• DHS Sued Over Vetting Program to Collect and Data Mine

    The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) the other day filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for records about a multi-million dollar, secretive program that surveils immigrants and other foreign visitors’ speech on social media.

  • Cyber and Physical Security Should Collaborate: What Does It Take to Achieve This

    By Emma Boakes

    To understand and mitigate threats that cross the boundary between what is cyber and what is physical, some organizations have integrated their security resources to encourage them to work more closely together.

  • What Does It Mean to Be Energy Independent?

    “‘Energy independence’ is a political slogan, not an economic or technical concept with a clear definition,” Berkeley’s Andrew Campbell says. “I understand that politicians use the term ‘energy independence’ to imply that a country is insulated from global energy markets. However, this is rarely the case.”

  • Can Germany Wean Itself Off Russian Gas?

    By Nik Martin and Insa Wrede

    Experts are divided on how quickly Germany could cut imports of Russian energy and stop funding President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. How vulnerable would such a move leave Europe’s largest economy?

  • The Ukrainian Economy: Where Now for the Future?

    An expert has warned that the impact of the war will be disastrous for the Ukrainian economy, regardless of the outcome. “War will always have a catastrophic impact. As you’d expect, production is collapsing, and the economy has given up percentages of GDP growth,” says a Cambridge University professor who is an economic adviser to Ukrainian President Zelensky.

  • The War in Ukraine Is Creating a Massive Grain Shortage

    By Molly Callahan

    Together, Russia and Ukraine account for 30 percent of the world’s exported wheat, and the Agricultural Market Information System—an international group focusing on global food-policy initiatives—estimates that 25 countries source at least half of their supplies from the two countries. Grain exports from the war-torn region have largely stalled, as shipping ports have closed, farmland has been ruined, and farmers have been conscripted into service.

  • Green Rare-Earth Recycling Goes Commercial

    Rare earths are essential ingredients in the magnets that power many technologies people rely on today, such as cell phones, computers, electric vehicles, and wind turbines. Researchers have  developed a novel way to extract rare earth elements (rare earths) from the high-powered magnets in electronic waste (e-waste).

  • Food Crisis Due to Ukraine War Calls for Demand-Side Action

    The global food system is impacted by the war in Ukraine, adding to the direct humanitarian and security crisis caused by the Russian aggression. Ukraine and Russia are major producers of grains and fertilizers. Experts say that focusing on short-term supply-side solutions is not the way to go. Rather, changes to the demand side of the global food system can lead to both a more resilient and more sustainable global food system.

  • Domestic Extremists and Cryptocurrency

    Domestic extremists have been receiving a steady stream of cryptocurrency donations since 2016, and after the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, the extremists’ use of cryptocurrency has spiked, leading many financial services providers to “deplatform” certain extremist groups.

  • Texas Warns Firms They Could Lose State Contracts for Divesting from Fossil Fuels

    By Emily Hernandez

    A new law prohibits the state from contracting with or investing in companies that divest from oil, natural gas and coal companies.

  • Global Arms Trade Falls Slightly, but Imports to Europe, East Asia, and Oceania Rise

    International transfers of major arms saw a slight drop between 2012–16 and 2017–21 (–4.6 per cent). Nevertheless, exports by the United States and France increased substantially, as did imports to states in Europe (+19 per cent), East Asia (+20 per cent) and Oceania (+59 per cent). Transfers to the Middle East remained high, while those to Africa and the Americas decreased, according to new data on global arms transfers published today by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).  

  • The Digital Skills Gap: What Workers Need for the Jobs of the Future

    By Doug Irving

    The COVID-19 pandemic quickened the pace of digital development around the world, as everything from meetings to movie premiers went online. That may sound like a silver lining. For tens of millions of workers, it’s not. They don’t have the skills to compete.

  • War in Ukraine Could Cut Global Supply of Essential Elements for Making Green Technology

    By Gavin Harper

    The EU imports 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia, and nearly half of the five million barrels of crude oil Russia exports daily go to Europe. Decisive action by major economies to reduce coal, oil and gas imports from one of the world’s largest sources could accelerate the transition to green energy globally. But there’s a catch. Disruption to the supply of critical metals and other materials caused by the war in Ukraine could stall the roll-out of alternative technologies.

  • If Russia Turns Off the Tap: LNG Could Boost European Energy Security

    By Nik Martin

    Europe’s gas reserves are at their lowest in years with winter demand not yet over. As the Ukraine crisis escalates, raising fears over Russian supply, could liquefied natural gas (LNG) fill the gap?

  • The U.S. Digital Security Challenges: Q&A with Frederic Lemieux

    The U.S. is facing many digital challenges: Ransomware attacks; critical infrastructure vulnerability; exploitation of flaws in widely used software packages such as SolarWinds; potential Russian cyberattacks resulting from the Ukraine crisis; shortage of cybersecurity talent which leaves many government and private sector positions vacant; and many more. HSNW talked with Georgetown’s Professor Frederic Lemieux, a recognized expert in the fields of global threats and homeland security.