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Hardware ProtectionProtecting Hardware from Software Attacks
In order to break the endless cycle of software patch-and-pray, DARPA’s System Security Integration Through Hardware and firmware (SSITH) program aims to develop ASIC hardware with novel protections proven in mitigating against software attacks on hardware.
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Hate CrimesFBI Works to Increase Hate Crimes Awareness
The United States recorded nearly 7,500 hate crimes in 2020, the highest level in more than a decade. As eye-popping as the yearly total may be, researchers note the vast majority of hate crimes are never reported to police. In October, the FBI launched a nationwide awareness campaign to encourage victims and witnesses to report hate crimes to law enforcement.
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Military TechnologyThe Drivers of Invention of Military Technologies
Researchers tested competing theories about what drove the evolution of war machines throughout world history.
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Climate & National SecurityBiden Administration Places Climate Change at the Center of U.S. Security Planning
The administration on Thursday has released a series of reports addressing the increasingly severe impact of climate change on U.S. national security – an impact which is only going to grow in severity and scope. Taken together, the reports signal a new stage in U.S. policy, one which places climate change at the center of the U.S. security planning.
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ANALYSIS: Gathering StormRising Temperatures Reshaping, Exacerbating Global Security Landscape
More than just altering the environment, climate change is threatening to permanently and dangerously reshape the global security landscape. These are the conclusions of a series of new assessments by U.S. military, intelligence, and security officials. “As climate change converges with other drivers — especially geostrategic competition, emerging technology and global-demographic trends — it is reshaping the risk landscape,” DHS said in its assessment. “The corrosive impact of these trends will make nations increasingly vulnerable to domestic instability, with sweeping implications for regional and border security and core national security interests.”.
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GunsU.S. Gun Violence Increased 30 Percent During COVID-19 Pandemic
Gun violence increased by more than 30 percent in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers said that stress, domestic violence, lack of social interactions and greater access to firearms might have contributed to the increase.
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Weapons DetectionWeapons-Detection Algorithm Studied at Las Vegas International Airport
This summer, DHS S&T demonstrated a new advanced algorithm to better detect non-explosive weapons like guns, knives, and other items that are prohibited on commercial aircraft in a real-world setting at Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport.
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Food SecurityNuclear War's Smoke Would Cause Climate Change, Threatening Global Food Supplies
Nuclear war would cause many immediate fatalities, but smoke and soot from the resulting fires would also cause climate change lasting up to fifteen years, threatening worldwide food production and human health, according to a new study.
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ExtremismBritain’s Security Officials Fear More Lone Wolf Attacks in Wake of MP’s Murder
The man held for the fatal stabbing last week of a British lawmaker had been referred to the British government’s anti-extremism program, called Prevent, because of his radical Islamist views, but the country’s security services, including MI5 - Britain’s domestic intelligence agency - had not deemed him a serious threat requiring monitoring, confirmed British officials.
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Extremism OnlineLawmakers Press TikTok, DHS, and FBI for Information on Identifying, Preventing Spread of Extremist Content Online
Although social media companies have taken steps to address the proliferation of domestic extremist content online, continued reports have identified that violent groups continue to operate on the platforms, and racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs), anti-government and conspiracy-related content and targeted ads remain on these platforms.
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SurveillanceSurveillance Equipment: Scrutiny Necessary for the Police, Manufacturers
Facial recognition, body cameras and other digital technologies are increasingly used by police departments, municipalities and even gated communities, but these tools, manufactured by private companies, raise the specter of unchecked surveillance.
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SurveillanceCalif. Sheriff Sued for Sharing Drivers’ License Plate Data With ICE, CBP, Other Out-of-State Agencies
License plate scans occur through Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs): high-speed cameras mounted in a fixed location or atop police cars moving through the community that automatically capture all license plates that come into view, recording the exact location, date, and time that the vehicle passes by. The information can paint a detailed picture of our private lives, our daily schedules, and our social networks.
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Nuclear DetectionQuick Detection of Uranium Isotopes Helps Safeguard Nuclear Materials
Researchers have developed a rapid way to measure isotopic ratios of uranium and plutonium collected on environmental swipes, which could help International Atomic Energy Agency analysts detect the presence of undeclared nuclear activities or material.
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China WatchWill China Surpass the US in Military Air Superiority?
The Pentagon’s multibillion-dollar investment in advanced warplanes, weapons systems, satellites and aircraft carriers has made air power a central part of America’s global projection of military might. However, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is rapidly modernizing, and military leaders and analysts say that Washington may no longer be able to always rely on its air superiority.
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Flash FloodsSeismic Forensics and Its Importance for Early Warning
A February 2021 rockslide and the subsequent flood , in India’s Dhauli Ganga Valley, had killed at least a hundred people and destroyed two hydroelectric power plants. The analysis of this flood disaster in the Himalaya may help establish an early warning system for flash floods.
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The long view
BIG PICTURE: Ideological OverreachLiberalism’s Graveyard: Afghanistan Is Where Ideologies Go to Die
It used to be said the Afghanistan is the “graveyard of empires.” Sumantra Maitra writes that the U.S. failed 20-year war in Afghanistan will go down as one of the more consequential wars –a “paradigm-shifting event” — because Afghanistan proved to be the graveyard of ideologies as well: “Evangelical Marxism failed in Afghanistan, as did evangelical liberalism.”
Radiation detectionRadSecure 100 Radiological Security Initiative Launched in 100 U.S. Cities
The RadSecure 100 Initiative focuses on removing radioactive material from facilities where feasible and improving security at the remaining facilities located in 100 metropolitan areas throughout the United States. Partnerships with local medical facilities, industrial firms, and law enforcement will be key to the project.
ARGUMENT: Afghanistan rapid collapseHow the Taliban Exploited Afghanistan’s Human Geography
The Taliban managed to seize power so quickly because it used Afghanistan’s human geography to exploit that state’s fragility: The country’s low population density empowers fast-moving and cohesive attackers, for which the poorly trained, disorganized, corrupt, and unmotivated Afghani army was no match. Alec Worsnop writes that, still, the evacuation could have been made safer and more orderly if a small Western contingent with air support would have been left behind to hold the Taliban at bay for a few more weeks — but this would only have delayed the inevitable: “Leaving a limited outside force in place, without significant reinforcement, could not have prevented an inevitable Taliban takeover within a matter of months,” he writes. “There were few prospects for long-term stability without a notably larger foreign troop presence.”
ARGUMENT: Nuclear threshold stateIrreversible: Iran’s Nukes
In 2018 the Trump administration withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran, which the Obama administration had signed in 2015. David Albright and Sarah Burkhard of Institute for Science and International Security write that Iran’s nuclear capabilities now greatly exceed their status in early 2016, when the nuclear deal was implemented. Iran’s breakout time, namely the time needed to produce enough weapon-grade uranium for a single nuclear weapon or explosive device, is on order of one month, which was Iran’s breakout time in late 2014, before the nuclear deal was signed.
Social networksUsing Social Network Analysis to disarticulate criminal networks
Finding the broken link in the criminal networks that bind economies and societies is a gigantic task that often leads the investigative actions of the police and judiciary up a blind alley. the advancements in the field of information technology and data analysis may be used to effectively deal with organized crime, terrorist groups, and street gangs.
DronesDetecting, Identifying Small Drones in Urban Environment
DHS has awarded $750K to a Texas company to develop a detection and tracking sensor system that can identify nefarious small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in an urban environment.