of Long Trains

    Trains are getting longer. Rail companies had recently adopted a moneymaking strategy to move cargo faster than ever, with fewer workers, on trains that are consistently longer than at any time in history. Railroads are getting richer, but these “monster trains” are jumping off of tracks across America and regulators are doing little to curb the risk.

  • Australia Should Learn from Canada and Take a Truly Global Approach to Critical Minerals

    Canada and Australia are key players in the global supply chain for critical minerals. Simultaneously the top two nations for receiving minerals investment and for providing minerals investment, they are perfectly placed to use critical minerals to facilitate the global energy transition, foster innovation and build their security capabilities.

  • Vietnam Isn’t North Korea—and 50 Years of Australian Aid Has Helped

    How have Australia and Vietnam, two countries with extremely different political systems, built such a successful partnership? It was done through long-term investment across all the tools of statecraft—including diplomacy, trade and defense—with development cooperation as a key element. This enabled a progression from battlefield enemy to major economic and development partner in a surprisingly short period.

  • Congress Bans Pentagon from Using Chinese Port Logistics Platform

    The U.S. Congress has passed legislation that would ban the Pentagon from using any seaport in the world that relies on a Chinese logistics platform known as LOGINK. LOGINK, by tracking cargo and ship movements, lets Beijing monitor America’s military supply chain, which relies on commercial ports.

  • How Verified Accounts on X Thrive While Spreading Misinformation About the Israel-Hamas Conflict

    With the gutting of content moderation initiatives at X, accounts with blue checks, once a sign of authenticity, are disseminating debunked claims and gaining more followers. Community Notes, X’s fact-checking system, hasn’t scaled sufficiently. “The blue check is flipped now. Instead of a sign of authenticity, it’s a sign of suspicion, at least for those of us who study this enough,” said one expert.

  • Tainted Applesauce Pouches May Have Been Intentionally Contaminated: FDA

    Cinnamon applesauce pouches available at Weis, WanaBanana, and Schnucks have been pulled from shelves after they were found to be contaminated with lead. The FDA says it currently believes the adulteration is “economically motivated.”

  • Red Sea Attacks: Why Arab Nations Won't Join Naval Coalition

    The U.S. has announced a naval coalition to protect shipping from Houthi attacks, but only one Middle Eastern country has joined. Why have others — like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt — not done so? Each of these states has its own reasons, but analysts say that the one thing the three powers have in common is the fact that they don’t want to be seen as working in defense of Israel.

  • Red Sea Houthi Attacks: Implications for Global Trade

    After a rise in attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis, the world’s largest shipping firms are staying away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Will we see another supply chain crisis?

  • U.S.-Led Taskforce Deploys in Red Sea as Middle East Crisis Threatens to Escalate Beyond Gaza

    The world economy is strongly dependent on the global maritime supply chain. About 80% of international trade by volume is transported by sea. It does not take much to disrupt the global maritime supply chain. Intentional disruptions of the maritime supply chain by pirates or terrorists pose a challenge that goes beyond simple logistics. Attacks on civilian shipping directly affect insurance premiums and deter operators from transiting through certain areas for financial and security reasons.

  • Hidden Fortunes and Surprising Overestimations in Cybercrime Revenue

    To what extent methodological limitations and incomplete data impact the revenue estimations of cybercriminal groups using the Bitcoin blockchain was largely unknown. A new study challenges existing figures regarding cybercriminals’ Bitcoin earnings to date, revealing the full scale of the financial impact of cybercriminal activity.

  • Taking Illinois’ Center for Digital Agriculture into the Future

    The Center for Digital Agriculture (CDA) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has a new executive director, John Reid, who plans to support CDA’s growth across all dimensions of use-inspired research, translation of research into practice, and education and workforce development.

  • Biden’s Trade Policy U-Turn Bodes Ill for Indo-Pacific Security

    America’s economic isolationism is increasingly entrenched, with President Joe Biden’s administration no longer supporting the trade policies advocated by US multinational corporations, retreating instead to a nativist protectionism. The Biden administration’s U-turn last month on digital trade policy was a shock both to the US business community and to the nations that had been negotiating digital trade agreements with the US on the basis of its long-established position of lowering the barriers to digital commerce.

  • Cryptocurrency Tech Firm Blocks Terrorists’ Access to Cash

    Could Israel eradicate Hamas and other terrorist networks without a single person killed and without any boots on the ground or planes in the sky? For one technology firm, fighting terror doesn’t involve killing people, only killing the transfer of funds.

  • Costs of the Climate Crisis: An Insurance Umbrella for Nations at Risk

    International study in the run-up to COP28: Public-private partnerships may help protect developing countries from the financial consequences of climate change.