Navy

Britain's New £1Bln Warships Breaking Down Because of Engine Troubles

The six destroyers of the British Royal Navy costing over a billion pounds each keep breaking down, the BBC reported.

The warships regularly face failures of the electrical systems caused by power-hungry generators, according to sources from the Royal Navy. Running all systems simultaneously can simply de-energize a vessel, leaving it with no power to operate and take part in a combat.

The problem first arose when the engine of the warship Dauntless failed during exercises in 2014.

Human trafficking

About 10,000 Refugee Minors Disappear After Arriving to Europe

According to Europol, there are some 270,000 children among the refugees, who arrived in the European countries from the crisis-torn countries in 2015. Dozens of thousands of these minors were unaccompanied by adults and disappeared. Their fate sparked concerns in the 28-nation block as they could become victims of human traffickers.

He added that some 5,000 of refugee children disappeared in Italy and about 1,000 in Sweden.

The European Union is currently struggling to manage the massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people leaving their countries of origin in the Middle East and North Africa for Europe. Over 1.83 million illegal border crossings have been detected by the EU border agency Frontex during 2015.

Political assassination

Russian Investigation Into Nemtsov Death Ends, 5 Men Charged

Russian investigators have completed their investigation into five men accused of killing of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov outside the Kremlin last year, paving the way for their trial.

The Investigative Committee in an online statement on Friday said five Chechen men had been charged over the murder, which shocked the world and sent a chill down the spine of Russia's liberal opposition.

The men — Zaur Dadayev, Anzor Gubashev, Shadid Gubashev, Temerlan Eskerkhanov and Khamzat Bakhayev — are accused of committing the murder as part of an organized group and illegally purchasing, carrying, transporting and storing firearms. A sixth suspect, Beslan Shavanov, blew himself up while being detained in Chechnya last year, the statement said.

Cybersecurity

Cyber Capabilities Key to Future Dominance

One of the stunning trends since 2001 is the tactical dominance of the American military, especially ground combat units. This success was not gained by accident or chance; it resulted from hard training and the ability of units to harness combat power down to the tactical edge. The historically unprecedented tactical prowess of our ground forces is enabled by a network, with systems and data, connected globally in ways that deliver power to the edge.

This level of connectivity, however, has created expectations within our formations that may no longer be realistic as cyberspace is increasingly contested. This is why mission assurance is so critical. Small ground units connected in ways to harness the power of the U.S. military have a much higher probability of mission success, and in many ways provide an overmatch that is second to none.

Electronic surveillance

Congressional Hearings on Surveillance Programs to Kick Off — in Secret

The House Judiciary Committee will hold its first hearing next week on two of the NSA spying programs revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden that vacuum up domestic content despite being ostensibly targeted at foreigners: PRISM and Upstream.

But, to the great consternation of 26 government accountability groups who wrote an angry letter to committee leaders on Wednesday, the public is not invited. The entire hearing is classified, and closed.

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendments Act of 2008, which has been cited as the legal authority for those two programs, lapses next year.

Intel sharing

Canada spy agency stops sharing intelligence with international parters

Canada’s ultra-secret eavesdropping agency has stopped sharing intelligence with international partners after revealing it had illegally collected Canadians’ metadata in sweeps of foreign communications.

In a report to parliament, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) said on Thursday the breach was unintentional and had been discovered internally in 2013.

A CSE official blamed a software flaw that resulted in sharing of metadata, used to identify, manage or route communications over networks that could identify Canadians.

Declassification

The truth really IS out there: CIA releases thousands of declassified 'X-files' on aliens, flying saucers and other unexplained phenomena

The CIA has released thousands of declassified documents on flying saucers, aliens and other unexplained phenomena. 

'We've decided to highlight a few documents both skeptics and believers will find interesting,' the agency said on its website.

The post continued: 'Below you will find five documents we think X-Files character Agent Fox Mulder would love to use to try and persuade others of the existence of extraterrestrial activity.'

All of the documents are dated from the late 1940s to the 1960s, but were top-secret until now.

Outer space

North Korea activity points to possible space launch: U.S. officials

The United States has seen increased activity around a North Korean missile site, suggesting preparations for a possible space launch in the near future, U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday.

