Immigration security

First 18,000 Syrian refugees cross Greek border amid fresh tear gas clashes with guards after Turkish president Erdogan vowed to open doors to Europe and KEEP them open

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to keep borders open for Syrian refugees headed for Europe as the first 18,000 cross the Greek border and migrants clash for the second day with guards.    

'What did we do yesterday (Friday)? We opened the doors,' Erdogan said in Istanbul in his first comments since 33 Turkish troops were killed in northern Syria on Thursday. 'We will not close those doors ...Why? Because the European Union should keep its promises.'

The Turkish leader also said 18,000 migrants have amassed on the Turkish borders with Europe since Friday, adding that the number could reach as many as 30,000 on Saturday.   

Migrants played a cat-and-mouse game with Greek border patrols throughout the night and into Saturday, with some cutting holes in the fence only to be turned back by tear gas and stun grenades. Greek authorities also fired tear gas to repulse attempts by the crowd to push through the border.

Mass surveillance

Why Does DARPA Want To Turn Earth’s Atmosphere Into a Surveillance Sensor?

DARPA, the Pentagon’s pet research agency, says the Atmosphere as a Sensor (AtmoSense) program is meant to detect natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and asteroid strikes. But DARPA is a military research organization, which raises the question of what else this research can be used for.

The theory behind AtmoSense is that natural events occur that aren’t detected because there is no continuous global surveillance system to spot them. Nonetheless, the energy of an earthquake leaves telltale signs in the Earth’s atmosphere.

“It’s well known that energy propagates from the Earth’s surface to the ionosphere, but the specifics of how that happens is not currently known enough to use the atmosphere as a sensor,” according to a DARPA press release. “Scientific literature has clearly documented that events like thunderstorms, tornadoes, volcanos, and tsunamis make big ‘three-dimensional wakes; that propagate to the upper reaches of the ionosphere and leave a mark there. Since that energy traverses several other layers of the atmosphere—the troposphere, stratosphere, and mesosphere—on its way up to the ionosphere, the idea is to try and identify the disturbances the “wake” is making along its way to see if researchers can capture information to indicate what type of event caused it.

Afghan war

US waves the white flag of surrender to the Taliban and al Qaeda

Eighteen years, five months, two weeks, and four days after the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States waved the white flag of surrender to the Taliban and al Qaeda.

Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Gen. Austin Miller, great Americans, no doubt secured the best deal they could after Secretaries Mike Pompeo and Mark Esper pulled the plug on what was unironically christened Operation Enduring Freedom. President Trump’s partisans will polish this turd of an agreement best they can, to help his reelection. But this war now likely ends like Vietnam did: enemy tanks crashing through our embassy gate and a CIA officer slugging a liaison partner trying to board the last helicopter out.

Withdrawal conditions will be interpreted with a view toward getting out fast. The Taliban did not even follow through on its promised weeklong ceasefire, quickly rebranded as a “reduction in violence.” The Taliban will break its agreements, al Qaeda will return, literally with a vengeance, and terror attacks will be launched to kill people in the U.S.

Those who say we can manage this threat from the air forget how that worked out between 1996-2001, while those who say from barstools that we can “carpet bomb” the enemy forget we have not done that since 1945. The military experience of those who say we can simply parachute in a handful of special forces may be limited to watching Rambo.

Food safety

Belgian wine alert after woman dies from sip of MDMA drug

Belgian authorities have issued a warning after a woman died, having apparently taken one sip of a glass of wine contaminated with the drug MDMA.

The 41-year-old woman from Puurs near Antwerp died in December, five days after losing consciousness and being admitted to hospital.

It is unclear how she got hold of the bottle but some drugs are commonly dissolved into wine for smuggling.

Investigators say the woman was not a drug user.

Prosecutors have warned anyone who finds a similar bottle with a cork that has been tampered with not to open it.

They said the woman had died of a lethal amount of MDMA and MDA in her bloodstream and that a witness had said she had only taken a sip from the bottle because it tasted bad. The two drugs are synthetic substances and MDMA forms the base for ecstasy.

