OUR PICKSHow U.S. Aviation Infrastructure Works | Navy Gets New Cyber Categories | Reigning in ICE HIS, and more

What the U.S. Intelligence Report on COVID-19’s Origins Says  (Matt Field, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)
The report reiterated the US spy scorecard of where the various intelligence agencies fall on whether the pandemic has its roots in laboratory research or natural spillover of a virus from animals to people. Five intelligence agencies, including the National Intelligence Council, believe the virus was a spillover; two, the FBI and the Energy Department, think the pandemic has lab origins. The CIA and another agency are unable to come to a conclusion, the report, said, “as both hypotheses rely on significant assumptions or face challenges with conflicting reporting.”

How U.S. Aviation Infrastructure Works (Noah Berman, CFR)
Civil aviation plays a crucial role in the U.S. transportation network and economy. Ongoing turbulence from the COVID-19 pandemic, underinvestment in infrastructure, and climate change are clouding its future.

Using Decision Intelligence to Combat Smuggling Networks https://www.hstoday.us/featured/perspective-using-decision-intelligence-to-combat-smuggling-networks/(Tom Saltsberg And Noam Zitzman, HSToday)
Smuggling – the illicit movement of goods into or out of a country – is a major challenge for customs administrations and tax authorities alike. Smuggling plays a key role in the cross-border flow of drugs, fake medicine, weapons, and more, and it’s an insidious threat to fair trade, with both immediate and long-lasting implications for local economies and residents.

Navy Gets New Cyber Categories  (Lauren C. Williams, Defense One)
The Navy has created new cyber job classifications for sailors in hopes of honing training and expertise within the cyber operations forces. 
The maritime service has been using other information warfare officers, such as cryptologists and IT professionals that handle network and cybersecurity, for cyberspace operations. Now, maritime cyber warfare officers will fill out the cyber operations forces, with about 300 officers focusing on offensive and defensive cyberspace operations. 

Why Congress and Biden Must Rein in ICE’s ‘Homeland Security Investigations’ Division  (Mary Pat Dwyer and Rachel Levinson-Waldman, Brennan Center)
A new, multi-year Brennan Center study shows an urgent need for the Biden administration and Congress to rein in a powerful but rarely questioned law enforcement agency: Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI. 
It’s a branch of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that often flies under the radar. While ICE’s deportation arm, Enforcement and Removal Operations, has made headlines time and again across presidential administrations, little is known about how HSI operates and what guardrails (if any) cabin its broad discretion. We set out to determine whether HSI, which has claimed the expansive power to investigate any federal crime, operates under clear guidelines, respects civil rights and civil liberties, or has independent oversight of its activities. Based on the evidence we found of agency overreach and weak safeguards, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Congress must take immediate steps to make sure HSI is operating with integrity and subject to meaningful and substantive oversight.