The finding was revealed as Washington shows growing concern that Pyongyang could use space technology to enhance its missile capability and while United Nations Security Council members discuss fresh sanctions against North Korea after it conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6.

The officials cited intelligence suggesting movement of components and propellant at North Korea's Sohae satellite launch facility. A test could take place within a couple of weeks, they said.

Air defense

David’s Sling: New Technology Will Handle Multiple Threats

As the Rafael David’s Sling is moving towards operational status, it is the preferred option to replace the Israeli air force (IAF) Patriot missiles. David’s Sling is being developed by Rafael in cooperation with Raytheon, mainly as an interceptor of medium and long range rockets.

Designed with a capability for “classic” air defence missions, David’s Sling will probably replace the aging Patriot batteries. The IAF has evaluated the upgrade of the existing Patriot batteries to the PAC-3 configuration, but the investment is considered too big for the added capabilities.

Israeli sources said that while in many countries the aerial threat posed by aircraft is considered low, in Israel this is still a major one.

Communications security

Li-Fi Could And Should Be Tomorrow’s Technology

Li-Fi is a category of Visible Light Communication; a LED light flickers at speeds undetectable to the naked eye to transmit data – somewhat like a fast morse code that uses light. In fact, scientists have demonstrated in a lab that they can transmit information at as much as 224 gigabits per second, the equivalent of 18 movies of 1.5 GB each being downloaded every single second. In an office setting, they were able to achieve speeds up to 100 times faster than average WiFi speeds.

The LED lights require very little energy, and can be powered by a standard ethernet cord. Inventor Harald Haas has also suggested that the smart lights could be powered by solar cells charging batteries. In addition, Li-Fi does not create electromagnetic interference the way Wi-Fi does, meaning it could have important applications in sensitive locations.

Laser

Pentagon Seeks Next Phase In Laser Weapon Technology

Vice Admiral James Syring, director of the Missile Defence Agency, said that the time is now right to explore weaponized lasers mounted on high-altitude drones. The plan is to see how the technology matures over the next three years.

“We have significantly ramped up our programme in terms of investment and talking about it more of what else needs to be done to mature this capability,” Syring said.

High-altitude UAVs fly at 65,000 feet (19.8 km) or higher, far above the tops of mountains and most inclement weather formations. They can fly for days or even weeks, keeping an eye out on enemy activity, ready to act at a moment’s notice.

For the military, attaining a method of disabling ballistic missiles in their vulnerable boost phase (before they reach full speed, or can deploy decoys or take evasive action) has long been a standing goal. $5 billion and 16 years were spent on building the Airborne Laser, a modified Boeing 747, that shot down a missile in a 2010 test using its chemical laser.

Predictions

Prediction Markets vs. Pollsters and Pundits in 2016 Presidential Election

 Designing a good presidential poll can be tricky. Just ask Gallup, which missed the mark in 2012.David Kass, an economist at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, takes a different approach. Rather than worrying about things like sample selection and response bias, he simply follows the money on prediction markets.

Odds and lines: Betting on politics is mostly illegal in the United States, but online investors (maybe “gamblers” is the better term) can trade shares on U.S. candidates in places like Ireland.

Predictions

Prof Stephen Hawking: disaster on planet Earth is a near certainty

Professor Stephen Hawking has warned that a disaster on Earth within the next thousand or ten thousand years is a ‘near certainty'.

The cosmologist said that genetically engineered viruses, nuclear war and global warming all threatened to wipe out the human race in the foreseeable future.

He argued that unstoppable developments in science and technology were likely to prove the biggest danger, adding that the human race may only be able to survive in colonies on other planets in the solar system.

Economic security

Oil Price Rally Gives Respite to Russian Ruble

The Russian ruble has strengthened sharply in recent days as an oil price rally eased the pressure on the economy of the world's largest energy exporter.

By Friday mid afternoon the ruble was trading at around 76 to the U.S. dollar — more than ten percent stronger than on Jan. 21 when the currency reached 85.99 to the greenback, its worst since since 1998.

The ruble has followed movements in the oil price, which rose sharply this week on news that Russia may negotiate output cuts with OPEC, the oil producers' cartel, to ease the oversupply on global markets and lift the cost of crude.