Intellectual property security

THE CHINA SPY SCANDAL THAT ENTANGLED HARVARD COULD HIT YALE AND MIT NEXT

The federal dragnet is so massive that investigators have given the case the code name "Lurking Giants."

This sweeping investigation into academia concerns not Hollywood celebrities who paid tens of thousands of dollars to secure college admission for their kids, but hundreds of millions of dollars that have poured into the country's most prestigious universities as gifts and contracts—unreported—largely from governments hostile to the U.S. The alleged theft of American taxpayer-funded military and scientific research would be a violation of the federal Higher Education Act. A recent Congressional report called the practice a threat to homeland security.

Federal law enforcement sources tell Newsweek that last month's arrest of Charles Lieber, the Chair of Harvard University's Chemistry and Chemical Biology Department, is just "the first domino to fall."

Federal investigations are targeting "multiple scientists and researchers" at leading universities who have allegedly been enriching their bank accounts by endangering intellectual property paid for by grant monies from the U.S. Department of Defense and National Institutes of Health, several sources told Newsweek.

Lieber was one of those scientists whom federal prosecutors have identified as allegedly putting U.S. secrets at risk by double dealing: collecting $15 million in DOD and NIH grants for his work as a Harvard professor while simultaneously working as a Thousand Talents Program researcher for Beijing. Lieber was grilled about his work for the Chinese earlier this year by both federal investigators and Harvard officials and provided what the FBI called a "series of materially false, fictitious and fraudulent" statements.

Military

Researchers Find a Flaw in Modern Military Helmets

In a new paper, researchers compare 100-year-old military helmet technology to what soldiers use today, and the results may surprise you. These researchers wanted to study how helmets endure primary blast neurotrauma, which is a little-considered aspect to what helmets can do to protect soldiers.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) hosts a 1986 paper that defines the levels of blast injury:
“Injury from explosion may be due to the direct cussive effect of the blast wave (primary), being struck by material propelled by the blast (secondary), to whole-body displacement and impact (tertiary), or to miscellaneous effects from burns, toxic acids, and so on. Severe primary blast injury is most likely to be seen in military operations but can occur in civilian industrial accidents or terrorist actions.”

Essentially, primary blast is the force of the explosion itself doing things like banging your brain against the sides of your skull. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says primary blast force most directly affects a surprising kind of body structure: “Gas filled structures are most susceptible—lungs, GI tract, and middle ear.” A condition called blast lung is the most harmful primary blast injury, the CDC says, but concussive brain injury is still a big deal.

Navy

Russia Reveals Next-Gen Nuclear Attack Submarine

Russia is preparing to begin construction on its new class of nuclear-powered attack submarines. The new Laika-class attack submarine is Russia’s first brand new nuclear attack submarine in almost 50 years, however, it is currently unknown when Russian forces will receive the new submarine or how many submarines will be built.

The Russian military operates one of the largest submarine fleets in the world, including both nuclear and conventional attack submarines, ballistic missile submarines, guided-missile submarines, and more. Although as large and powerful the Russian submarine fleet may be, the Russians are heavily lacking in modern submarines, considering most of Russia’s nuclear-powered attack submarines were built by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

The Laika class submarine is expected to replace the Akula and Victor submarine classes. The new submarine class is expected to bring Russia’s underwater attack capabilities up to par with western standards.

Developed by the Malachite Design Bureau in St. Petersburg, the Laika class submarine will displace 11,340 tons, making them much larger than the United States Navy’s Virginia class submarine at 8,700 tons, according to Popularmechanics.com. The Laika will likely have a top speed of 35 knots and a maximum dive capability of approximately 1,700 feet.

Weapons

Leaked Images Show the Army’s Mind-Bending New Super Gun

Leaked images of the U.S. Army’s new super gun have emerged on social media, showing for the first time the mysterious new weapon with a claimed range of over 1,000 miles. The Strategic Long Range Cannon (SLRC) is designed to be transported by truck, handled by a crew of eight, and rain shells down on enemy positions across continents and oceans.

