Food securityNew Biodefense Lab to Focus on Food Security Published 14 May 2021 The University of Nebraska has launched a 5-year project to help safeguard the U.S. food supply. The project will address agricultural and natural resources security, defense, and countermeasures; biological defense in support of the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security

PandemicsExpert Panel: Current Global Alert System “Clearly Unfit” to Prevent Another Pandemic Published 13 May 2021 An independent report by experts offers a scathing assessment of the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The current system—at both national and international levels— was not adequate to protect people from COVID-19,” the report says. The current pandemic

PandemicsWho Was Better at Predicting the Course of the Pandemic – Experts or the Public? By Gabriel Recchia Published 13 May 2021 Despite the potential influence of both expert and non-expert predictions on people’s responses to the pandemic, there’s been limited research on the accuracy of either – or indeed on the difference in accuracy

TerrorismFrance, Britain Fearful of Resurgent Jihadist Threat After Lockdown By Jamie Dettmer Published 13 May 2021 Nearly 200 jihadists imprisoned in France are due to be released over the next two years and French security officials are pressing French lawmakers to approve fresh antiterrorist measures to impose enhanced restrictions on those freed and to give

DronesTracking Drones in Urban Settings Published 13 May 2021 As drones become more popular and more worrisome from a security standpoint, many projects have sought to engineer systems to spot them. Engineers are using machine learning and radar to detect drones in complicated urban settings. Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane!

Power grid resilienceRenewable Energy Will Enhance Power Grid’s Resilience Published 13 May 2021 A new study shows that integrating renewable energy into the American Electric Power System (AEPS) would enhance the grid’s resilience, meaning a highly resilient and decarbonized energy system is possible. The researchers’ analysis is based upon the incremental incorporation of architectural changes

Infrastructure securityThe TSA Should Regulate Pipeline Cybersecurity By Robert K. Knake Published 11 May 2021 Fuel deliveries to the east coast of the United States have been brought to a standstill by cybercriminals that have gained access to Colonial Pipelines’ networks and forced the company to shut down its distribution system. After two decades of

CybercrimeCybercrime a Booming Business — Thanks to COVID By Marcel Fürstenau Published 11 May 2021 The coronavirus pandemic has given a huge boost to internet crime. The number of offenses is on the rise while the number of successfully solved cases is stagnating in Germany. Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) registered 108,474 cybercrimes in

Truth decayDetecting Conspiracy Theories on Social Media Published 11 May 2021 Conspiracy theories circulated online via social media contribute to a shift in public discourse away from facts and analysis and can contribute to direct public harm. Social media platforms face a difficult technical and policy challenge in trying to mitigate harm from online conspiracy

Pandemic responseExpert Panel: Current Global Alert System “Clearly Unfit” to Prevent Another Pandemic Published 12 May 2021 An independent report by experts offers a scathing assessment of the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The current system—at both national and international levels— was not adequate to protect people from COVID-19,” the report says. The current