• Counterterrorism Successes Against Foreign Fighters

    The fear of foreign fighters — jihadists who travel abroad to fight and train – has been rekindled with the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover there. “Such concerns, however, neglect the tremendous progress the United States and its allies have made in the post-9/11 era in combating the foreign fighter scourge and limiting the danger they pose to the United States, Canada and Europe,” Byman writes. “Still, foreign fighters remain a powerful jihadist force worth understanding.”

  • Biological Weapons in the “Shadow War”

    The COVID-19 pandemic has led to renewed discussion of biological weapons, but Glenn Cross, a former deputy national intelligence officer for Weapons of Mass Destruction responsible for biological weapons analysis, argues that the development and possession of biological weapons is trending dramatically downward since the end of World War II. “Nations likely no longer see utility in developing or possessing biological weapons for use in large-scale, offensive military operations given the devastating capabilities of today’s advanced conventional weapons,” he writes.

  • USGS Seeks Public Comment on Draft List of 50 Critical Minerals

    The U.S. defines a “critical mineral” as a non-fuel mineral or mineral material essential to the economic or national security of the U.S. At least every three years, the Department of the Interior is required to review and update the list of critical minerals On Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) announced it is seeking public comment by Dec. 9, on a draft revised list of critical minerals.

  • Critical Interoperable Messaging Capability for First Responders

    “With no dedicated public safety messaging and collaboration platform, many public safety and emergency response officials are leveraging non-secure, consumer-grade messaging tools,” says DHS’s Kathryn Coulter Mitchell. The address this problem, DHS ST has awarded more than $1.5 million to advance the development of the Bridge 4 Public Safety (Bridge4PS) messaging and collaborating platform for first responders.

  • U.S. Supreme Court Hears Case of Surveillance of Muslims

    A decade ago, three Muslim men filed suit against the FBI, alleging the Bureau deployed a confidential informant who claimed to be a convert to Islam to spy on them based solely on their religious identity. On Monday, the Supreme Court heard the argument by the administration that it has the right to invoke the protection of “state secrets” to withhold information from the plaintiffs.

  • Protecting Infrastructure from Hackers

    Two Midwestern universities lead an effort to form a coalition of regional research centers to work together to develop the region’s cyber defense talent with an eye to bolstering the defense of the region’s infrastructure against hackers.

  • Protecting Soft Targets

    There is a need to construct a versatile system designed to protect the vast array of so-called soft targets such as stadiums, schools, and places of worship. After an eight-month competition among the nation’s biggest universities, DHS awarded Northeastern University a $36 million, ten-year contract to develop such a system.

  • Flood Sensors to Support NYC Real-Time Flood Monitoring, Response

    In the face of climate change, which is likely to increase the frequency and severity of floods, NYC needs access to real-time data providing critical information on when and where flooding occurs.

  • China Nuclear Arsenal Growing Faster Than Previously Thought: Pentagon

    The Pentagon warns that China’s rapidly growing nuclear arsenal is expanding at a much faster pace than estimated just a year ago, while a new Chinese military modernization goal could provide Beijing with “more credible military operations in Taiwan.”

  • The Only Way for the U.S. to Maintain Tech Edge Over China: STEM Immigration

    U.S. global technology leadership is under serious threat. Given current trends, it is inevitable that China will overtake the United States. The most powerful—and perhaps only—lasting and asymmetric American science and technology advantage over China is the U.S. ability to attract and retain international S&T talent. But the U.S. government risks squandering that advantage through poor immigration policy.

  • U.S. Offers Reward for Information on Russian DarkSide Cybercrime Group

    The United States has announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any individual holding a “key leadership” position in DarkSide, a cybercrime group believed to be tied to Russia.The DarkSide syndicate was behind the attack on Colonial Pipeline – the largest publicly disclosed cyberattack against critical infrastructure in the United States.

  • Face Recognition Is So Toxic, Facebook Is Dumping It

    Facebook’s decision to end its face-recognition program comes at a time when face recognition technology is receiving push back, criticisms, and legislative bans across the United States, and the globe.

  • Government Action Needed to Ensure Insurance Against Major Hacking of Driverless Vehicles: Experts

    Government action is needed so driverless vehicles can be insured against malicious hacks which could have potentially catastrophic consequences, experts say. Traditional vehicle insurance wouldn’t cover the mass hacking of driverless cars, and an incident like this could cost the industry tens of billions of pounds.

  • U.S. Sanctions NSO Group, Israeli Maker of Pegasus Spyware

    The U.S. authorities said the NSO Group’s spyware helped authoritarian governments “silence dissent.” The new measures will limit NSO Group’s access to U.S. components and technology.

  • In 9/11 Video, Al Qaeda Doubles Down on Enmity toward Jews and Israel

    Each year, to commemorate the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Al Qaeda releases a video featuring one of the group’s senior leaders who typically reiterates the significance and impact of those deadly events from their warped perspective. Al Qaeda’s 2021 video provides crucial context for the group’s extremist agenda, underscoring that Al Qaeda is particularly focused on a strike against Israel, and that anti-Semitism remains an animating element of Al Qaeda’s worldview.