The images, seen above, were apparently taken from an Army Futures Command booth at an unknown event. One image shows a very large gun being hauled by one of the Army’s M1070 Heavy Equipment Transporter Trucks. The M1070 is used to haul M1A2 Abrams tanks around, so this is a very, very gun. It is lifted in the rear by a 6x6 trailer mount.

This is the first time a rough size has been assigned to the SLRC. The M01070 is 27 feet long, so if the image is correct, the cannon base looks about 40 feet long and the entire weapon, from tail to barrel, looks about 70 feet long. The image may not be correct, however, as the gun itself looks antiquated—in fact, it looks like the US Army Model 1888 12-inch railway gun. Two other grainier photos show a lattice-like support system supporting what is probably the real gun from the base on four sides.

Biosecurity



How to respond to COVID-19

In any crisis, leaders have two equally important responsibilities: solve the immediate problem and keep it from happening again. The COVID-19 pandemic is an excellent case in point. The world needs to save lives now while also improving the way we respond to outbreaks in general. The first point is more pressing, but the second has crucial long-term consequences.

The long-term challenge—improving our ability to respond to outbreaks—isn’t new. Global health experts have been saying for years that another pandemic rivalling the speed and severity of the 1918 influenza epidemic wasn’t a matter of if but when. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed significant resources in recent years to helping the world prepare for such a scenario.

Now, in addition to the perennial challenge, we face an immediate crisis. In the past week, COVID-19 has started to behave a lot like the once-in-a-century pathogen we’ve been worried about. I hope it’s not that bad, but we should assume that it will be until we know otherwise.

There are two reasons that COVID-19 is such a threat. First, it can kill healthy adults in addition to elderly people with existing health problems. The data so far suggests that the virus has a case fatality risk around 1%; this rate would make it several times more severe than typical seasonal influenza and would put it somewhere between the 1957 influenza pandemic (0.6%) and the 1918 influenza pandemic (2%).

Second, COVID-19 is transmitted quite efficiently. The average infected person spreads the disease to two or three others. That’s an exponential rate of increase. There is also strong evidence that it can be transmitted by people who are just mildly ill or not even showing symptoms yet. This means COVID-19 will be much harder to contain than Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which were only spread by those showing symptoms and were much less efficiently transmitted. In fact, COVID-19 has already caused 10 times as many cases as SARS in just a quarter of the time.

The good news is that national, state, and local governments and public health agencies can take steps over the next few weeks to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Hypersonics

Russia Stages First Ship-Launched ‘Tsirkon’ Hypersonic Missile Test

Russia has conducted the first ship-launched firing of its new hypersonic missile called Tsirkon and plans further tests from nuclear submarines, two unnamed military sources told the state-run TASS news agency Thursday.

President Vladimir Putin, who confirmed the Tsirkon’s development last year, has warned that Russia would be forced to place hypersonic nuclear missiles on submarines near U.S. waters in response to arms-control tensions. The United States dismissed Putin’s warnings as disingenuous propaganda.

“The Admiral Gorshkov [guided missile frigate] test-launched the Tsirkon missile in early January from the Barents Sea on a ground target at a military range in the northern Urals,” one source told TASS.

The news agency’s other source said that more sea launches are planned this year for the Tsirkon, which flew a distance of more than 500 kilometers.

Spy story

The KGB's 3 most sensational operations

This was the largest and most complex intelligence operation in Soviet history. In 1981, the KGB and GRU [Soviet military intelligence] were entrusted with carrying out Operation Nuclear Missile Attack, [RYAN is its Russian acronym].

The purpose of RYAN was to find out about possible U.S. preparations for a nuclear strike against the USSR and to develop the best strategy to counter such an attack. The Soviet leadership's fears intensified soon after ardent anti-Communist Ronald Reagan came to power in Washington and toughened U.S. policy towards the USSR.

As part of the operation, the activities of Soviet intelligence agents living outside Warsaw Pact countries sharply increased. Surveillance was set up to watch those with the authority to give orders to launch a nuclear missile attack or who were responsible for launching ballistic or cruise missiles, as well as senior officials in the air force command of NATO countries. In addition, a whole network of "sleeper" agents was set up who were supposed to spring into action in the event of a nuclear war.

