TERRORISMDo Targeted Killings Weaken Terrorist Groups? By Max Boot Published 8 August 2022 Targeted operations by U.S. forces have eliminated notorious leaders of armed extremist groups, al-Qaeda’s Ayman al-Zawahiri the latest among them. But how much they disrupt these terrorist organizations is questionable. It has become a ritual: U.S. intelligence locates a terrorist leader, who is

PUBLIC HEALTHHow Polio Crept Back into the U.S. By Robin Fields Published 8 August 2022 U.S. public health agencies generally don’t test wastewater for signs of polio. That may have given the virus time to circulate silently before it paralyzed a New York man. About a month ago, British health authorities announced they’d found evidence suggesting

CYBERSECURITYNSF Grants to Protect Data, User privacy Published 8 August 2022 Researchers are working on two new cybersecurity projects, recently funded by the National Science Foundation, to ensure trustworthy cloud computing and increase computing privacy for marginalized and vulnerable populations. Indiana University researchers are working on two new cybersecurity projects, recently funded by the National Science Foundation,

AIAn AI Pilot May Be Able to Navigate Crowded Airspace Published 8 August 2022 Researchers believe they have developed the first AI pilot that enables autonomous aircraft to navigate a crowded airspace. The artificial intelligence can safely avoid collisions, predict the intent of other aircraft, track aircraft and coordinate with their actions, and communicate over

TERRORISMFBI: Al-Qaida Determined to Strike at US Despite Leader’s Killing Published 5 August 2022 The FBI remains worried about the potential for a large-scale attack planned or inspired by al-Qaida despite the killing of its top leader in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan last weekend. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who took over as al-Qaida leader after

AIArtificial Intelligence Isn’t That Intelligent By Harriet Farlow Published 8 August 2022 In the world of information security, social engineering is the game of manipulating people into divulging information that can be used in a cyberattack or scam. Cyber experts may therefore be excused for assuming that AI might display some human-like level of intelligence

UNCONVENTIONAL WEAPONSOrigins of Unconventional War By Adrienne Mayor Published 5 August 2022 Flamethrowers, poison gases, incendiary bombs, the large-scale spreading of disease: are these terrifying agents of warfare modern inventions? Not by a long shot. Societies around the world have used biological and chemical weapons for thousands of years. “One sobering result of writing this

NUCLEAR WEAPONSWhy Are Nuclear Weapons So Hard to Get Rid Of? Because They’re Tied Up in Nuclear Countries’ Sense of Right and Wrong By Thomas E. Doyle, II Published 5 August 2022 States’ motivations for keeping nuclear weapons are often perceived as rooted in hard-nosed security strategy, with morality considered as irrelevant or even self-defeating.

TERRORISM2021: More than 400 Were Convicted of Terrorism Offenses in EU Countries Published 15 July 2022 EUROPOL the other day published the European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2022 (TE–SAT). It provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date intelligence picture on terrorism in the European Union. In 2021, European courts convicted 423 individuals for  terrorist

CHINA WATCHChina Escalating Campaign of Intimidation, Harassment of Chinese Dissidents in U.S. By Masood Farivar Published 15 July 2022 Last week, the U.S. Justice Department announced the indictment of one former and one current DHS agents who were recruited to help the Chinese government’s campaign of harassment targeting U.S.-based critics. This was not the first