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China deploys secure computer operating system
China has installed a secure operating system known as “Kylin” on government and military computers designed to be impenetrable to U.S. military and intelligence agencies
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NERC approves strengthened cyber security standards
The North American Electric Reliability Corp.’s (NERC) independent Board of Trustees last week approved eight revised cyber security standards; entities found in violation of the standards can be fined up to $1 million per day, per violation in the United States
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UCI awarded $45 million for infectious disease research
Research facility receives finds to improve detection, treatment, and vaccine development
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Somali pirates benefit from a global network of informers
These are not your father’s pirates: Somali pirates benefit from information sent to them by informers planted in key shipping hubs around the world; this information includes vessels’ cargo, layout, and route — and is transmitted early enough to allow the pirates enough time to practice their assault based on the information they received
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Boeing's takes X-45C out of storage, renames it Phantom Ray
The proposed 2010 U.S. defense budget is historic at least in one respect: for the first time, the U.S. Air Force will be buying more unmanned flying systems than manned ones; Boeing takes its X-45C unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) out of storage and renames it Phantom Ray; it will be completed and readied for flight by the end of 2010, and will be suitable for missions including ISR, SEAD, electronic attack, hunter/killer, and autonomous aerial refueling
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Highlights of the U.S. 2010 defense budget
U.S. defense budget increase 4 percent over 2009, to $533.8 billion; weapons procurement, at $107.4 billion, comes third after Operations & Maintenance ($185.7 billion) and personnel costs ($136 billion)
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U.S. Coast Guard budget reduced by $20 million relative to 2009
USCG supporters fret over cuts in the Coast Guard budget; the cuts would have been even deeper had it not been for a slight injection of stimulus package funds and the inclusion of DoD supplemental money of $241 million for Operating Expenses Appropriation in support of Overseas Contingency Operations
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How DHS plans to use the stimulus package's funds
The stimulus package has added billions of dollars to the DHS budget; the department details how it plans to spend the money
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Hackers break into UC Berkeley health-services databases
Hackers began breaking into the databases back in October, and continued to steal information until breach was discovered on 9 April; about 160,000 individuals believed to be affected by breach
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Canceling U.K. national ID scheme will save £400 million annually
If start up costs of £300 million are included, the U.K. National Identity Scheme will, over a decade, cost government and citizens around £4.3 billion more than the cost of current passports
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London to deploy satellite-based speed-control system
London buses, cabs, and government cars will be equipped with a satellite-based speed-control system: A centralized computer database will contain the speed limits on each of the city’s streets; a satellite will note the location of the GPS-equipped vehicles, and if the vehicle is going over the speed limit, the computer will seize control of the vehicle’s throttle, letting off the gas until it eases back down to the speed limit
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The security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal // by Dinshaw Mistry
Pakistan has significantly strengthened its nuclear command and control mechanisms; still, under some situations, its nuclear arsenal may be vulnerable to takeover by extremists
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DHS 2010 budget increases by 6 percent
Proposed $43 billion 2010 DHS budget emphasizes border and transportation security, de-emphasizes a national network of sensors to detect dirty bombs
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U.S. "black" military budget is second biggest military budget in world
Forget the $490 billion U.S. defense budget; just the secret, or “black,” budget portion of the defense budget — the money dedicated to secret operations and space activities — ranks second or third among the world’s military expenditures
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New DHS S&T leader: U.S. should brace for "bio-Katrina"
Dr. Tara O’Toole, new leader at DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate: “There is a possibility, a real possibility, that there could be the equivalent of a bio-Katrina on [Obama’s] watch”
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The long view
Kinetic Operations Bring Authoritarian Violence to Democratic Streets
Foreign interference in democracies has a multifaceted toolkit. In addition to information manipulation, the tactical tools authoritarian actors use to undermine democracy include cyber operations, economic coercion, malign finance, and civil society subversion.
Patriots’ Day: How Far-Right Groups Hijack History and Patriotic Symbols to Advance Their Cause, According to an Expert on Extremism
Extremist groups have attempted to change the meaning of freedom and liberty embedded in Patriots’ Day — a commemoration of the battles of Lexington and Concord – to serve their far-right rhetoric, recruitment, and radicalization. Understanding how patriotic symbols can be exploited offers important insights into how historical narratives may be manipulated, potentially leading to harmful consequences in American society.
Trump Aims to Shut Down State Climate Policies
President Donald Trump has launched an all-out legal attack on states’ authority to set climate change policy. Climate-focused state leaders say his administration has no legal basis to unravel their efforts.
Vaccine Integrity Project Says New FDA Rules on COVID-19 Vaccines Show Lack of Consensus, Clarity
Sidestepping both the FDA’s own Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee and the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), two Trump-appointed FDA leaders penned an opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine to announce new, more restrictive, COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. Critics say that not seeking broad input into the new policy, which would help FDA to understand its implications, feasibility, and the potential for unintended consequences, amounts to policy by proclamation.
Twenty-One Things That Are True in Los Angeles
To understand the dangers inherent in deploying the California National Guard – over the strenuous objections of the California governor – and active-duty Marines to deal with anti-ICE protesters, we should remind ourselves of a few elementary truths, writes Benjamin Wittes. Among these truths: “Not all lawful exercises of authority are wise, prudent, or smart”; “Not all crimes require a federal response”; “Avoiding tragic and unnecessary confrontations is generally desirable”; and “It is thus unwise, imprudent, and stupid to take actions for performative reasons that one might reasonably anticipate would increase the risks of such confrontations.”
Luigi Mangione and the Making of a ‘Terrorist’
Discretion is crucial to the American tradition of criminal law, Jacob Ware and Ania Zolyniak write, noting that “lawmakers enact broader statutes to empower prosecutors to pursue justice while entrusting that they will stay within the confines of their authority and screen out the inevitable “absurd” cases that may arise.” Discretion is also vital to maintaining the legitimacy of the legal system. In the prosecution’s case against Luigi Mangione, they charge, “That discretion was abused.”