Politics

U.S. politicians are so predictable, a robot can literally write their speeches

Spend enough time watching politicians talk, and pretty soon you'll have a good idea of how to address the public like a seasoned elected official. No matter the topic, our nation's leaders invariably find a way to tie things back to members of the hard-working middle-class who just want a fair shot at the American dream, perhaps with a side of help for small business.

Lawmakers today might be able to give this kind of political speech in their sleep. But with the way technology is going, they might as well have a robot write it for them.

Mr. Speaker, supporting this rule and supporting this bill is good for small business. It is great for American small business, for Main Street, for jobs creation. We have an economy that has created nearly 2 million jobs in the past couple of months: apparel, textiles, transportation and equipment, electronic components and equipment, chemicals, industrial and commercial equipment and computers, instruments, photographic equipment, metals, food, wood and wood products. Virtually every state in the union can claim at least one of these industrial sectors. In fact, one young girl, Lucy, wanted to make sure that the economy keeps growing. That should not be done on borrowed money, on borrowed time.

A computer wrote that speech.

Corruption

Clinton corruption is endless-----Clinton Foundation didn't disclose up to $26M in fees

"Washington (CNN)The Clinton Foundation confirmed Thursday that it received as much as $26.4 million in previously unreported payments from foreign governments and corporations for speeches given by the Clintons.It's the latest in a string of admissions from the foundation that it didn't always abide by a 2008 ethics agreement to disclose its funding sources publicly. 

...Former President Clinton was the biggest earner for speeches, giving three that brought in anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million.
Both he and his wife gave a smattering of speeches to foreign companies and other organizations for anywhere from $250,000 to $500,000.
...According to foundation officials, the income -- at least $12 million and as much as more than twice that -- was not disclosed publicly because it was considered and tallied for tax purposes as revenue, rather than donations.

Corruption

A top Chinese banker has killed himself amid a corruption investigation

One of China’s top bankers and a former regulator jumped to his death on Tuesday (Jan.27) morning, after being put under investigation earlier this month by the Communist Party’s anti-graft watchdog.

Yang Zezhu, 62, former chairman of Changjiang Securities, resigned from his post after the mid-sized Chinese brokerage said on Jan. 6 that he was being probed by the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for “personal reasons.”

Yang fell to his death from his 12th floor apartment in Wuhan, capital of the central Hubei province, where the brokerage is based. A suicide note was found by police, local news portal cnhubei reported (link in Chinese). The report was cited by other Chinese media, including the official Xinhua news agency, indicating that government officials think it is credible.

Defense

Nuclear Weapons Technology Is Out of Date

There are nine countries that have nuclear weapons, which have been upgraded in devastation since they were first used in anger by the Americans in World War II. The tech that powers them, not so much.

The U.K.’s nuclear deterrent is made up of four Vanguard-class submarines, each equipped with 16 Trident missiles. Each missile on Britain’s nuclear submarines has the destructive power of eight Hiroshimas. And what operating system does one of the world’s deadliest vessels use? A variant of Windows XP, according to the Guardian.

Biosecurity

Genetic engineering could thwart the Zika virus, among other mosquito-borne diseases

Despite the recent media frenzy concerning CRISPR and a much-vaunted genetics revolution, there have been few changes a lay person could use to show how our world has fundamentally changed thanks to genetic engineering. In fact, as technology pundit Peter Thiel put it, “Our world looks strangely old.” Save for cell phones and personal computers, much of our day-to-day existence is not that far removed from the state of things 20 or even 30 years ago.

With the recent use of genetically engineered mosquitoes in Brazil to halt the spread of the Zika virus, we might be beginning to see some major health improvements as a consequence of the genetics revolution. A world in which mosquitoes were all but eliminated from the ecosystem would look quite different from the world of today, especially for people living in the tropics where the threat of mosquito transmitted infections does more than just mar an otherwise tranquil margarita sipped from the veranda of a beach resort. This is not to beggar the more mundane advantages of a mosquito-free habitat, but rather call attention to the fact that for large parts of the world, including Brazil, mosquitoes can be the difference between life and death.

