Privacy security

Microsoft transparency report: U.S. users most targeted by law enforcement requests

The total number of law enforcement requests for Microsoft's customers' information was lower in 2014 than in 2013, but Microsoft said "transparency is not enough" in our changing world.

"We need commitments that governments will not hack technology companies to access data outside the legal process," wrote Microsoft Deputy General Counsel John Frank when Microsoft published its bi-annual transparency report. "Efforts to hack technology companies have undermined confidence in the security and privacy of online communications. It's time for the executive branch to end its silence on this practice that first came to light more than a year ago."

Information security

Europe’s law enforcement chief joins in crypto panic

The director of Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency, has warned about the growing use of encryption for online communications. Speaking to BBC Radio, Rob Wainwright said: "It's become perhaps the biggest problem for the police and the security service authorities in dealing with the threats from terrorism." Wainwright is just the latest in a string of high-ranking government officials on both sides of the Atlantic that have made similar statements, including FBI Director James Comey, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, the head of London's Metropolitan Police, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

Information security

Meet the Men Behind Hillary Clinton's Private 'Spy Network'

Two big Clinton stories landed last week. The first is that Hillary Clinton destroyed the electronic copies of her State Department emails on her private server after the State Department subpoenaed her emails. The second is that Hillary Clinton had an aide running a "secret spy network" that was, among other things, feeding her information on Benghazi, according to a report by Pro Publica and Gawker. Earlier this month, I noted the myriad ways that Clinton running her own private email server breathes new life into the Benghazi investigation, but this last revelation takes things to a whole new level.

WMD profiliration

UK university to deny admission to over 700 int`l students in science courses

Britain has denied admission to over 700 international students from taking courses in nuclear, biological and chemical warfare subjects amid fears they might use the knowledge to build weapons of mass destruction, media reports said. A total of 739 student applications, for a range science and engineering based courses, have been rejected to prevent extremists gaining access to the information and materials they need to develop nuclear and chemical weapons, The Telegraph reported.

International security

Fears Argentinian special forces could raid 'vulnerable' Falkland Islands

Defence chiefs have been told that an elite unit from the South American country could be sent to occupy one of the 700 tiny isles surrounding the small British territory. The lack of any troop-carrying helicopters on the islands has raised fears that the small defence force stationed there could find itself unable to respond to Argentinian incursions. The warning came days after it emerged that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to lend 12 long-range bombers to the South American country.

Crime

Largest online gambling case in 66 years cracked

Guangdong police have detained a total of 1,071 suspects after they busted a major online gambling ring in a special operation, according to a senior police officer. Most of the suspects detained are bankers, gang members and technicians who developed software and websites for online gambling, said Lu Feng, director of the general office with Guangdong provincial department of public security, on Wednesday.According to Lu, 15 suspected gang leaders and members have been transferred to the procuratorial organ for prosecution.

Environmental security

California governor order first ever water restrictions

The governor of California has implemented the first mandatory water restrictions in the state's history. The order mandates a 25% reduction in water usage for cities and towns across the parched state. Vast areas of government-owned lawns will be replaced by drought-tolerant landscaping, and towns will be banned from watering ornamental grass. Last year, Governor Jerry Brown proclaimed a state of emergency after years of drought.

Grand corruption

Sen. Robert Menendez indicted

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) was indicted on public corruption charges by a federal grand jury in Newark, N.J., according to the Associated Press. After a more than two-year investigation, Menendez faces charges for what prosecutors believe were improper efforts by Menendez to help Salomon Melgen, a Florida-based doctor who was also a contributor to Menendez’s campaigns and his longtime friend. Menendez intervened on Melgen’s behalf in a dispute with the federal regulators over Medicare charges and in a bid by Melgen to secure a port security contract in the Dominican Republic.

Power grid security

Holborn electrical fire causes mass evacuation

An electrical fire under the pavement in central London led to some 5,000 people being evacuated from nearby buildings and the cancellation of a number of West End shows. Fire crews were called after smoke was seen coming out of an inspection cover on Kingsway, in Holborn, at 12:30 BST. The blaze is now under control, said London Fire Brigade. It said crews would be working "through the night" to put the fire out and stop it spreading to buildings in the area.

Health security

Prostate cancer breakthrough as scientists discover WHY the disease spreads, paving way for better treatments

British scientists have got to the root of prostate cancer. In landmark research, they have exposed an Achilles’ heel that could lead to better treatment for many of the 42,000 men diagnosed with the disease each year. The most common cancer among British men, it claims almost 11,000 lives annually, with most deaths occurring after the disease spreads around the body.

Cybersecurity

U.S. establishes sanctions program to combat cyberattacks, cyberspying

President Obama on Wednesday signed an executive order establishing the first sanctions program to allow the administration to impose penalties on individuals overseas who engage in destructive attacks or commercial espionage in cyberspace. In the works for two years, the order declares “significant malicious cyber-enabled activities” a “national emergency” and enables the treasury secretary to target foreign individuals and entities that take part in the illicit cyberactivity for sanctions that could include freezing their financial assets and barring commercial transactions with them.

