• 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.

  • Intelligence Agencies Accuse Iran, Russia of Trying to Use Voter Registration Data to Sow Chaos Ahead of US Election

    U.S. intelligence agencies are accusing Iran and Russia of trying to use voter registration data in “desperate attempts” to sow chaos and confusion ahead of the November 3 U.S. presidential election. In a hastily called news conference late Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said that “We have confirmed that some voter registration information has been obtained by Iran, and separately, by Russia,” he said, adding both countries “have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our elections.” 

  • Russian Propaganda Hits Its Mark

    Given the size and scope of the Russian propaganda campaign that targeted the U.S. electorate in 2016, it is critical to understand both the impact of that campaign and the mechanisms that can reduce the impact of future campaigns, says a new RAND report.

  • The Violent Extremist Lifecycle: Lessons from Northern Ireland

    A new guide, released by CREST, draws on a reanalysis of interview data from the 1980s and 1990s that explored the lifecycle phases among loyalist and republican paramilitaries from across Northern Ireland. It offers twelve lessons that are relevant not only to those working within the Northern Ireland context today but also to those working to reduce the threat from violent extremists elsewhere.

  • People Want Data Privacy but Don’t Always Know What They’re Getting

    Debates around privacy might seem simple: Something is private or it’s not. However, the technology that provides digital privacy is anything but simple. Our data privacy research shows that people’s hesitancy to share their data stems in part from not knowing who would have access to it and how organizations that collect data keep it private. We’ve also found that when people are aware of data privacy technologies, they might not get what they expect.

  • Adversaries May Launch Efforts to Undermine Americans’ “Confidence in the Integrity of the Electoral Process”: CISA

    “We remain confident that no foreign cyber actor can change your vote, and we still believe that it would be incredibly difficult for them to change the outcome of an election at the national level. But that doesn’t mean various actors won’t try to introduce chaos in our elections and make sensational claims that overstate their capabilities. In fact, the days and weeks just before and after Election Day is the perfect time for our adversaries to launch efforts intended to undermine your confidence in the integrity of the electoral process”: Christopher Krebs, director of CISA.

  • Kathleen Hall Jamieson on the 2020 Election

    Professor Kathleen Hall Jamieson discusses what we learned from the election four years ago plus how journalists can responsibly share hacked content and what role the public at large can play. She says that in some ways, the country is better prepared today than during the 2016 election cycle, which was fraught with cybertrolls, hacked emails, and leaked content. In other ways, the United States hasn’t learned much from that experience.