Tax avoidance

So is corporate tax avoidance on the way out? Don't bet on it

The days of loopholes are numbered, said EU Commissioner Pierre Moscovici.

Don't count on it.

The suite of measures announced by the EU yesterday, which essentially proposes making elements of the OECD's BEPs project legally binding, have an impressive air about them.

Companies would be deterred from shifting their profits from parent companies to subsidiaries in low or no tax countries; loopholes that allow companies to use dividends or capital gains to skip taxation would be closed; and, in a bid to increase transparency, corporations will have to reveal their taxes, profits, revenues and other financial data to the authorities in all countries where they operate.

There's some understandable uncertainty about what the implications may be for companies as they adjust to the new reality.

Biosecurity

Viral Soldiers

Researchers on the hunt for more-effective therapies that preserve a healthy microbiome are taking a closer look at the many different viruses that attack bacteria. Bacteriophages (literally, “bacteria eaters”) punch holes through the microbes’ outer covering and inject their own genetic material, hijacking the host’s cellular machinery to make viral copies, then burst open the cell with proteins known as lysins, releasing dozens or hundreds of new phages. The cycle continues until there are no bacteria left to slay. Phages are picky eaters that only attack specific types of bacteria, so they’re unlikely to harm the normal microbiome or any human cells. And because phages have coevolved with their bacterial victims for millennia, it’s unlikely that an arms race will lead to resistance. This simple biology has led to renewed interest in the surprisingly long-standing practice of phage therapy: infecting patients with viruses to kill their bacterial foes.

Law & order

All the Russian Words You Need to Discuss the Litvinenko Inquiry

The official Russian response to the report on the Litvinenko inquiry released last week was, predictably, offhand and dismissive, referring to it as "некое расследование" (so-called investigation ).

But a lot of Russian journalists paid attention to it, in particular to the section assigning ultimate blame. The only problem was: no one could quite decide how to translate the key sentence — or rather one little word in it: probably.

Before you snort about looking it up in a dictionary, let's recall how subtle some of the distinctions of probability are in English and how difficult they are for foreigners to grasp. Take this list: "He might come to the party. He may come. He could come. Maybe he'll come. He'll probably come. He's likely to come." Russians read that and scream.

Cybersecurity

Data Is Never Safe—Students in Philadelphia Just Proved It

With the right program on board, data can be transmitted out of a computer with no ethernet, no wi-fi, no intentional vein to the external world at all.

A team at this weekend’s PennApps hackathon in Philadelphia wrote a computer program that made it possible to transmit data out of a completely unconnected computer, as Technical.ly Philly previously reported. The hack transmits data slowly and it doesn’t broadcast far, but it does it, showing that there’s always a way around any kind of security.

Whistleblowing

New docs confirm CIA had rendition flight lurking in Europe to catch Snowden

A Danish news website has published documents backing up the allegations that in June 2013 a US plane with a connection to CIA black site programs was on call in Copenhagen ready to snatch NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden as he was stranded in Moscow.

The story of the private aircraft, a Gulfstream V with registration number N977GA, was first reported by The Register in June 2014. The plane previously used by the American intelligence to secretly transport terror subjects to clandestine detention facilities in Europe, flew from Washington, DC over Scotland to Copenhagen, the report said.

Terror threat

Special ISIS cells preparing terror attacks in Europe and Russia – Russian anti-terrorism body

Islamic State cells led by Chechen recruiter Akhmed Chetayev are planning terrorist attacks in Russia and Europe, Moscow's National Anti-Terrorist Committee reported. Former Iraqi army officers are taking part in training terrorists to attack Russia, it added.

“Russian special services have intelligence that certain IS groups are preparing terrorist attacks in Russia and European nations,” Andrey Przhezdomsky, spokesman for the Russian National Anti-Terrorist Committee, warned on Friday. “In particular, a battalion formed mainly from recruits from North Caucasus headed by Akhmed Chetayev, nicknamed One-Handed.”

Chetayev's group reportedly includes dozens of people born in Russia's southern republics who traveled to Syria to join the ranks of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

Cybersecurity

GAO to DHS: Intrusion detection system fails to meet expectations

Only a fraction of the agencies required to use the National Cybersecurity Protection System do so, according to a new report, which also stated that the system is lacking in its intrusion and prevention capabilities anyway.

