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CHINA WATCHSouth Korea Has Acted Decisively on DeepSeek. Other Countries Must Stop Hesitating
South Korea has suspended new downloads of DeepSeek, and it was right to do so. Chinese tech firms operate under the shadow of state influence, misusing data for surveillance and geopolitical advantage. Any country that values its data and sovereignty must watch this national security threat and take note of South Korea’s response.
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EXTREMISMThe Rise and Fall of Terrorgram: Inside a Global Online Hate Network
White supremacists from around the world used Telegram to spread hateful content promoting murder and destruction in a community they called Terrorgram. ProPublica and FRONTLINE identified 35 crimes linked to Terrorgram, including bomb plots, stabbings, and shootings. After several arrests of alleged Terrorgram members and reforms by Telegram, experts expect that extremists will find a new platform for their hate.
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TERRORISMHow a Global Online Network of White Supremacists Groomed a Teen to Kill
Neo-Nazi influencers on the social media platform Telegram created a network of chats and channels where they stoked racist, antisemitic and homophobic hate. The influencers, known as the Terrorgram Collective, targeted a teen in Slovakia and groomed him for three years to kill.
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THE RUSSIA CONNECTIONTrump Is Giving Russian Cyber Ops a Free Pass – and Putting Western Democracy on the Line
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth last weekend announced that the U.S. will halt all offensive cyber operations –and planning for such operations –against Russia. The Kremlin has long sought to sow chaos in the United States and other democracies by using “information confrontation.” That job just got a lot easier.
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CHINA WATCHIn Case We Forgot, Typhoon Attacks Remind Us of China’s Cyber Capability—and Intent
The Salt Typhoon incident reminds us that China has the intent, and increasingly the capability, to seriously challenge US and Western technology advantage.
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DATA SECURITYDOGE Threat: How Government Data Would Give an AI Company Extraordinary Power
The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has secured unprecedented access to at least seven sensitive federal databases. Since information is power, concentrating unprecedented data in the hands of a private entity with an explicit political agenda represents a profound challenge to the republic. I believe that the question is whether the American people can stand up to the potentially democracy-shattering corruption such a concentration would enable. If not, Americans should prepare to become digital subjects rather than human citizens.
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ENCRYPTIONCornered by the UK’s Demand for an Encryption Backdoor, Apple Turns Off Its Strongest Security Setting
In response to the U.K. demands for a backdoor, Apple has stopped offering users in the U.K. Advanced Data Protection, an optional feature in iCloud that turns on end-to-end encryption for files, backups, and more.
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ELECTION SECURITYElection Officials Blast Trump’s “Retreat” from Protecting Voting Against Foreign Threats
The Trump administration has begun dismantling the nation’s defenses against foreign interference in voting, a sweeping retreat that has alarmed state and local election officials. The administration is shuttering the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force and last week cut more than 100 positions at the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
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TRUTH DECAYAs Facebook Abandons Fact-Checking, It’s Also Offering Bonuses for Viral Content
Meta decided to stop working with U.S. fact-checkers at the same time as it’s revamping a program to pay bonuses to creators with high engagement numbers, potentially pouring accelerant on the kind of false posts the company once policed.
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CYBERSECURITY EDUCATIONUA Little Rock Secures $4.65 Million Grant to Advance Cybersecurity Education
The grant, funded by the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) within the National Security Agency, will enable UA Little Rock to enhance its efforts in preparing high school teachers to teach cybersecurity.
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CYBERSECURITYIs DOGE a Cybersecurity Threat? Explaining the Dangers of Violating Protocols and Regulations That Protect Government Computer Systems
Teams from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are dropping into federal agencies with a practically unlimited mandate to reform the federal government in accordance with recent executive orders. As a 30-year cybersecurity veteran, I find the activities of DOGE thus far concerning. Its broad mandate across government, seemingly nonexistent oversight, and the apparent lack of operational competence of its employees have demonstrated that DOGE could create conditions that are ideal for cybersecurity or data privacy incidents that affect the entire nation.
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CYBERSECURITYResearchers Calculate Cyberattack Risk for All 50 States
Local governments are common victims of cyberattack, with economic damage often extending to the state and federal levels. Scholars aggregate threats to thousands of county governments to draw conclusions.
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TRUTH DECAYTrump Inviting Influencers to White House Press Briefings Is Likely to Usher in a New Era of Fake News
The steady rise in prominence of partisan influencers using increasingly dangerous language is only likely to lead to the American public having less faith in the institutions that are critical to a functioning democracy –the press included.
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CYBERSECURITYSecurity Vulnerabilities Discovered in Apple Processors
The US tech giant Apple has always advertised security assurances alongside ever faster processor performance for its products. Now an international team of cybersecurity researchers has discovered at least two security vulnerabilities.
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TRUTH DECAYIn Times of Crisis, States Have Few Tools to Fight Misinformation
While officials in Southern California fought fire and falsehoods, Meta —the parent company of Facebook and Instagram —announced it would eliminate its fact-checking program in the name of free expression. As social media companies are pushing back against efforts to crack down on falsehoods, questions are asked about what, if anything, state governments can do to stop the spread of harmful lies and rumors that proliferate on social media.
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The long view
CYBERSECURITYResearchers Calculate Cyberattack Risk for All 50 States
Local governments are common victims of cyberattack, with economic damage often extending to the state and federal levels. Scholars aggregate threats to thousands of county governments to draw conclusions.