• CHINA WATCHControversial Confucius Institutes, Under New Name, Returning to U.S. Schools

    By Lin Yang

    Confucius Institutes, the controversial Beijing-backed language and cultural learning centers, are rebranding and reopening. Most of the 118 Institutes which operated in the U.S. were closed in June 2021 after being designated as a “foreign mission” by the State Department.

  • BIOWEAPONSWould Russia Use Bioweapons in Ukraine?

    By Jasmine Latimore

    In March, claims from the Kremlin of a U.S.-funded bioweapon program in Ukraine flooded global media. Those reports were amplified by China and picked up by conservative news outlets and conspiracy groups in the U.S. U.S. warned that Russia could be using this thread of disinformation to stage a false-flag incident using bioweapons, or to justify the use of its own bioweapons against Ukraine. It wouldn’t have been the first time Russia used false-flag tactics, and the threat of Russia using bioweapons in either scenario isn’t an outlandish prospect.

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  • ARGUMENT: DIGITAL WORKFORCEThe Strategic Relevance of Cybersecurity Skills

    Evidence suggests there is a global cybersecurity skills shortage affecting businesses and governments alike, which means that organizations are struggling to fill their cybersecurity vacancies. Tommaso De Zan writes that “the absence of cybersecurity experts protecting national critical infrastructures constitutes a national security threat, a loophole that may be exploited by malicious actors.”

  • CYBERCRIMEFighting Global Cybercrime

    Cyber threats from across the world⁠—from Russian attempts to influence the war in Ukraine by threatening cyberattacks against the West, to China stealing defense and industrial secrets, to Iran’s 2021 targeting of Children’s Hospital in Boston⁠, thwarted by the FBI — were the focus of recent remarks by FBI Director Christopher Wray.

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  • EXTREMISMU.K. Extremists Sentenced to More Than 30 Years Imprisonment

    A Sheffield, U.K., court sentenced four extremists who advocated racist violence and the manufacture and possession of weapons to more than 30 years imprisonment.

  • AIRPORT SECURITYRemote Screening Demonstration at Cape Cod Gateway Airport

    DHS S&T successfully conducted a demonstration of remote screening infrastructure for airport security checkpoints. The Integrated Defense & Security Solutions (IDSS) can send computed tomography (CT) X-ray images of carry-on baggage flagged for threats to remote locations for near real-time analysis.

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  • ENERGY SECURITYAnnouncing the Electric Resilience Toolkit

    By Romany Webb, Noha Haggag, and Michael Panfil

    A new Electric Resilience Toolkit aims to support policymakers and stakeholders working on issues around electric sector regulation and climate resilience planning. Such planning is essential to ensure electricity infrastructure is designed and operated in a way that accounts for the impacts of climate change—impacts that are already being felt and which will only intensify in coming years.

  • OUR PICKSOath Keepers Wanted a Coup | U.S. Army Lessons from Ukraine | Mars Samples Endanger Earth, and more

    ·  The Oath Keepers Wanted a Coup

    ·  ‘Bring Rifles’: Extremist Groups Call for Violence over Abortion Ruling

    ·  US Proposes Flexible Hiring Rules, Faster Permanent Residency Application Process in H-1B Rejig

    ·  Suspected Iranian Cyberattack on Israel Triggers Sirens

    ·  Federal Judge Orders Biden Administration to Continue Title 42

    ·  The Other Big Lesson That the U.S. Army Should Learn from Ukraine 

    ·  Quantum Sensors—Unlike Quantum Computers—Are Already Here

    ·  The Future is Now: The Use of 3D-Printed Guns by Extremists and Terrorists

    ·  DHS and Treasury to Assess Need for a Federal Response to Cyber Attack Insurance

    ·  Controversy Grows Over whether Mars Samples Endanger Earth

  • GUN SAFETYWill Closing the “Boyfriend Loophole” in Gun Legislation Save lives? Here’s What the Research Says

    By April M. Zeoli

    If you have two domestic abusers who have both committed the same severe physical violence against their partners, but one of them is married to their intimate partner while the other isn’t, then only the domestic abuser who is married could be prohibited from having a gun. Among the provisions of the bipartisan gun safety bill passed by Congress, is one which closes the so-called “boyfriend loophole” which allows some people with a record of domestic violence to still buy firearms.

  • CRIME FIGHTINGPublic Safety Experts Warn: NYC’s Crime-Fighting Strategy Could Backfire

    By Chip Brownlee

    As city leaders double down on policing amid a spike in shootings, a new idea is gaining hold among experts: could less policing actually reduce gun violence?

