• Smuggled cigarettes used to finance terrorism

    It costs $100,000 to produce 10 million cigarettes in China, which can reap revenues as high as $2 million in the United States; 9/11 cost al Qaeda only about $500,000 to pull off; other terrorists have noticed

  • U.K. government: Best cyber defense is cyber offense

    New National Security Strategy document includes, for the first time, a public cyber security strategy; unnamed high government source: “We don’t want to engage in cyber war but we can’t remain a target for criminals to take a pop at”

  • Simpler, cheaper planes steal the show in Paris

    Simpler, slower, and cheaper planes, loaded with weapons, attract attention at the Paris Air Show; these planes are more suitable for the budget-conscious Pentagon — and for fighting insurgents; Stephen Biddle: “Somebody roaring by at 500 miles per hour has a harder time of distinguishing between civilians and insurgents”

  • Hamas, Hezbollah employ Russian hackers for cyber attacks on Israel

    During Israel’s January campaign in the Gaza Strip, Israeli government’s Web site were attacked, and some were paralyzed for hours; Israeli intelligence suspects the attacks were carried out by a criminal organization from the former Soviet Union and paid for by Hamas or Hezbollah

  • U.K. to centralize cybersecurity functions

    Following President Obama’s cybersecurty initiative, the U.K. government will move to centralize cyber security functions in Whitehall as part of an on-going major review of U.K. cybersecurity

  • Palestinians in Gaza try to build new foundations from the ruins of old ones

    Tight Israeli and Egyptian economic blockade of the Gaza Strip prevents building materials from entering the Hamas-controlled area; Gazans have come up with ingenious ways of rebuilding their city

  • U.K. security services acted properly with the information they had

    Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee: “we cannot criticize the judgments made by MI5 and the police based on the information that they had and their priorities at the time”

  • GPO reveals confidential U.S. nuclear information by mistake

    A 2004 agreement between the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requires the United States to submit to the agency a detailed list of the addresses and specifications of hundreds of U.S. nuclear-weapons-related facilities, laboratories, reactors, and research activities, including the location of fuel for bombs; the Department of Energy (DOE) prepared the report, and Government Printing Office (GPO) printed it so it could be submitted to the IAEA — but the GPO went ahead and, mistakenly, posted 268-page dossier on its Web site

  • Pakistan's security gadgets market booming

    Dealers say people more interested in installing CCTVs, night-vision cameras at houses, filling stations, jewelry shops, hotels, restaurants

  • 9/11 attacks cloud Americans' view of terrorism

    There were 80,000 terrorist attacks around the world from 1970 to 2007; of those attacks, only 1,350 attacks, or 1.6 percent, hit American targets — mostly overseas; this percentage plummets to 0.08 percent when attacks on domestic targets are calculated

  • Tensions arise over White House reorganization plan

    President Obama plans to merge the staffs of the White House National Security Council and Homeland Security Council — while stipulating that John Brennan, his homeland security adviser, will still be reporting directly to the president; tensions rise

  • Hardin, Montana, wants to take in Guantanamo prisoners

    Hardin, Montana (pop. 4,300) had a problem: it invested $27 million in a 464-bed modern prison facility which is standing empty; the city council offered to use it to house Guantanamo prisoners; Montana’s congressional delegation objects

  • Staffs of White House's national security, homeland security merge

    President Obama has announced the merging of the White House’s Homeland Security and National Security Council staffs; John Brennan, the president’s homeland security adviser, will still report directly to the president — but the staff merger effectively takes away Brennan’s own staff

  • Opposition growing to LNG project near Baltimore

    Virginia-based gas company AES wants to build a liquefied natural gas terminal in eastern Baltimore County; the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission placed 169 conditions, mostly related to safety and environment, on its approval of the project; residents in the neighboring communities say the company is far from meeting these conditions

  • France opens naval base in the Gulf

    President Nicolas Sarkozy today opens the first French military base in the Gulf; France is eying multi-billion dollar deals for nuclear reactors and sophisticated weapons for countries in the region