• Parler Is Bringing Together Mainstream Conservatives, Anti-Semites and White Supremacists as the Social Media Platform Attracts Millions of Trump Supporters

    Since the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Parler has caught on among right-wing politicians and “influencers” – people with large online followings – as a social media platform where they can share and promote ideas without worrying about the company blocking or flagging their posts for being dangerous or misleading. However, the website has become a haven for far-right extremists and conspiracy theorists who are now interacting with the mainstream conservatives flocking to the platform.

  • Like Fire and Ice: Why Societies Are Increasingly Fragmenting

    Scientists at the Complexity Science Hub Vienna (CSH) show that the accelerating fragmentation of society - often referred to as filter bubbles - is a direct consequence of the growing number of social contacts. According to their model, societies can only be either cohesive or fragmented. And just as water becomes ice or gas at a certain temperature, a society abruptly changes from one state to the other at certain tipping points. If the basic sociological assumptions are correct, researchers see a huge problem that could endanger our democracies as well as the management of massive challenges such as the climate crisis or future pandemics.

  • Guidance Will Improve Critical Infrastructure Resilience

    It is easy to understand the importance of our “critical infrastructure,” such as telecommunications, energy, transportation, and emergency services, but what’s often overlooked are the underlying technologies that enable them. DHS S&T is doing something about it.

  • China-Sensitive Topics at US Universities Draw More Online Harassment

    Last week, students at Brandeis University hosted an online discussion about China’s controversial Xinjiang policies, hearing experts discuss the detention, abuse and political indoctrination of more than 1 million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities. But as Uighur attorney and advocate Rayhan Asat appeared before the student group last Friday, her screen was taken over as hackers wrote “fake news” and “liar” on it. Experts said it fits with an increase in more organized harassment against topics on American campuses seen as objectionable by the Chinese government.

  • Five Reasons Trump’s Challenge of the 2020 Election Will Not Lead to Civil War

    Some Americans fear that the deep political divisions in the country and President Donald Trump’s determination to challenge the results of the election will cause civil war. Those who object to Trump’s tactics argue that he behaves like an autocrat by delegitimizing sources of information that resist his narrative, demonizing political opponents, supporting political violence, and using courts as political tools Without a doubt, the president’s attempts to undermine faith in the integrity of the election are dangerous to democracy. Yet, for the moment, the system appears poised to hold together. The months ahead will be turbulent, but civil war is unlikely.

  • More than 100 “High-Risk” Islamists at Large in Germany: Security Service

    More than 120 Islamists in Germany pose a “high risk,” according to Germany’s federal police, with 115 more posing a potentially high risk. There is a growing debate in Germany about monitoring extremists, and about streamlining deportation policies for extremists about to be released from jail.

  • New Research Projects to Shed New Light on the Intentions of Violent Extremists

    New research project aims to shed new light on the intentions of violent extremists. The “Disguised Compliance in Terrorist Offending” project will provide frontline staff across U.K. security agencies with the best tools and approaches to assess the true intention of people motivated to acts of violence by ideologies.

  • British Police Arrest Man 46 Years after Birmingham Pub Bombings

    U.K. authorities have detained a suspect over a 1974 bombing that killed 21 people and injured 182 in Birmingham. The attack came during violent resistance to British rule in Northern Ireland, and it represents one of the worst terror incidents in British history.

  • Trump Fires Security Chief Who Said 2020 Vote Was “Most Secure” in U.S. History

    Barely two weeks after the polls closed in an election he is now projected to lose, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to fire CISA’s director Christopher Krebs, the official responsible for spearheading efforts to secure the vote. Since the 3 November election, Trump, his campaign, and some of his supporters have issued a continuous stream of allegations about the integrity of the election, but evidence of massive voter fraud or other irregularities on a scale necessary to swing the election in Trump’s favor has not materialized. Late last Thursday, a coalition of federal and state officials, including CISA, further rejected the allegations as baseless. Krebs himself had also taken an active role in debunking rumors and unfounded allegations in the days and weeks following the election, taking to Twitter to dismiss some conspiracy theories as “nonsense.”

  • The China Initiative: Year-in-Review

    On the two-year anniversary of the Department of Justice’s China Initiative, the Department said it continues its focus on the Initiative’s goals, and announced progress during the past year in disrupting and deterring the wide range of national security threats posed by the policies and practices of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) government.

  • Your Smart Watch May Be Sharing Your Data

    You may not realize it, but your internet-connected household devices such as the Ring doorbell, Peloton exercise bike and Nest thermostat are all exchanging data with other devices and systems over the network. These physical objects, all part of the Internet of Things (IoT), come with sensors and software, and they often use cloud computing. Most people would consider the information contained in these household items as highly private.

  • FBI Releases 2019 Hate Crime Statistics

    The FBI has today (Monday) released Hate Crime Statistics, 2019, show that, in 2019, there were 7,314 criminal incidents and 8,559 related offenses as being motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity.

  • Michigan Terrorists Planned to Kill All State Legislators, Blow Up Capitol Building

    The Michigan terrorists who plotted to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer and attack the Michigan State legislature building, planned for no one to emerge alive from the building, according to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.The plotters planned to carry food and supplies with them as they stormed the Capitol building, and barricade themselves inside. Their plan then called for the legislators to face televised “trials,” in which they would be charged with “tyranny,” and then executed. Fox and his fellow plotters believed they would be able to hold on for about a week, during which all the legislators and their staff would be executed and their executions televised.

  • Austrian Police Investigating 21 Potential Accomplices in Vienna Attack

    Austrian investigators have identified 21 suspected accomplices of an Islamist gunman who went on a deadly rampage in Vienna last week, officials said Friday. Police say it’s not clear how the shooter managed to get to Vienna’s city center armed with an assault rifle, handgun, machete and fake explosive belt. They’re also still looking into how the weapons reached Austria.

  • Surveillance State: Why Zhenhua Data Is Researching Irish People for the Chinese Government

    An obscure Chinese company with close ties to the Chinese intelligence services was found to have collected detailed information on 963 influential Irish people. The Irish dataset is part of the company 2.4 million-strong database, consisting of influential people from practically every country in the world. Intelligence specialists say China’s goal is to identify potential weaknesses that could be exploited to advance China’s interests.