  • EXTREMISMFirearms: Weapons of Choice for Domestic Extremists

    Every year, extremists overwhelmingly use guns to carry out their deadly attacks. In any given year, more people are killed by extremists who use firearms than those who choose any other weapon. Over the past decade, shootings accounted for 75 percent of the deaths at the hands of extremists.

  • CYBERSECURITYInsights into Blockchain Vulnerabilities

    Distributed ledger technology, such as blockchains, has become more prevalent across a variety of contexts over the past decade. The premise is that blockchains operate securely without any centralized control and that they are immutable or unsusceptible to change. New report details how centralization can be introduced, affecting security.

  • BUILDING COLLAPSENIST Champlain Towers South Investigation

    The NIST investigation into the June 2021 collapse of Surfside, Florida, condo building , is preparing to begin invasive testing and preparation of physical evidence collected from the collapse site.

  • FLOOD INSURANCEThe Administration’s New Vision for the National Flood Insurance Program

    By Zoya Teirstein

    The Biden administration is proposing a major overhaul to the National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP — the main source of insurance for homeowners who are required to or choose to obtain coverage for flooding. The administration’s flood insurance reforms could improve transparency — and make some Americans more vulnerable.

  • EXPLOSIVES DETECTION3D X-Ray Makes it Easier to Detect Hidden Explosive Weapons

    As travelers pass through border crossings, ports of call, airport checkpoints, and various precautionary measures in both federal and private venues, their safety and wellbeing are constantly ensured through various forms of screening technologies that have one critical goal: to identify and alert the proper authorities to potential threats. These technologies do their jobs very effectively, but it is important to ask the question: Can they be improved?

  • OUR PICKSCompensation for Havana Syndrome Victims | Deadly Heat Wave’s Lesson | Telephone Pole Camera Surveillance, and more

    ·  Deadly Heat Wave’s Lesson: ‘This Is the Future We All Face’

    ·  Biden Administration Plans Six-Figure Compensation for Havana Syndrome Victims

    ·  US Senate Approves Bipartisan Gun Violence Bill

    ·  Hurricanes May Pose a Threat to People Along the Coasts and Far Inland

    ·  America Is Growing Apart, Possibly for Good

    ·  Putin’s Decade-Long Secret Sabotage Scheme Revealed

    ·  ‘Increased Threat’ of Foreign Terrorists, Election Influence Operations in 2022: DHS

    ·  DHS Warned Abraham Accords Could Destabilize Region in 2020

    ·  A First Circuit Decision and the Future of Telephone Pole Camera Surveillance

  • GUNSSupreme Court Sweeps Aside New York’s Limits on Carrying a Gun, Raising Second Amendment Rights to New Heights

    By Morgan Marietta

    The core argument of the 23 June Supreme Court decision in a case involving New York State law is that gun rights are to be treated the same as other hallowed rights like the freedom of speech or freedom of religion recognized in the First Amendment. For most of the history of the court, Second Amendment rights have been seen as distinct, more dangerous, and thus more open to regulation. The majority of justices have now changed that approach to the Second Amendment.

  • EXTREMISMObsessive Passion and Social Alienation Linked to Support for Political Violence

    What underlies violent extremism – that is, support for violence to achieve political, ideological or social objectives — and what drives an individual to exhibit these behaviors in which political violence is a desirable option?

  • CYBERSECURITYA Simple Tool Curbs Hacking, Makes Websites More Secure

    Researchers have developed a scanning tool to make websites less vulnerable to hacking and cyberattacks. The black box security assessment prototype is more effective than existing web scanners which collectively fail to detect the top 10 weaknesses in web applications.

  • BIOMETRICSBreath Biometrics: Sniffing Out Your Identity

    Biometric authentication like fingerprint and iris scans are a staple of any spy movie, and trying to circumvent those security measures is often a core plot point. Now, researchers have developed a new potential odorous option for the biometric security toolkit: your breath.

  • NUCLEAR POWERAssessing the Environmental Impact of Nuclear Power Generation

    Nuclear power is considered a panacea for the environmental degradation caused by fossil fuels. However, its environmental impact and natural resource use need to be assessed. Researchers make a life cycle assessment of resource use in nuclear power generation from uranium.

  • NUCLEAR POWERWill Germany Return to Nuclear Power?

    By Elizabeth Schumacher

    As Germany moves to wean itself off Russian energy, politicians are debating a pause to the country’s planned nuclear phaseout. Experts warn, however, that it may not be so easy.