Public security

Mitholz: Swiss town faces 10-year evacuation over arms dump

A Swiss village may have to evacuate for over a decade while authorities clear a huge World War Two arms dump.

The defence ministry concluded last year that the cache posed an "unacceptable" risk to the nearby people of Mitholz.

Now, authorities say residents may have to leave while they clear the site.

"Depending on how the work develops, residents should expect the evacuation to last up to more than 10 years," the ministry said.

Residents would have to approve the plan to leave the area. A public consultation is under way to see how best to proceed.

Spy work

CORRECTED-U.S. spy agencies monitor coronavirus spread, concerns about India -sources

U.S. intelligence agencies are monitoring the global spread of coronavirus and the ability of governments to respond, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday, warning that there were concerns about how India would cope with a widespread outbreak.

While there are only a few known cases in India, one source said the country’s available countermeasures and the potential for the virus to spread given India’s dense population was a focus of serious concern.

U.S. intelligence agencies are also focusing on Iran, where the country’s deputy health minister has fallen ill during a worsening outbreak. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday the United States was “deeply concerned” Tehran may have covered up details about the spread of coronavirus.

The role of U.S. intelligence agencies in responding to the coronavirus epidemic at this point principally involves monitoring the spread of the illness around the world and assessing the responses of governments.

They are working closely with health agencies, such as the U.S. Center for Disease Control, in sharing information they collect and targeting further intelligence gathering.

One source said U.S. agencies would use a wide range of intelligence tools, ranging from undercover informants to electronic eavesdropping tools, to track the virus’ impact.

Drug smuggling

Narco Submarines At All-Time High

Last year yielded a bumper crop of narco-submarines, and it looks set to continue. These purpose-built vessels are one way Colombian cartels smuggle drugs towards the United States. The number discovered by authorities are at an all-time high. Based on open source intelligence there were 36 reported incidents in 2019. This compares to just two a decade earlier.

The reported incidents, when they are interdicted or discovered, are only the tip of the iceberg. Many more get through. And despite the higher rate of interdictions, they keep coming. So there is no sign that the losses are at a level which deters the criminals.

Interdiction rates are difficult to measure because we have half the picture. We can only count the ones which don’t get through. Speaking to people with knowledge of the subject, historically the percentage intercepted or found has been estimated to be between 5% and 15%. If we take a very conservative view and say that as many as 20% were either interdicted or otherwise discovered in 2019, extrapolating the reported incidents gives us an estimate of 180 narco submarine trips in total. It could be more.

Biosecurity

Where the Coronavirus Bioweapon Conspiracy Theories Really Come From

Diseases bring out the worst in us, inspiring racist attacks, xenophobic public policy, and isolationism. It’s happening right now in the world of coronavirus disease 2019, formally called COVID-19. But diseases also bring out the worst of us, grifters and promoters who thrive on the spread of conspiracies and the panic they cause. There’s one particularly pernicious conspiracy I want to address, one that also cropped up during the 2013–16 Ebola virus disease outbreak originating in Western Africa.

I’m talking about bioweapons. Whenever a disease emerges, claims that it has spread too quickly to be natural soon follow.

Conspiracy theories infect us faster than the virus itself, it seems. This time, the basic idea behind all of them is that the origins of COVID-19 in Wuhan, home to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, is suspicious. From there, some claim that it escaped the lab accidentally after being used in a regular, if risky, experiment, or a bioweapons program. Others suggest it was released intentionally, though it gets convoluted when you try to determine who, exactly, was being attacked: As the podcast Knowledge Fight  has documented, Alex Jones has said that COVID-19 is both a false-flag style attack by the Chinese government against its own people and a “ChiCom” (that is, Chinese communist) plot to attack the West, a conspiracy repeated by Rush Limbaugh.

