• Election Monitors Nervously Practice for the ‘Big Dance in November’

    Georgia’s May primary tested voter engagement groups and political parties. If the upcoming presidential election is like the championship game, consider last month’s primary in Georgia the scrimmage.

  • The Islamic State and Russia

    vThe March 2024 terrorist attack by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) in Moscow Oblast brings to attention the Islamic State’s long-standing animosity towards the Russian state. The group also seeks to destabilize the relationship between Russia and Central Asia. Russia can be expected to deal with the ISKP threat more aggressively, including tighter border controls. The Islamic State Vilayat Caucasus, founded in 2015, also exists which operates in the historically conflict-prone Northern Caucasus region.

  • Video Games Might Matter for Terrorist Financing

    Every day, billions of dollars flow across international borders among millions of people on a public online market, with functionally no government oversight or regulation. The market? Virtual currency and digital assets in video games. Moshe Klein writes that “as terrorists seek new methods of conducting financial activity, governments must remain one step ahead and consider how they can proactively investigate and close extant avenues for terrorist financing.”

  • China Turns to Private Hackers as It Cracks Down on Online Activists on Tiananmen Square Anniversary

    Chinese authorities restrict the flow of information online by banning search terms, scanning social media for subversive messages and blocking access to foreign media and applications that may host censored content. Control of online activity is particularly stringent around the anniversary of the protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989 that ended with a bloody crackdown on demonstrators by troops on June 4 of that year.

  • Top Texas Election Official Acknowledges Threats to Ballot Secrecy

    Soon after the November 2020 election, as former President Donald Trump and his allies promoted baseless theories that his reelection loss was caused by voting fraud, election-related public record requests increased. Lawmakers, responding to pressure from groups seeking more access to election records, passed House Bill 5180, allowing public access to those records just 61 days after election day. But rules and practices meant to promote transparency also create vulnerabilities for voters, lawmakers were told.

  • The Alaska Supreme Court Takes Aerial Surveillance’s Threat to Privacy Seriously, Other Courts Should Too

    In March, the Alaska Supreme Court held that the Alaska Constitution required law enforcement to obtain a warrant before photographing a private backyard from an aircraft. The government argued that the ubiquity of small aircrafts flying overhead in Alaska; the commercial availability of the camera and lens; and the availability of aerial footage of the land elsewhere, meant that Alaska residents did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy The Court divorced the ubiquity and availability of the technology from whether people would reasonably expect the government to use it to spy on them.

  • U.S. Announces Measures to Help Over 11,000 Cuban Small Businesses

    The administration unveiled regulatory changes to increase support for the Cuban people and independent private sector entrepreneurs. The changes will enable more U.S. financial support for small private businesses in Cuba, enhance internet-based services on the island and broaden access to financial services.

  • Could a U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal Spark Middle East Arms Race?

    One part of a predicted, closer US-Saudi relationship is particularly controversial. Experts fear Saudi Arabia may use a civilian nuclear energy program, supported by the US, to develop their own atomic bombs.

  • Modeling the Threat of Nuclear War

    It’s a question that occupies significant bandwidth in the world of nuclear arms security: Could hypersonic missiles, which fly at speeds of least five times the speed of sound, increase the likelihood of nuclear war? As part of his MIT doctoral studies in nuclear science and engineering, Eli Sanchez investigated whether hypersonic missiles threaten global security.

  • O-RAN Is Overhyped as Avoiding Chinese 5G Influence

    In recent years, countries have faced a stark choice between Chinese and Western suppliers to develop their 5G cellular network infrastructure. While Chinese suppliers such as Huawei and ZTE are not trusted because of their ties and legal obligations to China’s party-state, Western suppliers have struggled to compete on cost. The emergence of Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) technology has some promised, but the idea that O-RAN is a viable alternative to Chinese suppliers seems hollow.

  • Colorado Law Will Require Disclosure of AI-generated Content in Political Ads

    A law going into effect in July in Colorado will place new regulations and penalties on using artificial intelligence to manipulate video or images and using them in political campaigns. The new law will require disclaimers on communications generated or substantially altered by AI which falsely depict what a candidate or elected official has said or done.

  • Study Sheds Light on Shady World of Text Message Phishing Scams

    Researchers have collected and analyzed an unprecedented amount of data on SMS phishing attacks, shedding light on both the scope and nature of SMS phishing operations.

  • China's Digital Silk Road Exports Internet Technology, Controls

    A Chinese initiative known as the “Digital Silk Road” is helping Southeast Asian nations modernize their digital landscapes. But rights groups say Beijing is also exporting its model of authoritarian governance of the internet through censorship, surveillance and controls.

  • Analyzing the Characteristics of AI-generated Deepfakes

    Most of the deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence (AI) that spread through social media feature political representatives and artists and are often linked to current news cycles. The findings of a new research are applicable to different fields, from national security to the integrity of election campaigns.

  • Political Elites Take Advantage of Anti-Partisan Protests to Disrupt Politics

    Protest movements that reject political parties have an unintended consequence: They empower savvy politicians, who channel them to shake up the status quo. The findings provide a framework for understanding recent global political realignments.