OUR PICKSFBI’s Controversial Spy Tool | CISA’s Grim Future Under Second Trump Term | ‘Societal Misalignments’ Could Make Artificial Intelligence Dangerous, and more
· FBI Reveals Controversial Spy Tool Foiled Terror Plot as Congress Debates Overhaul
The bureau says it thwarted an imminent terrorist attack against the U.S. using a controversial surveillance authority that the House could vote to revamp as soon as this week
· Congressional Dems Warn of Grim Future for U.S. Cyber Agency under Trump
Trump would likely weaken CISA and shutter its efforts to combat foreign disinformation, but there is little Congress can do to protect the agency
· Texas A&M Potentially Compromised US Nuclear Security, Pulls Plug on Doha Campus
The university claims its decision is driven by “growing volatility’ in the Middle East
· OpenAI CEO Warns That ‘Societal Misalignments’ Could Make Artificial Intelligence Dangerous
“Very subtle societal misalignments” that could make the systems wreak havoc
· U.S. Alarm at Russian Plans to Put Nuclear Missile in Space
Sources are concerned that Moscow will target satellites
· Migrant Crossings at US-Mexico Border Fall by Half in January; What’s Next?
January’s decline in arrests for illegal crossings on the U.S. border with Mexico reflects how the numbers ebb and flow, and the reason usually goes beyond any single factor
FBI Reveals Controversial Spy Tool Foiled Terror Plot as Congress Debates Overhaul (John Sakellariadis, Politico)
The FBI revealed it used a controversial foreign surveillance tool to foil a terrorist plot on U.S. soil last year, part of a series of last-minute disclosures it hopes will sway Congress as lawmakers debate overhauling the measure later this week. The bureau shared three newly declassified instances with POLITICO in which its access to data collected under the digital spying authority — codified in Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — allowed it to protect national security, including one in which it thwarted a “potentially imminent terrorist attack” against U.S. critical infrastructure last year. The spying tool is set to expire in April if Congress does not renew it. The House is expected to vote as early as Thursday on whether to approve a major change to the foreign surveillance authority, which has faced backlash because it also sweeps in data from Americans. That change would require bureau analysts to acquire a warrant or court order before searching a database of emails, texts and other digital communications of foreigners for information on U.S. citizens.
Congressional Dems Warn of Grim Future for U.S. Cyber Agency under Trump (Maggie Miller and John Sakellariadis, Politico)
Democratic lawmakers are increasingly worried that former President Donald Trump will find a way to decimate the nation’s cyber defense agency if he wins a second term.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency — the main agency in charge of protecting critical infrastructure, like pipelines and hospitals, from hackers — found itself on Trump’s target list in the last days of his first term for debunking his false election fraud claims. It could face enormous pressure starting on day one of a second.
Trump cannot unilaterally kill CISA — which the former president himself signed into law in 2018 — but he could pack it with loyalists who would slash its operations. He could also whip lawmakers to wipe out the agency’s budget. And almost certainly, he would shutter its efforts to combat foreign disinformation.