Election security

Tulsi Gabbard: Presidential candidates must also condemn election interference by US intelligence agencies

Reckless claims by anonymous intelligence officials that Russia is “helping” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are deeply irresponsible. So was former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s calculated decision Tuesday to repeat this unsubstantiated accusation on the debate stage in South Carolina. Enough is enough. I am calling on all presidential candidates to stop playing these dangerous political games and immediately condemn any interference in our elections by out-of-control intelligence agencies.

A “news article” published last week in the Washington Post, which set off yet another manufactured media firestorm, alleges that the goal of Russia is to trick people into criticizing establishment Democrats. This is a laughably obvious ploy to stifle legitimate criticism and cast aspersions on Americans who are rightly skeptical of the powerful forces exerting control over the primary election process. We are told the aim of Russia is to “sow division,” but the aim of corporate media and self-serving politicians pushing this narrative is clearly to sow division of their own — by generating baseless suspicion against the Sanders campaign.

Public security

Russian Orthodox Church Steps Up Surveillance Under Government Anti-Terrorism Orders

The Russian Orthodox Church has begun installing video surveillance cameras at its Moscow churches to comply with government anti-terrorism orders, Interfax reported Tuesday.

The Moscow Patriarchate’s move follows a September 2019 decree signed by then-Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev requiring all religious organizations to install security and surveillance systems as part of the government’s anti-terrorism campaign.

The cameras will only be installed in Church buildings with a capacity higher than 500 people, Ksenia Chernega, a nun who heads the Moscow Patriarchate’s legal department, told Interfax. They will not be placed at altars or in places of confession, she added.

Commissions led by bishops will decide to place cameras in their own churches based on whether the church’s activities warrant heightened security measures, Chernenga said.

Individual church heads can also opt for the cameras to be turned off during personal ceremonies like weddings, baptisms and funerals, she said.

Election security

How the U.S. Intelligence community is intervening in the 2020 election

What's driving the U.S. intelligence community intervention in presidential politics is not just fear of Trump, but fear of losing control of the presidency. From 1947 to 2017, the CIA and other secret agencies sometimes clashed with presidents, especially Presidents Kennedy, Nixon and Carter. But since the end of the Cold War, under Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama, the secret agencies had no such problem.

Under Trump, the intelligence community has seen a vast loss of influence. Trump is contemptuous of the CIA's daily briefing. As demonstrated by his pressure campaign on Ukraine, his foreign policies are mostly transactional. Trump is not guided by the policy process or even any consistent doctrine, other than advancing his political and business interests. He's not someone who is interested in doing business with the intelligence community.

The intelligence community fears the rise of Sanders for a different reason. The socialist senator rejects the national security ideology that guided the intelligence community in the Cold War and the war on terror. Sanders' position is increasingly attractive, especially to young voters, and thus increasingly threatening to the former spy chiefs who yearn for a return to the pre-Trump status quo. A Sanders presidency, like a second term for Trump, would thwart that dream. Sanders is not interested in national security business as usual either.

Health security

HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE CORONAVIRUS: WHAT TO BUY NOW IN CASE A PANDEMIC IS DECLARED, ACCORDING TO A VIROLOGIST

As the deadly new coronavirus continues to spread around the world, a scientist has released a list of items to collect in case COVID-19 is declared a pandemic—but stressed that people should not panic buy or hoard.

...The list included extra prescription drugs and over-the-counter fever and pain medicines; feminine hygiene products; toilet paper and tissues; and vitamins "in case food shortages limit the variety in your diet." He also advised buying items including soap, alcohol hand rub and household cleaning products.

In terms of food, he suggested purchasing cereals, grains, beans, lentils and pasta; tinned food such as fish, vegetables and fruit; oil, spices and other flavorings; dried fruit and nuts; powdered milk; items for pets; as well as soft drinks, candy and chocolate for treats. Mackay urged people to also consider the needs of elderly relatives.

Mackay also provided a list to be used in the event that a "severe" pandemic cuts access to fresh foods. The products "should be the last things to buy if you have a hint of when supplies might slow or stop for a (hopefully short) time."

