• Nuclear Alarmism: Proliferation and Terrorism

    Alarmism about nuclear weapons is common coin in the foreign policy establishment, John Mueller writes. He notes that during the course of the Cold War, for example, the chief concern was that the weapons would somehow go off, by accident or by intention, devastating the planet in the process. More recently, the worry has been that terrorists would get their hands on nuclear weapons. Concerns about the dangers inherent in nuclear proliferation and in nuclear terrorism certainly seem overwrought, Mueller writes, concluding: “There may be reason for concern, or at least for interest and watchfulness. But alarm and hysteria (not to mention sleeplessness) are hardly called for.”

  • Growing Terrorism Threats: Iran-backed groups, IS in Africa, and White Supremacists: State Dept. Report

    The Trump administration, noting significant victories against global terrorism, says Iran continues to increase its support for extremists, while IS is increasing its presence in Africa and Southeast Asia. Attacks by white supremacists are on the rise, and the terrorism threat posed by white nationalists is of particular concern.

  • Viruses and Violence: How COVID-19 Has Impacted Extremism

    In April 2020, the Tony Blair Institute acknowledged that “extremist groups are beginning to recognize the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic, seeing opportunities to exploit fears, exacerbate tensions and mobilize supporters while government are occupied with trying to address COVID-19.” Extremists across the ideological spectrum have incorporated the pandemic into their messaging and their operations, though groups have differed on just what COVID-19 means and how to best exploit the pandemic and its resultant unrest.

  • Terrorism in Europe is Geographically Widespread and Multifaceted

    Europol’s just-published report shows that in 2019, there were 119 foiled, failed, and completed terrorist attacks in 13 EU member states, and that 1,004 individuals were arrested on suspicion of terrorism-related offenses in 19 EU member states. Nearly all of deaths and 26 injuries were the result of jihadist attacks.

  • U.S. Army Soldier Charged with Plotting “Mass Casualty” Attack on His Own Unit

    A U.S. Army soldier, 22, has been charged with plotting a mass attack on his unit by sending sensitive military information to the Order of Nine Angles (O9A), a U.K.-based occult-obsessed, neo-Nazi, white supremacist group, the Justice Department announced Monday. O9Ahas affiliates around the world, including the United States, where they are associated with the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division.

  • DHS Warns Boogaloo Bois May Be Targeting Washington, D.C.

    On Monday, DHS has circulated intelligence memos to law enforcement agencies around the country, warning public safety officials that Boogaloo Bois, an extremist anti-government movement, may be targeting Washington, D.C. for violent attacks. The intelligence assessment stated that “the District is likely an attractive target for violent adherents of the boogaloo ideology due to the significant presence of U.S. law enforcement entities, and the wide range of First Amendment-Protected events hosted here.”

  • MI5, Prevent Deemed Reading Attack Suspect Not Worth Investigation

    Saturday knife attack in Reading, U.K., in which three people were killed, is being investigated as an act of terrorism, but investigators say that the 25-year old suspect’s long history of serious mental health issues, exacerbated by heavy drug use, is also being considered. In the last two years, the Libyan national, who was granted asylum in Britain in 2018, was investigated twice for possible ties to Jihadi extremists, but counterterrorism specialists at Prevent and MI5 determined that he had no clear ideology, posed no threat to the public, and required additional mental health care.

  • Profiling of Lone-Wolf Terrorists Is Flawed

    Terrorism has typically been considered an organized activity undertaken by networks of individuals who share a collective identity and purpose. However, in recent years, media, law enforcement and scholarly attention has increasingly focused on the construct of the lone terrorist. Researchers say that this approach may be flawed.

  • Protecting Children's Online Privacy

    A University of Texas at Dallas study of 100 mobile apps for kids found that 72 violated a federal law aimed at protecting children’s online privacy. Researchers developed a tool that can determine whether an Android game or other mobile app complies with the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

  • Russian Info Ops Putting U.S. Police in Their Crosshairs

    Russia appears to be intensifying its focus on police enforcement issues in the United States, using popular reactions to protests that have gripped the nation as part of a larger propaganda campaign to divide Americans ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November. For weeks Russia has used state-controlled RT and Sputnik, and social media posts, to spread disinformation about the protests. Only now, it seems that Russia, through the English-language RT in particular, is reaching out to U.S. police officers and union officials, in what some U.S. officials and lawmakers say is an effort to further inflame tensions.

  • AI Could Help Solve the Privacy Problems It Has Created

    The stunning successes of artificial intelligence would not have happened without the availability of massive amounts of data, whether its smart speakers in the home or personalized book recommendations. These large databases are amassing a wide variety of information, some of it sensitive and personally identifiable. All that data in one place makes such databases tempting targets, ratcheting up the risk of privacy breaches. We believe that the relationship between AI and data privacy is more nuanced. The spread of AI raises a number of privacy concerns, most of which people may not even be aware. But in a twist, AI can also help mitigate many of these privacy problems.

  • How Much Control Would People Be Willing to Grant to a Personal Privacy Assistant?

    CyLab’s Jessica Colnago believes that in the future, the simple act of walking down the street is going to be a little weird. “You know how every time you enter a website, and it says: ‘We use cookies. Do you consent?’ Imagine that same thing walking down the street, but for a light pole, or a surveillance camera, or an energy sensor on a house,” Colnago says.

  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Pledges to Keep State Open, Downplays Rise in Coronavirus Cases

    Gov. Ron DeSantis, responding to criticism, is playing down the state’s increase in new cases in recent weeks, attributing it to more testing among low-risk individuals and saying he won’t roll back reopening efforts. Kennedy and Zac Anderson write in the Palm Beach Post that DeSantis noted that many of the new cases are younger people who are less at risk of becoming seriously ill. The governor noted that the median age of those infected has dropped significantly, and said identifying asymptomatic young people with the infection will help “stop the spread” because they will be isolated. The governor also noted that the number of COVID-19 patients in hospital intensive care unit beds and on ventilators has gone down significantly over the last 60 days. He said there are 6,400 ventilators “sitting idle.”

  • 1 Percent of Humanity Displaced: UN

    UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, said yesterday it was appealing to countries worldwide to do far more to find homes for millions of refugees and others displaced by conflict, persecution or events seriously disturbing public order. This is as a report released today showed that forced displacement is now affecting more than one per cent of humanity – 1 in every 97 people – and with fewer and fewer of those who flee being able to return home.

  • The Appeal of Far-Right Politics

    Why do “ordinary” citizens join far-right organizations? Agnieszka Pasieka explores how far-right groups offer social services, organize festivals, and shape their own narrative to attract new members. In her Austrian Science Fund (FWF)-project, she accompanies activists to investigate their practices and philosophies. Pasieka says that difficult as it might be to empathize with someone who shares fundamentally different values, taking all parties seriously and understanding their motivation is key in a time in which a refusal to engage with other people’s views has become a feature of political as well as academic debates.