Although all 23 agencies required to implement intrusion detection capabilities had routed some traffic through the $1.2 billion system, known as NCPS or Einstein, only five received intrusion prevention services, according to a January Government Accountability Office report (pdf). But moreover, the Homeland Security Department needs to do more to beef up the system, GAO said.

For instance, NCPS gives the department some ability to detect potentially malicious activity affecting federal computer networks by comparing network traffic to known malicious signatures, but it does not find new or unknown patterns of threatening data, nor does the system monitor all types of network traffic, GAO found.

Aviation & defense cybersecurity

Report: Aviation, defense cybersecurity market to reach $62B

The global aviation and defense cybersecurity market will reach $61.9 billion by 2020, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 9.34 percent from 2015, according to a forecast by market research firm MarketsandMarkets.

"With the rising cost of on-premise cybersecurity solutions and difficulty in operational convenience, the demand for on-cloud deployment of cybersecurity solutions is increasing at a rapid pace," the report said. "The increased rate of cyberattacks and hacking across the globe has further propelled the demand for on-cloud deployment."

North America will remain the largest aviation cybersecurity market though the fastest growth will be in Latin America.

Communications security

SNOWDEN: US and British spies hacked secret Israeli air force communications

The United States and Britain have monitored secret sorties and communications by Israel's air force in a hacking operation dating back to 1998, according to documents attributed to leaks by former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Israel voiced disappointment at the disclosures, published on Friday in at least two media outlets and which might further strains ties with Washington after years of feuding over strategies on Iran and the Palestinians.

Israel's best-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, said the U.S. National Security Agency, which specializes in electronic surveillance, and its British counterpart GCHQ spied on Israeli air force missions against Gaza, Syria and Iran.

Nuclear security

Symetrica’s Advanced Radiation Detection Technology Helps Secure Contract With DHS

Symetrica has announced that its patented radiation detection and identification technology will be deployed in the latest Handheld Radioisotope Identification Devices (RIIDs) that Smiths Detection Inc. has agreed to supply to the US as part of a contract with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Symetrica’s Discovery Technology is at the heart of the Smiths Detection RadSeeker handheld radiation detectors for which the DHS Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) recently awarded an IDIQ (indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity) contract with a maximum value of $143 million for the technology, its maintenance and associated training.

The Smiths Detection RadSeeker is a handheld, rugged and highly accurate radioisotope detector and identifier, specifically designed to meet the US. DHS mission requirements for a next-generation system capable of detecting and identifying varied nuclear threats. It is easy to use while supplying the operator with quick, simple, specific information for threat assessment. Applications include customs inspection, border protection, emergency response, and radiological facilities/personnel monitoring.

Biosecurity

Rio Olympics feared as way for Zika virus to go global

With about 500,000 people expected to visit Brazil for the Olympics here this year, researchers are scrambling to figure how much of a risk the Games might pose in spreading the Zika virus around the world.

Infectious disease specialists are particularly focused on the potential for Zika to spread to the United States. As many as 200,000 Americans are expected to travel to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics in August. When they return to the Northern Hemisphere and its summer heat, far more mosquitoes will be around to potentially transmit the virus in the United States.

Brazilian researchers say they believe that Zika, which has been linked to severe birth defects, came to their country during another major sports event — the 2014 World Cup — when hundreds of thousands of visitors flowed into Brazil. Virus trackers here say that the strain raging in Brazil probably came from Polynesia, where an outbreak was rattling small islands around the Pacific.

Political assassination

Weak Response to Litvinenko Inquiry Will Not Deter Russia

Even for a thick-skinned president such as Vladimir Putin, and his unapologetic regime, last week's newspapers cannot have been comfortable reading. It is one thing to be a 'distinctive' voice in world politics, but another entirely to be outed as a probable murderer – as the final report of the inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko accuses him of being. The Russian response has been a familiar mixture of bluster, misrepresentation and conspiracy theory.

Fortunately for the Kremlin, the British government would like to move on too. Its outrage is probably genuine, but there has clearly been a decision to do as little as can be got away with. The actual substance of the British response has so far been confined to freezing the assets of the two accused assassins − Dmitri Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi − and it is surprising this had not been done long ago. All other measures were already in place, in the form of EU-wide sanctions and visa bans in response to Russia's aggression in Ukraine. Everything else is just words. 