Facial recognition

China's facial recognition systems are evolving to recognise people with partially covered faces as coronavirus outbreak prompts huge increase in the number wearing masks

Chinese companies specialising in facial recognition have upgraded the technology to identify people wearing masks in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Chinese company SenseTime, described as 'the most valuable AI startup in the world' and worth at least $4.5billion, is one of several firms improving its facial recognition to ensure a person cna be identified without them taking off their mask.

Instead of relying on having to see a person's mouth, the system is able to learn a person's identify from just their eyes and upper nose region of their face.  

People around the world are increasingly opting to wear medical masks and even respirators to prevent catching the potentially fatal COVID-19. 

Innovations & technologies


10 Breakthrough Technologies 2020

Here is our annual list of technological advances that we believe will make a real difference in solving important problems. How do we pick? We avoid the one-off tricks, the overhyped new gadgets. Instead we look for those breakthroughs that will truly change how we live and work.

1. Unhackable internet
2. Hyper-personalized medicine
3. Digital money
4. Anti-aging drugs
5. AI-discovered molecules
6. Satellite mega-constellations
7. Quantum supremacy
8. Tiny AI
9. Differential privacy
10. Climate change attribution

Weapons

The Pentagon Is Working on a Nuclear Thermal Rocket

The Pentagon is working on a “nuclear thermal propulsion” engine with the goal to be able to drive satellites around in space, The Daily Beast reports. This seems to be a multi-motivated effort to thwart other countries’ space progress, better mine resources from the moon, and also serve as a weapon. Like a well-rounded athlete or entertainer, the nuclear thermal propulsion system aspires to be a triple threat—literally.

If this sounds somewhat sinister, you’re not wrong, although it’s not any more or less villainous than any other defense thing. But that name...

“DARPA’s budget request for 2021, which the agency released in early February, asks for $21 million for the ‘Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations’ program, or DRACO,” The Daily Beast says. Cislunar refers to the area between Earth and the moon. Draco has strong malevolent Malfoy energy, but also just means “dragon” in Latin.

Arctic

Researchers find new reason Arctic is warming so fast

The Arctic has experienced the warming effects of global climate change faster than any other region on the planet. Scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have developed a new theory aided by computer simulations and observations that helps explain why this occurs.

A team led by Scripps researcher Emma Beer observed the changes taking place in the Arctic Ocean, which is largely covered by sea ice for most of the year. There, an unusual situation exists where the water is warm at depth and cold near the surface. The deeper waters are fed by the relatively warm Pacific and Atlantic oceans, whereas the near-surface waters are in contact with sea ice and remain close to the freezing point. Heat flows upward from the warmer water to the colder water.

The scientists found that the deeper water is getting still warmer as a result of climate change, but the near-surface water below the sea ice remains close to the freezing point. The increasing difference in temperature leads to a greater upward flow of heat.

Communication security

Flaw in billions of Wi-Fi devices left communications open to eavesdropping

Billions of devices—many of them already patched—are affected by a Wi-Fi vulnerability that allows nearby attackers to decrypt sensitive data sent over the air, researchers said on Wednesday at the RSA security conference.

The vulnerability exists in Wi-Fi chips made by Cypress Semiconductor and Broadcom, the latter whose Wi-Fi business was acquired by Cypress in 2016. The affected devices include iPhones, iPads, Macs, Amazon Echos and Kindles, Android devices, Raspberry Pi 3’s, and Wi-Fi routers from Asus and Huawei. Eset, the security company that discovered the vulnerability, said the flaw primarily affects Cyperess’ and Broadcom’s FullMAC WLAN chips, which are used in billions of devices. Eset has named the vulnerability Kr00k, and it is tracked as CVE-2019-15126.

Manufacturers have made patches available for most or all of the affected devices, but it’s not clear how many devices have installed the patches. Of greatest concern are vulnerable wireless routers, which often go unpatched indefinitely.

Nuclear security

Northrop expands team for program to replace US Air Force ICBMs

In its quest to modernize the U.S. Air Force’s stockpile of intercontinental ballistic missiles, Northrop Grumman has partnered with Bechtel and Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, the company announced Tuesday.

