Unprepared to Combat Cyber Threats | Blindsided FBI | 100 Million Malware Infections, and more

Separation of Power and Expertise: Evidence of the Tyranny of Experts in Sweden’s COVID‐19 Responses  (Per Bylund and Mark Packard, Southern Economic Journal)
Whereas most countries in the COVID‐19 pandemic imposed shutdowns and curfews to mitigate the contagion, Sweden uniquely pursued a more voluntarist approach. In this article, the author’s interest is primarily on how and why Sweden’s approach to the pandemic was so unique. There are two parts to this research question: (1) why did virtually all other nations follow a radical lockdown protocol despite limited evidence to its effectiveness, and (2) why did Sweden not follow this same protocol despite strong political pressures? The answers to these questions lie within typical government technocracy versus Sweden’s constitutional separation of government and technocracy. The authors review the history of the responses to the pandemic and show how the “tyranny of experts” was severe within the typical technocratic policy response, and attenuated in Sweden’s. Thus, the recent pandemic offers empirical evidence and insights regarding the role of Hayekian [after Friedrich Hayek] knowledge problems in engendering a technocratic “tyranny of experts” and how such effects can be structurally mitigated.

Self-Declared Hunter Trades Big Game for Jihadists in Burkina Faso  (Amanda Coakley, Irish Times)
Outside his temporary lodgings in the city of Fada N’Gourma in eastern Burkina Faso, Timothé Mano proudly waves the blade that he alleges has ended the lives of dozens of militants. The 46-year-old is a commander in the VDP, a civilian volunteer force legalised in early 2020 to help Burkina Faso’s beleaguered army combat the growing threat posed by armed Islamists. He is a self-declared hunter and is delighted to have traded hunting big game in the nearby Arli National Park for stalking jihadists on the outskirts of the city. “When I heard the government was asking for people to volunteer themselves and fight against those who are coming to attack us, I knew I had to join,” he says. During the week Timothé shuttles back to his village, Tanwalbougou, about 45km east of Fada, where he, along with another, commands more than 100 boys and men. Over the past year they have fought the jihadists about 23 times. They have received no equipment from the government, despite promises, so have resorted to taking weapons from the battlefield. They claim none of their own has been killed. Burkina Faso, once one of the most stable countries in west Africa, has fallen prey to the militant violence sweeping across the Sahel, a semi-arid region that stretches across north Africa.

Why Did the FBI Miss the Threats about Jan. 6 on Social Media?  (Ken Dilanian, NBC News)
A senator had a simple question for the FBI’s counterterrorism chief at a hearing last week about the Capitol riot. Didn’t the FBI see all those postings by extremists on social media before the event, she asked Wednesday, including promises to “occupy the Capitol” and bring “revolution” to Washington? “To my knowledge, no, ma’am,” the counterterrorism chief, Jill Sanborn, responded, going on to explain that the FBI can’t monitor “First Amendment-protected activities” without a tip or an open investigation that directs agents to a specific post. The senator, Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., kept pressing. “So the FBI does not monitor publicly available social media conversations?” “Correct, ma’am,” Sanborn replied. “It’s not within our authorities.” Fact check: false. FBI agents have said in court records that they monitor public social media, and the bureau recently signed a $14 million contract with a “threat intelligence” company called ZeroFox “to proactively identify threats to the United States and its interests” on the internet. For years, the FBI has had a similar arrangement with DataMinr, which can flag social media postings of interest to its clients.

We Cannot Let Fear Create a New PATRIOT Act for Americans  (David Ibsen and Lara Pham, The Hill)
The Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol has renewed calls for federal domestic terrorism statutes akin to existing laws targeting foreign terrorist groups such as ISIS and al Qaeda. Similar demands were made in the aftermath of Robert Bowers’s anti-Semitic attack at the Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018. At the time, some legal experts argued that it was a moral imperative to label domestic violent extremists as terrorists equal to Islamist extremists. Following the 2019 mass shooting perpetrated by Patrick Crusius at an El Paso Walmart, several law enforcement officers also sought a federal domestic terrorism rule. Such calls for enhanced legal authority may seem understandable when viewed in the context of the aftermath of senseless, tragic attacks. However, U.S. laws treat foreign perpetrators of violent extremism and domestic perpetrators differently for good reason — namely, protections granted to U.S. citizens under the Constitution make aspects of foreign terrorism laws unworkable for activities conducted solely within the United States. And the growing impassioned push for new sweeping domestic terrorism statutes should give U.S. citizens pause.

F.B.I. Finds Contact between Proud Boys Member and Trump Associate Before Riot  (Katie Benner, Alan Feuer and Adam Goldman, New York Times)
A leader of the far-right group separately said he had been in touch with Roger Stone, but an official said it was not the same contact investigators found through electronic communications records.

The U.S. Government Can Do More to Fight Domestic Terror without Any New Laws  (Seamus Hughes and Bennett Clifford)
How the Biden administration could act now to prevent the next Jan. 6.

Royal Navy Eyes “Catapult System” to Launch Drones and Jets from Aircraft Carriers  (Dominic Nicholls, The Telegraph)
Experts warn ‘Plan B’ launch and recovery systems needed for F-35.

Over 100 Million Malware Infections Detected on Windows in 2020  (AtlasVPN)
Malware, a malicious software designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to a computer system, is one of the most common cyber threats computer users face today. While malware can affect any operating system, Windows users are among the most vulnerable.
According to the data analyzed by the Atlas VPN team and based on the State of Malware report by Malwarebytes, in 2020 alone, devices with Windows operating systems were affected by over 111 million malware infections.
Out of all of the Windows malware threats detected last year, 83% or nearly 92.3 million were found on consumer devices, while 15% or 16.7 million were discovered on business devices. The remaining 2% of the malware cases were unspecified.