Navy

Invisible Bullets: The Navy’s Big Problem In Future War

In the brutal naval battles of the future, the first clash of arms will be a clash of electrons. If you don’t win the invisible battle of the airwaves, you can’t win the visiblebattle of missiles.

Before warships can concentrate their fire on the enemy, they first must communicate with each other. Before they can fire at long range at all, they have to communicate with forward scouts — other ships, satellites, manned aircraft, drones — who can transmit detailed targeting data on enemies beyond the reach of a warship’s onboard radar, typically just 10 nautical miles. (That’s against other ships, which can hide below the horizon: High-flying aircraft and ballistic missiles are detectable hundreds of miles away).

Nuclear security

World Still 3 Minutes Away From Destruction, Doomsday Clock Says

Doomsday Clock remains at three minutes to midnight, the closest to the brink of global destruction since the height of the Cold War, representatives of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced Tuesday.

Constructed in 1947 as an indicator of an oncoming nuclear catastrophe, the Doomsday Clock now factors in climate change and other threats to humanity as well in its projections of global safety. The clock, which counts down to an apocalypse at midnight, has moved some 21 times since it was put in place.

Biosecurity

Obama calls for rapid Zika research as virus seen spreading

President Barack Obama on Tuesday called for the rapid development of tests, vaccines and treatments to fight the mosquito-transmitted Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects and could spread to the United States in warmer months.

U.S. health officials are stepping up efforts to study the link between Zika virus infections and birth defects, citing a recent study estimating the virus could reach regions where 60 percent of the U.S. population lives.

Obama was briefed on the potential spread of the virus by his top health and national security officials on Tuesday.

Conspiracy theory

Vulture arrested in Lebanon on suspicion of spying

A vulture from an Israeli nature reserve has been captured in Lebanon on suspicion of espionage after flying across the border, Israel’s nature reserve authority has said.

Members of the Israeli public phoned the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to alert it to Facebook reports and pictures of a vulture with an Israeli identification ring and location transmitter captured by residents of the south Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, a spokeswoman, Tali Tenenbaum, said.

Opinion & viewpoint

Russia's Ruling Regime Must Modernize or Face Collapse

In 2014-2015, Russia's domestic policy was pushed abroad — first toward Ukraine, then toward Syria. In 2016 the Russian authorities will have to shift their focus away from shaping the world order and toward putting their own house in order. Otherwise, they will not survive.

Over the last two years, President Vladimir Putin has confirmed his legitimacy through the use of extraordinary measures — war and the mobilization of public opinion. But that type of legitimacy desensitizes a society that requires ever more frequent and grandiose "feats" to evoke a comparable response. Russia's dealings with Crimea, Novorossiya, Syria and Turkey being the most recent government actions to a rouse public response.

Flight security

Israeli Technology Keeps Airports Safe From FOD

The Israeli developed RunWize system has been installed on the rebuilt runway of the Sea-Tac airport in Seattle.

The RunWize developed by X-sight includes FODetect, automated Foreign Object Debris (FOD) detection and BirdWize, ground level bird hazard management.

Integration was made by prime contractor Leidos , a national security, health and engineering solutions company.

RunWize has been deployed on the newly rebuilt center runway and ready for the runway opening, after successfully passing site acceptance testing.

According to the Israeli company, RunWize improves the daily operation of airport runways by increasing safety and efficiency. Its detection capabilities are derived from a unique hybrid optical-radar remote-sensing technology and strategic positioning of its sensors alongside the runway, collocated with the runway edge lights.

Encryption

A Strong Case For Strong Encryption

A vocal and at times fierce debate over encryption has developed in recent months. On the one side are those proposing the introduction of government mandated backdoors into products that use encryption, mainly some members of the intelligence community and government officials of various countries. Opposite them you’ll find those in favour of strong encryption, among them cyber security experts, privacy advocates, the Dutch government, and some unlikely allies, such as ex-NSA chief General Michael Hayden and the current head of the agency, Admiral Michael Rogers.