The two companies are the latest addition to Northrop Grumman’s nationwide team devoted to replace the Minuteman III with next-generation missiles, as the company announced in September its collaboration with hundreds of companies across the defense, construction and engineering industries.

“Together, this expanded team has the capacity, capability and credentials needed to deliver – on time – a safe, secure, reliable and effective nuclear deterrent capability for the U.S. and its allies for the next 50 years,” said Greg Manuel, vice president of Northrop Grumman’s Ground Based Strategic Deterrent team.

Bechtel, an engineering, construction and project management company, will provide construction and integration, and launch system design, according to the announcement. Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, which specializes in unmanned systems and missile defense, will provide vehicle transporters.

Innovations & technologies

Full steam ahead as Israel powers fourth industrial revolution

The State of Israel didn't exist during the first and second industrial revolutions, and was just a nascent entity as the third revolution ushered in a new age of information.
Given Israel's modest size, it was never destined to become a global manufacturing power. Yet its technological innovation has turned it into a prominent driver of the fourth industrial revolution, known as Industry 4.0, which is digitizing global production and supply chains.

Israeli start-ups were the third leading recipient of venture capital investments in Industry 4.0 technologies last year, surpassed only by the United States and China. Since 2014, annual investments in the sector have soared from $112 million to $650m., according to data published this week by Tel Aviv-based nonprofit Start-Up Nation Central. Approximately 260 Israeli start-ups are currently active in the field.

Private data security

Facial-Recognition Company That Works With Law Enforcement Says Entire Client List Was Stolen

A facial-recognition company that contracts with powerful law-enforcement agencies just reported that an intruder stole its entire client list, according to a notification the company sent to its customers.

In the notification, which The Daily Beast reviewed, the startup Clearview AI disclosed to its customers that an intruder “gained unauthorized access” to its list of customers, to the number of user accounts those customers had set up, and to the number of searches its customers have conducted. The notification said the company’s servers were not breached and that there was “no compromise of Clearview’s systems or network.” The company also said it fixed the vulnerability and that the intruder did not obtain any law-enforcement agencies’ search histories.

Biodefense

GAO recommends ways to improve implementation of National Biodefense Strategy

The United States is struggling to implement a National Biodefense Strategy, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review, but there are additional efforts that could make the strategy more effective.

GAO first recommended that the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary should direct the existing Biodefense Coordination Team to create a plan with new management practices, reinforce collaboration and prevent the many early challenges noted in its report from becoming institutionalized. Second, the HHS Secretary should direct this team to document guidance and methods for analyzing any data collected from various agencies, including nonfederal resources. Third, they should establish a resource plan for staffing, supporting and sustaining biodefense efforts and, lastly, they should also document agreed-upon processes, roles, and responsibilities for establishing and enforcing enterprise-wide decisions.

The National Biodefense Strategy, established in 2018, laid out the nation’s plan to address diseases and biological weapons alike, particularly through joint agency and private sector efforts. In actuality, GAO noted, the strategy offers no clear processes, roles, or responsibilities for joint decision making. Nothing guides data analysis or resource use, and nonfederal capabilities are not even properly accounted for, despite them being a sizable chunk of the nation’s capabilities.

Transportation security

Autonomous Driving Even Under Bad Weather Conditions

Ground-penetrating radar may soon be the sensor that makes cars autonomous in all weather conditions. Developed at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, the technology has proven to be a successful in a military context. MIT’s ultra-wide band radar was first deployed in Afghanistan in 2013. The technology allowed military vehicles to stay on previously-mapped routes by matching radar measurements with maps of subterranean geology. This enabled precise navigation of 9 ton military vehicles, despite unmarked lanes and poor visibility from sand and dust.

Now the MIT Spinoff WaveSense is bringing the radar technology to commercial autonomous vehicles. Adding WaveSense to the existing sensor suite enables autonomous vehicles to see in a whole new dimension and brings a new level of safety to the roads.

How does this dual-use technology work? 

