• We Need Answers about the CIA’s Mass Surveillance

    The Central Intelligence Agency has been collecting American’s private data without any oversight or even the minimal legal safeguards that apply to the NSA and FBI, an unconstitutional affront to our civil liberties. The whos, whats, whys, and hows of this semi-disclosed CIA program are still unknown, and the public deserves the right to know exactly what damage has been done.

  • China Suspected of Targeting U.S. Organizations with Cyberattacks

    Media giant News Corp is investigating a cyberattack that has accessed the email and documents of some of its employees and journalists. “Mandiant assesses that those behind this activity have a China nexus, and we believe they are likely involved in espionage activities to collect intelligence to benefit China’s interests,” Dave Wong, Mandiant vice president and incident responder, said.

  • CISA Supports Inaugural U.S. Cyber Games

    CISA last week announces its founding sponsorship of the first-ever US Cyber Team, which will compete, as part of the US Cyber Games, in the International Cybersecurity Challenge (ICC) June 14-17, 2022 in Athens, Greece. “Cyber competitions are a fundamental element of developing the next generation of cybersecurity talent. Games help motivate the future workforce, and keep the current workforce sharp, maintaining a thriving community of cybersecurity professionals,” noted CISA Director Jen Easterly.

  • State Department’s New Chemical Forensics International Technical Working Group

    The U.S. Department of State has established the Chemical Forensics International Technical Working Group (CFITWG) to address gaps in chemical forensic science and capabilities through an international partnership of experts from science, policy, academic, law enforcement, and export-control organizations.

  • Pan-European “Supergrid”' Could Cut 32% from Energy Costs

    A European wide ‘supergrid’ could cut almost a third from energy costs according to a new study finds. The 32% cost reduction identified is borne primarily from the expansion of European power flows - derestricting them to allow the location of renewable generation to be optimized, thereby significantly decreasing the total installed capacity.

  • The U.S. Warning of a Fake Russian Video Isn’t Alex Jones Territory

    The U.S. claim that Russia was planning to release a fake film showing a Ukrainian attack, which the Kremlin would then use to justify further invading the country. The accusation is consistent with Russia’s current disinformation campaigns and its past use of fabricated evidence. Calling out the potential fake video also limits Moscow’s ability to credibly rationalize war based on similar lies.

  • Africa embraces Huawei technology despite security concerns

    Shunned in the Global North due to privacy and security issues, Huawei is a front-runner in Africa. But the Chinese giant’s data collection methods may also appeal to authoritarian regimes as a way to cling to power.

  • Identifying “Double-Hazard” Zones for Wildfire in the West

    Rapidly growing communities in the American West’s forests and shrublands are nestled in zones where local soil and plant traits amplify the effect of climate change on wildfire hazards and lead to bigger burns.

  • U.S. Mired in “Heightened Threat Environment”: DHS

    DHS, in its updated National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin released Monday, says that the prevalence of conspiracy theories and bad or misleading information, online and in social media forums, is keeping the United States in a state of heightened alert when it comes to possible terror attacks. DHS warns that while many of the top threat streams have changed little over the past year, almost all of them are being amplified by the information environment.

  • Battling Disinformation

    Counterspeech is a strategy to oppose hate speech and falsehoods online. It works by flooding a post that is hateful or misleading with comments that are positive or that reinforce the facts. Citizens are the drivers of counterspeech and can even form special groups to coordinate their efforts.

  • NSA Releases 2021 Cybersecurity Year in Review

    The NSA last week released its 2021 NSA Cybersecurity Year in Review which highlights how the agency continues to address threats to the U.S. most critical systems.

  • Send Surveillance Robot Dogs to the Pound, Not the Border

    Last week, DHS said that robotic are “one step closer” to deployment on the U.S.-Mexico border. Covered with sensors and cameras that can relay information and footage in real time to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), these machines are less cute-video or selfie fodder and more of a civil liberties-invading hellhound.

  • Broad, and Likely Unauthorized, Use of Pegasus Spyware by Israel's Police Shocks Israel

    Since 2015, Israel’s police has employed the intrusive Pegasus spyware to spy on businesspeople, journalists and editors, senior managers of government ministries and agencies, leaders of protest movements, and more – and it appears that in many, if not most, of these cases, the spying was done without judicial approval or after judges were misled by the police about the nature of the monitoring technology. The Pegasus software has been used by authoritarian governments around the world to spy on political opponents, human rights activist, journalists – and in at least one case, to spy on U.S. diplomats. The U.S. has blacklisted the Israeli company NSO, Pegasus maker, and American companies are not allowed to sell their technology to NSO or do business with it

  • How Radio Programming Can Fight Violent Extremism in West Africa

    A new study shows the potential of storytelling and narratives to address violent extremism. Radio dramas can increase intentions to collaborate with the police, increase prioritization of violent extremism as an important issue to be addressed by the government, and reduce justification of violent extremism, new experimental research shows.

  • Energy Weapon Only 'Plausible' Explanation for Some Cases of Havana Syndrome

    U.S. intelligence agencies may have ruled out the idea that a rash of mysterious illnesses plaguing American diplomats and other officials is part of a sustained campaign by one of Washington’s adversaries, but they now say that in a small number of cases the only likely explanation is the use of some sort of weapon.