CYBERSECURITYHow Destructive Is a DDoS Cyberattack? By Esteban Pardo Published 11 May 2022 Last weekend, Russian hackers attacked several German government websites. These cyberattacks were seemingly harmless, much to the relief of the authorities. But many others are not so lucky. Last weekend, hackers attacked the websites of the German military and the Ministry of Defense,

BIOSECURITYStrengthening the Nation’s Early Warning System for Health Threats Published 11 May 2022 The White House hosted the Summit on Strengthening the Nation’s Early Warning System for Health Threats in support of the launch of the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA). The launch of the CFA fulfills requirements in National Security Memorandum-1 (NSM-1),

CYBERSECURITYUndetected and Dormant: Managing Australia’s Software Security Threat By Sarah Sloan Published 11 May 2022 At the same time as software has become integral to our prosperity and national security, attacks on software supply chains are on the rise. Software supply chain attacks are popular, can have a big impact and are used to great

WILDFIRESWildfires Are Still Catching Us Off-Guard. Congress’ Plan to Fix That Isn’t Going Anywhere. By Chad Small Published 11 May 2022 Last year, during a Congressional hearing on the state of wildfire research, researchers and fire managers said that coordination among federal agencies to improve wildfire research would be tremendously helpful to prepare for future

IMMIGRATIONImmigrants in the U.S. Are More Likely to Start Firms, Create Jobs: Study By Peter Dizikes Published 11 May 2022 Compared to native-born citizens, immigrants are more frequently involved in founding companies at all scales. A new study finds that, per capita, immigrants are about 80 percent more likely to found a firm, compared to

CHINA WATCHCornell University Profs Call for School to Halt, Reverse Its Growing Academic, Business Ties with China Published 10 May 2022 An event at Cornell University, organized by three professors, which called for the university to halt, and then reverse, its growing academic and business ties with China, reflected a broader trend of calls for

SURVEILLANCESpain Sacks Intelligence Chief in Wake of Pegasus Scandal Published 10 May 2022 Paz Esteban was replaced after a controversy over the use of the Pegasus spyware to hack top Spanish officials’ cellphones, as well as spying on Catalan separatists. The Spanish government has fired the director of its top intelligence agency after the disclosure of

BIOTHREATSDeveloping New Vaccine Against Three Biothreat Pathogens Published 10 May 2022 Scientists are seeking to develop a multi-pathogen vaccine that will protect against three bacterial biothreat pathogens. Scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and three other institutions are seeking to develop a multi-pathogen vaccine that will protect against three bacterial biothreat pathogens. Led by LLNL, the team includes

WILDFIRESCalifornia’s 2020 Wildfire Season Published 10 May 2022 2020 was a record-breaking fire year for California. Nearly 9,900 wildfires burned 4.3 million acres in California 2020, twice the previous record. 2020 was the first year acres burned came close to burn rates before Euro-American settlement. A new study calls for management shift to reduce fire

INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTIONBoosting Efforts to Predict Harmful Solar Weather Events Published 10 May 2022 When big blasts of energy from the sun envelop the Earth, they can very strong: a 2015 event so weakened Earth’s protective magnetic field that it penetrated to the atmosphere, posing a threat to everything from circling space station astronauts to delicate