• Is North Korea Preparing for War in 2024?

    By Julian Ryall

    North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is ratcheting up the war rhetoric against South Korea and the US once again. This time, however, analysts warn the threat goes beyond the usual bluster.

  • “Killer Robots” Are Coming, and UN Is Worried

    By Liz Mineo

    Long the stuff of science fiction, autonomous weapons systems, known as “killer robots,” are poised to become a reality, thanks to the rapid development of artificial intelligence. In response, international organizations have been intensifying calls for limits or even outright bans on their use. Human rights specialist lays out legal, ethical problems of military weapons systems that attack without human guidance.

  • Do Violent Video Games Numb Us Towards Real Violence?

    Video games have become an integral part of the everyday life of many children and adults. Many of the most popular video games contain explicit depictions of extreme violence. Concerns have been raised that these games may blunt the empathy of their players and could therefore lower the inhibition threshold for real violence. Results of a neuroscientific study suggest that violence in video games has no negative influence on the empathy of adults.

  • Do Gun Regulations Equal Fewer Shootings? Lessons From New England

    By Chip Brownlee

    Gun rights advocates often point to low rates of shootings in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont to argue that you don’t need strong gun laws to keep violence in check. Here’s what the data actually reveals.

  • ZeroEyes AI-based Gun Detection, AEGIX Incident Management to Be Deployed in Urah’s 1,086 Public K-12 Schools

    ZeroEyes, the creators of the AI-based gun detection video analytics, and AEGIX Global, a Utah-based provider of incident management services, announced that the Utah State Board of Education has approved a contract to provide the joint solution for all Utah public K-12 schools, including charter schools.

  • The Houthis: Four Things You Will Want to Know About the Yemeni Militia Targeted by U.K. and U.S. Military Strikes

    By Natasha Lindstaedt

    The Houthis’ leadership has been drawn from the Houthi tribe, which is part of one of the three major tribal confederations in Yemen: the Hashid, the Madhaj and the Bakil. The Houthis are part of the Bakil confederation, the largest tribal group in Yemen. As the UK and US launch military strikes on the Yemeni group, after a spate of attacks by the Iran-backed militia on Red Sea shipping, here’s four things that you need to know about them.

  • Houthi Attacks: What Happens Next?

    By Lawrence Freedman

    The longer the Gaza War goes on the greater the concern that it will escalate into something much larger. The most dramatic escalation has been with the Houthis in Yemen. The threat their actions pose to international shipping led to US and UK strikes early on Friday morning. As the dust settles on these strikes and the Houthis threaten retaliation, has this brought us closer to a wider war?

  • Fifty-Five Hours of Risk: The Dangerous Implications of Slow Attack Attribution

    By J. D. Maddox

    Assuming that its foreign adversaries’ recent violent threats are to be taken seriously, and that the likelihood of a direct attack against the United States is, if not on the rise, at least significant enough to warrant serious attention, the United States has an urgent mandate to prepare effective cognitive defenses. Foremost among these is the ability to quickly and accurately attribute attacks to their originators, and to deliver that information to the public through a trustworthy vehicle.

  • How Quickly Could Iran Make Nuclear Weapons Today?

    By David Albright

    For Iran, two of the three poles in the tent of building nuclear weapons – fissile material and delivery vehicles — are essentially complete. It will take them one week to enrich enough uranium to 90 percent for one bomb (and one month to enrich enough uranium for six bombs). Iran also has a variety of delivery systems, including nuclear-capable missiles: the delivery pole is ready. Weaponization is the pole that needs more work. The accelerated weaponization program can be accomplished in a matter of six months.

  • Security Officers at Nuclear Facilities

    Nuclear plants are sensitive facilities which require strict security measures to ensure the safety of both the plant and the surrounding areas. One of the essential components of this security system is the presence of security officers. There are nearly 9,000 security officers protecting U.S. nuclear plants. Presently the United Federation LEOS-PBA represents many Nuclear Security Officers working at nuclear facilities around the country.

  • Israel/Gaza: Retrospect and Prospect

    By Lawrence Freedman

    Planning for the ‘Day After’: After three months of this war Israel has weakened Hamas but not eliminated it, and cannot promise that elimination can be achieved quickly, if at all. The Israeli government is close to breaking point and perhaps only if it breaks will there be an opportunity for a serious consideration of options for addressing the Palestinian issue. There are, however, reasons why this issue has proved to be intractable in the past.

  • What Can We Learn from the Nation’s Historic Decline in Murders?

    By Champe Barton

    The U.S. endured a spike in gun violence during the pandemic, but it’s subsiding in many places. A researcher puts the latest homicide statistics into context — and warns lawmakers not to become complacent.

  • Are Ski Mask Bans a Crime-Fighting Solution? Some Cities Say Yes.

    By Amanda Hernández

    Amid concerns about crime and public safety, at least two major U.S. cities recently considered banning ski masks or balaclavas to prevent criminal behavior, despite a lack of academic research about the effectiveness of such bans. Philadelphia is the latest city to prohibit ski masks in some public areas.

  • Saving Seconds, Saving Lives: NIST-Funded Challenge Crowns Winners in 3D Tracking Technology

    NIST has awarded $1.9 million to six teams for innovative 3D tracking solutions in the final phase of a competition. The winning designs combine localization and biometric monitoring, using sensors affixed to first responders’ equipment. This competition is part of an $8 million NIST-funded initiative to address first responders’ need for improved tracking in emergency settings where GPS falls short.

  • The Signal in the Noise: The 2023 Threats and Those on the Horizon

    We enter the new year with “blinking lights everywhere,” Austin Doctor writes. “From a U.S. homeland security perspective, the terrorism threat in 2023 can be summarized as diverse, diffuse, and active. In 2024, we are likely to continue to see signs of continuing shifts in the terrorism landscape—such as the threats posed by lone juvenile offenders, the malign use of democratized technologies, and ‘violent resistance’ narratives adopted across the extremist ecosystem.”