Road subsurface combination of rocks, cavities, culvert pipes, utility infrastructure (cables, conduits, sewer lines), and reinforcing steel bar for concrete (rebar) creates a radar image uniquely different from any other part of the roadway.

Cybersecurity

How to Avoid Hackers Taking Advantage of Coronavirus?

Hackers are trying to take advantage of the Coronavirus fear with the goal of delivering malware and stealing information. The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a warning about Coronavirus-themed phishing attacks that impersonate the organization, ask for users’ sensitive info like usernames and passwords and encourage them to download malware.

Among the WHO recommendations:

• Any email address other than ‘person@who.int’ format is not from the WHO.
• The WHO would never ask for your identity information.
• The Who would never attach files that you didn’t ask for.
• The organization would never refer you to a domain other than its own: who.int
• Change your credentials if you somehow surrendered your current credentials.

Israel Internet Association (ISOC-IL) also recommends: 

• Suspect an email with a link regarding the Coronavirus, check where the link directs you.
• Never share your personal details, especially not financial information, such as credit card details.
• Check the sender’s email address – does it seem formal and genuine?
• Never download attached files sent from a source you do not trust completely.

In addition, some hackers might take advantage of the Coronavirus fear without impersonating the WHO.

Forensics

Identifying Masked Individuals From a Distance

The United States military will soon be able to remotely identify individuals in a crowd. The Pentagon has recently developed a laser capable of identifying individuals by their unique heartbeat signature, the system is capable of distinguishing heart signatures from 200 meters away.

Named after the futuristic cartoon family, the Jetson will be used for combatting terrorism. The Pentagon decided on developing and testing the device at the request of the United States Special Forces.

Unlike many types of identification technologies, the Jetson does not rely on biometrics or gait. The heartbeat detecting infrared laser can detect individual heartbeats at a distance from the device and through clothes.

In the past, fingerprints and retina shapes have been used to recognize and identify individuals. Over the past few years, identification technologies have developed to make it possible to utilize additional factors for identifying. Among eye and finger scanners, it is possible to identify people using their heartbeat, vein pattern, and even body odor.

Foxnews.com reports that Jetson reads heart signatures from a distance using vibrometry. Vibrometry is a technique that measures the vibrations of a surface. Algorithms are then used to translate the vibration’s patterns to resemble a unique cardiac signature.

International security

Trump wants to see Russia and Ukraine "get along" - White House

Russia and Ukraine should come together, US President Donald Trump told reporters outside the White House on Sunday.

When asked to comment on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s words that cooperation between Russia and Ukraine irks some countries as it produces a global competitor for them.

"I'd like to see them come together. If they came together in the sense that they got along with each other, that would be a great thing for the world," Trump said before leaving for India on a visit. "If Ukraine and Russia could work out some agreement, when they get along, that would be very good."

Russian President Vladimir Putin told TASS in an interview for the project entitled "20 Questions with Vladimir Putin" that Russian-Ukrainian cooperation irks numerous countries because it creates a global competitor to challenge them.

"Any integration of Russia and Ukraine, along with their capacities and competitive advantages would spell the emergence of a rival, a global rival for both Europe and the world. No one wants this. That's why they'll do anything to tear us apart," Putin said. He refrained from mentioning the countries he had in mind.

Military

Putin announces plans to equip Russian military with advanced hardware

The Russian army and navy will be equipped with cutting-edge weapons, including laser and hypersonic systems, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday.

"We will be doing our utmost so that our army and navy can become more and more advanced, which means strengthening capabilities of the strategic forces, channeling cutting-edge hardware to all types of forces, including laser, hypersonic systems and high-precision systems," Putin said at the State Kremlin Palace at a gala concert marking Defender of the Motherland Day.

The president pointed out that most Russian weapons have no equivalents in the world.

"Along with this, as for promising models which are actually the weapons of the future, we have already gone from the stage of trials up to [the stage] of putting them on constant combat duty," Putin said.

According to the president, "it means that Russia’s defense and security are faultlessly safeguarded for the distant future."