• Cost of a dirty bomb attack in L.A. would reach $16 billion

    A dirty bomb attack on downtown Los Angeles’ financial district could severely affect the region’s economy at a cost nearly $16 billion, fueled primarily by psychological effects which could persist for a decade

  • Naturally occurring enzyme to defend against chemical terrorism

    Today, protection against nerve agents relies primarily on physical barriers such as gas masks and protective suits that can easily be breached; following exposure, people are treated with drugs that help with the symptoms but do not eliminate the nerve agent; researchers hope to change this, relying on the principles of evolution to produce a more efficient version of an enzyme that occurs naturally in all of us

  • More efficient bioterrorism response plan

    In the event of a bioterror attack on a building (think: the 2011 anthrax attack on the offices of two Democratic Senators, Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Patrick Leahy of Vermont), the current approach to decontamination is to clean up the building until no pathogens can be detected; researchers suggest, however, that whether or not pathogens are found depends greatly upon how extensively the buildings are tested

  • New insights into terrorist threats to ground transportation

    A new analysis of terrorist attacks, and attempted attacks, on ground transportation shows that from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, terrorist groups used chemicals to attack surface transportation; from the mid-1990s on, multiple bombs became the new prototype for terrorist attacks

  • Formation of hate groups associated with presence of big-box stores

    In a new research, economists say that the presence of big-box retailers, such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Target, may alter a community’s social and economic fabric enough to promote the creation of hate groups; the researchers say that the number of Wal-Mart stores in a county is more significant statistically than factors commonly regarded as important to hate group participation, such as the unemployment rate, high crime rates, and low education

  • Pressure continues to remove MEK from terrorist watch-list

    Prominent former U.S. officials who support the removal of the Iranian opposition group MEK  from the U.S. Department of State terrorist watch-list bristle at the despite indirect warnings from the U.S. Treasury Department that their support for the group could constitute a crime

  • France debates its anti-terror approach

    The French are debating their anti-terrorism policies in the wake of the worst terrorist attacks on French soil; the debate centers on whether or not the authorities have the right approach to combating terrorism 

  • Torturing in interrogations tend to be unexpectedly harsh yet ineffective

    Government officials have argued that “enhanced interrogation techniques” are necessary to protect American citizens, but the effectiveness of such techniques has been debated; a recent study argues that when torture is used to elicit information, it is likely to be unexpectedly harsh yet ineffective

  • Nuclear summit focuses on terrorist nukes

    The Seoul nuclear summit focused on the risk of nuclear terrorism; there are two risks: first, fissile materials, which terrorists may use to construct a dirty bomb, is kept at thousands of medical, research, and industrial facilities around the world – often without sufficient security; second, constructing a Hiroshima-type bomb is not as difficult as we may think

  • A nuke blast in D.C. would not destroy city: report

    A study finds that a 10-kiloton bomb detonated in Washington, D.C. would destroy many buildings and kill many people, but it would not completely destroy the city; says one expert: “If you are thinking about (a city) being wiped off the face of the earth, that’s not what happens”

  • FBI questions its relationship with NYPD, pt. 2

    In the first part of this article, we reported that the FBI’s relationship with the NYPD Intelligence Division has become strained, and as a result information exchange has been impaired as the FBI and other jurisdictions have objected to some of the actions NYPD has taken; today, we report on the NYPD’s view

  • PositiveID’s M-BAND fits the bill for $3 billion BioWatch program

    DHS’s $3.1 billion BioWatch program aims to place biosensors on top of utility poles and buildings in major American cities in order to detect bioterror attacks; PositiveID says its M-BAND solution is well positioned to be picked up by DHS for the program

  • Court deadline for U.S. govt. to explain MEK position

    Today is the deadline for the U.S. Department of State to explain to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit why the department would not remove the Iranian anti-government movement MEK from the U.S. terrorist watch list; the MEK engaged in terrorist activities against the current regime in Iran, but renounced to use of terrorism after 9/11; the EU has removed the MEK from its terrorist list a few years ago

  • FBI questions its relationship with the NYPD, pt. 1

    The split between the the FBI and the NYPD continues to grow, as the NYPD Intelligence Division takes on a far-reaching and aggressive role in intelligence gathering

  • U.S. Congressman: Hezbollah greater threat than al Qaeda

    Al Qaeda is perceived as the primary terror threat to the United States, but Congressman Peter King (R-New York), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, sounds the alarm that Hezbollah may be the greater threat