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Malmo, Sweden, installs new public toilet payment system
If you want to use public toilets in Malmo, Sweden, you must now call or text-message the city’s park service, receive a one-time numerical code, enter that code on the stall door’s touch pad, and have your credit card charged — or you cannot go in
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Businesses seek to delay implementation of E-Verify
A business coalition files suit to prevent DHS from implementing E-verify as of next Tuesday; E-Verify would require federal contractors to verify the legal status of their workers
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Purdue University, 21CSI to pursue homeland security opportunities
The two organizations will collaborate in implementing new decision support tools and processes at the federal, state, and local levels
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Immigration reform without Kennedy
Kennedy dramatically changed the U.S. immigration system with the Immigration Act of 1965, which eliminated the quota system and allowed immigration from Latin America and Asia to increase substantially
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Mexico's Ciudad Juarez is the world's most violent city
With 130 murders for every 100,000 residents per year on average last year, Ciudad Juarez, a manufacturing city of 1.6 million people across from El Paso, Texas, is more violent than any other city in the world
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How effective is CBP in keeping U.S. borders safe?
According to DHS, the vast majority — more than 70 percent — of illegal aliens and contraband attempting to move across our border through official ports of entry will succeed
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Pakistan to build own UAV
Under a program launched this month, Pakistan’s domestic version of the drone or unmanned aerial vehicle to be called Falco will be made in collaboration with Selex Galileo of Italy at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra in Punjab province
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U.S. has a flawed approach to cyber security
Critics call on courts to recognize that obsolete computer systems are a major cause of security breaches; “As the courts probe (the) causative issues, it will become increasingly clear that computer systems’ failure to embed automated alerts is the root problem”
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Protecting DNA privacy
New mathematical tool protects genetic privacy while giving genomic data to researchers
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Understanding nuclear ignition better
The U.S. nuclear warheads are aging; researchers looking for new ways to figure out safe and reliable ways to estimate their longevity and to understand the physics of thermonuclear reactions in the absence of underground testing currently prohibited under law
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Ridge worries about complacency
Former DHS secretary Tom Ridges says he is worries about a certain “complacency” about preparing the nation and preventing another attack that has set in on Capitol Hill, and among the wider American public
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Pilot argues TSA is needlessly obsessive with airline security
A pilot argues that TSA’s obsession with the improbable repetition of a 9/11-like attack has left the U.S. commercial aviation more vulnerable to terrorism; rather than worry about box cutters, he says, TSA should scan more baggage for explosives
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President to be able to seize private-sector networks in an emergency
A bill being drafted in Congress (the is a revised bill — the original went further) permits the president to seize temporary control of private-sector networks during a cybersecurity emergency
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Handwriting analysis offers alternate lie detection method
Israeli researchers discover that with the aid of a computerized tool, handwriting characteristics can be measured more effectively; they have found that these handwriting characteristics differ when an individual is in the process of writing deceptive sentences as opposed to truthful sentences
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New disappearing ink developed
Nanoparticle inks that fade away in hours could be ideal for secure communications, top-secret maps, and other sensitive documents
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The long view
Understudied terrorists put under a microscope
Bombs exploding, hostages taken and masked gunmen firing machine guns are all types of terrorist attacks we’ve seen. According to a new study, it’s the attacks we don’t see – cyberattacks – that happen more often and can cause greater destruction. “Little work has been done around the use of the internet as an attack space,” said Thomas Holt, Michigan State University professor of criminal justice and lead author. “The bottom line is that these attacks are happening and they’re overlooked. If we don’t get a handle understanding them now, we won’t fully understand the scope of the threats today and how to prevent larger mobilization efforts in the future.”
Modeling terrorist behavior with Sandia social-cultural assessments
Part of what makes terrorists so frightening is their penchant for unpredictable, indiscriminate violence. One day they could attack a global financial center. And the next they could hit a neighborhood bike path. A team of social-behavioral scientists and computational modelers at Sandia National Lab recently completed a two-year effort, dubbed “Mustang,” to assess interactions and behaviors of two extremist groups. The purpose was to inform U.S. and U.K. decision-makers about the groups’ possible reactions to specific communications. The model suggested several communication options that are most likely to reduce the recruitment and violence of the extremist groups over time.
Russia’s hostile measures threaten Europe: Report
A new RAND report examines current Russian hostile measures in Europe and forecasts how Russia might threaten Europe using these measures over the next few years. “Whatever the U.S. response, preparation for involvement in a wide range of conflicts can help reduce the risk of mismanagement, miscalculation, and escalation,” the report’s authos say.
Antimicrobial resistance: A neglected biodefense vulnerability
We typically think that biodefense is about defending against bioterrorism or the next pandemic – or, in extreme cases, about some laboratory accident. Biodefense is mostly about all these things, but also about much more. Antimicrobial resistance is not a headline-grabbing topic and it certainly is not getting its own apocalyptic outbreak movie anytime soon, but the microbial threat has been growing since antibiotics were first discovered.
Using social science to combat human trafficking
Worldwide, an estimated 20.9 million people are victims of sex trafficking, forced labor, and domestic servitude, collectively known as human trafficking. It is estimated that human trafficking generates billions of dollars in illegal profits annually, making it second only to drug trafficking as the most profitable form of transnational crime. Human trafficking doesn’t only happen abroad; it occurs throughout the U.S., including in urban, suburban, and rural areas. DHS launches a campaign to combat human trafficking.
How French strategies prevented Al Qaeda's expansion in Mali
There have been many books on the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but there are few about the recent military interventions of America’s allies in countries such as Mali and others on the African continent. Because the January 2013 French intervention in Mali against the local Al Qaeda affiliate was quick, effective, and relatively low cost, the story contains valuable lessons for future strategy.