• The Role of Anti-Semitism in American Violent Extremism

    A new report examines the role of anti-Semitic ideas and narratives as foundational elements of two disparate American violent extremist movements: the extreme right wing and violent Islamist groups. Both movements have historically used anti-Semitism as a belief and world-structuring theory to recruit new followers, mobilize them to action, and justify violent attacks against the Jewish community in the United States.

  • Will Russia influence the American vote?

    U.S. voters should prepare for strange and unexpected forms of information warfare that manipulate, distort or destroy election-related information between now and Election Day – and perhaps beyond that, depending on whether there are questions about who may have won the presidency. Since 2016, Americans have learned that foreign interests attempt to affect the outcomes of presidential elections, including with social media postings and television ads. As a scholar of Russian cyber operations, I know other nations, and Russia in particular, will go to extreme measures to influence people and destabilize democracy in the U.S. and elsewhere.

  • Detecting “Deepfake” Videos by Checking for the Pulse

    With video editing software becoming increasingly sophisticated, it’s sometimes difficult to believe our own eyes. Did that actor really appear in that movie? Did that politician really say that offensive thing? Some so-called “deepfakes” are harmless fun, but others are made with a more sinister purpose. But how do we know when a video has been manipulated?

  • President Trump’s Foreign Policy Triumph in Guyana and South America

    President Donald Trump’s capable handling of the recent election crisis in Guyana has received little attention in the U.S. press; it deserves more.  Not only has the President protected U.S. strategic interests in the region, he has saved democracy in Guyana, enhanced US influence in the Caribbean and northeastern corner of South America, and is keeping up the pressure on the rogue dictatorships of Venezuela and Cuba.

  • FBI Sits on Report Detailing White-Supremacist Terror Threat

    The FBI has failed to produce a legally required report detailing the scope of white supremacist and other domestic terrorism, despite mounting concerns that the upcoming election could spark far-right violence. Spencer Ackerman writes. According to a key House committee chairman, that leaves the country in the dark about what the FBI concedes is America’s most urgent terrorist threat, as well as the resources the U.S. government is devoting to fight it.

  • Former Rebel Groups More Moderate after Gaining Political Power in Nations with Democracy

    Former rebel groups who transform into political parties have adopted a moderate stance after gaining power in more democratic political systems, a study shows. In contrast, the tactics and policies of the former rebel groups remained unchanged if the issue which attracted supporters to them continued to remain.

  • U.S. Puts Sanctions on Russian Research Institution Tied to Malware That Targets Industrial Systems

    The United States has placed sanctions on a Russian government research institute connected to the development of computer malware capable of targeting industrial safety systems and causing catastrophic damage.

  • U.S. to Consider Overhauling Asylum System

    In an interview with the Associated Press last week, Stephen Miller, the architect of the Trump administration’s immigration policy, said that if Donald Trump wins a second term, the administration  would use agreements with Central American governments — the “Asylum Cooperative Agreements” — as models to get countries around the world, possibly in Africa and Asia, to field asylum claims from people seeking refuge in the United States. The two principles undergirding the projected asylum policy — the First Country of Asylum principle the Safe Third Country principle – form the basis for the Dublin Regulation which governs EU asylum policy.

  • Predicting the Likelihood of Cyberattacks Between Nations

    Where in the world might the next cyberattack between nations take place? A new online database developed by a team computer scientists and international studies students predicts that there is an “extremely high likelihood” of a Russian cyberattack on Ukraine. The second most likely? The United States against Iran.

  • The Evolution of Domestic Terrorism in the United States

    White supremacists and other far-right extremists accounted for two-thirds of domestic terrorist attacks and plots so far in 2020, but those by antifascist and other leftist groups are rising, according to a new report on U.S. political violence. The Center of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has just released a report which found that domestic terrorism only accounted for five deaths between January and August. But it cites a worrisome trend in which armed far-right and far-left extremists are confronting one another on the streets of U.S. cities against the backdrop of racial justice protests, anti-lockdown demonstrations, and other social and political issues.

  • Greek Court Orders Neo-Nazi Leaders to Jail

    The leader and founder of Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party has turned himself in after a court ordered him and other senior members of the party to serve more than 13 years in prison for acting as a criminal organization under the guise of a political party.

  • Reforming Fossil Fuel Subsidies

    Fossil fuels still receive most of the international government support provided to the energy sector despite their “well-known environmental and public health damage,” according to new research. “There is evidence that fossil fuel subsidies are socially inequitable, that they encourage smuggling and waste, and distort economies in ways that undermine economic efficiency while harming the environment and the climate,” says the report’s author.

  • China Reports Spike in U.S. Surveillance Flights

    A reported spike in U.S. military flights over the seas near China reflects Washington’s drive to understand and deter Chinese expansion in contested waters, analysts say. U.S. military surveillance planes flew off China’s coast 60 times in September, more than in July or August, according to Chinese state-backed research organization South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative’s website.

  • U.S. Says Russian Hackers Targeted State, Local Governments Ahead of Election

    Russian state-sponsored hackers have targeted dozens of U.S. state and local government networks in recent weeks and stolen data from at least two servers, the U.S. government says. In an advisory released on October 22, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) described a range of activity from Russian-backed hackers since at least September.

  • Finally: A Usable, Secure Password Policy Backed by Science

    After nearly a decade of studies, the passwords research group in Carnegie Mellon’s CyLab Security and Privacy Institute has developed a policy for creating passwords that maintains balance between security and usability—one backed by hard science.