Yemen knot

U.S. finds itself on both sides at once in Middle East

The battle for dominance in the Middle East draws on ancient enmity between the Shiite and Sunni branches of Islam, but what drives it is a thoroughly modern struggle for power between Iran and the Arab monarchies led by Saudi Arabia. Now the United States, which has generally sought to gloss over Sunni versus Shiite conflicts, has been pulled into the tumult as the fight plays out on battlefields along a 2,000-mile arc from northern Syria through Iraq to Yemen.U.S. forces were on both sides simultaneously Thursday.

Flights security

Crash challenges German identity, notions of privacy

 In the case of Andreas Lubitz — the seemingly unstable co-pilot who crashed a German jetliner into a French mountainside last week — it is almost as if this nation is reluctant to ask itself what went wrong. Had the crash happened in the United States, pundits might be screaming for the heads of the psychiatrists who did not ground Lubitz, or furiously condemning the rules and company procedures that allowed the troubled 27-year-old to step into the cockpit of Flight 9525.

Cybersecurity

How to Defeat a Smarter Breed of Cyber Threat

While nearly every action Russia takes these days causes a serious news ripple, one recent move went underreported. In February, U.S. intelligence agencies once again ranked cyber attacks as the top threat to U.S. security. Among the nation-state cyber threats to the country, Russia is now deemed No. 1, ahead of China, which had been atop the list for many years, followed by Iran and North Korea.

Financial security

Multi-million dollar rewards offered for information leading to capture of 2 Russian cybercrime fugitives

The U.S. Department of State's Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) Rewards Program is offering multi-million dollar rewards for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of two alleged Russian cyber criminals identified during a far-reaching federal investigation into a worldwide online marketplace for stolen personal and financial information.

Economic security

Kremlin Ignores Economics and Pays the Price

Sometimes willpower alone is enough to achieve victory against overwhelming odds. A person born with physical disabilities goes on to become an Olympic champion, a small country outfights a larger opponent to win the war, and so on. At the same time, there are situations when all the willpower in the world is of no use — for example, in attempting to overcome the laws of mathematics, the laws of nature and, yes, even the somewhat less rigid laws of economics.

Human trafficking

ICE Joins Europol Efforts To Stop Human Smuggling; Rescues 29 Sex Trafficking Victims

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) request to join Europol’s Focal Point Checkpoint, which targets human smuggling networks, was unanimously approved Feb. 23. To officially ink the agreement to join the network, ICE director Sarah R. Saldaña traveled to The Hague this week to formally sign the accord. Meanwhile, ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) were integral in rescuing 29 sex trafficking victims in Sosua, Dominican Republic following an international undercover law enforcement investigation. Twenty were minors as young as 14 years old.

Terror threat

Terrorism: The Rise of Homegrown Jihadists in Europe

A string of recent terror events including the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, the attacks in Copenhagen at a free-speech event and synagogue, and the anti-terror raids in Belgium that brought down a potential plot to kill police officers illustrate the threat of homegrown jihadism in Europe. This threat has become an increasing concern for European governments, which are devoting resources to monitor thousands of their own citizens who leave Europe for Syria to train and fight alongside the terrorist group ISIS.

Border security

CBP Did Not Effectively Target, Examine Rail Shipments From Canada, Mexico, IG Says

Last fiscal year, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “did not effectively target and examine rail shipments entering the United States from Mexico and Canada,” and as a result, “CBP may … have failed to detect potential instruments of terrorism or dangerous materials from entering the United States,”according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General’s (IG) congressionally mandated annual audit report, which was released this month. 

Consequently, the IG reported, “We were unable to determine whether all high-risk shipments were examined in accordance with CBP policies.”

Meteorological security

Storm Niklas rages through Europe, killing at least 4 (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

At least four people have fallen victim to Hurricane Niklas that has raged through Northern Europe, causing destruction and travel chaos with fallen trees and debris becoming a widespread scene. Police in Germany have confirmed three deaths so far across Germany. One victim died near Magdeburg, east Germany, after a concrete wall was blown over by the storm. The other confirmed victims were two road maintenance workers who died after a tree fell onto their car in Rhineland-Palatinate.

Nuclear security

Editorial: Invest in Nuclear Capability

Over the past few years, Russia has increasingly been spouting nuclear rhetoric to scare America and Europe into getting its way. Vladimir Putin recently said he considered mobilizing his nuclear forces as he seized Ukrainian territory.Since then, Russia has threatened to target NATO ally Denmark with nuclear weapons if Copenhagen joins the alliance's missile defense program. Moscow has made the same threat against Poland and Romania, which have already agreed to host NATO missile defense sites.

Middle East

Analysis: Formation of pan-Arab military force could backfire

The last time an Arab-led force marshaled armies from across the region against a common enemy –- Israel -- the result was a resounding defeat that would shape the Mideast for decades to come. Now, nearly 50 years later, Arab states are joining forces again -- this time, with the immediate aim of restoring order in chaotic Yemen, and moving as well to quell other regional conflicts.

Thinking on unthinkable

WHAT COMES AFTER STRATEGIC SURPRISE?

Of all the potential threats tracked by America’s national security community, the most worrying is to be confronted with a menace that has not even been considered. The likelihood of being taken by surprise seems to increase each day. As highly disruptive military and civilian technologies like additive manufacturing, autonomous unmanned systems, and human bio-modification proliferate around the world, adversaries will pick from a lengthening menu for the next generation of asymmetric advantages to wield against the United States.

Navy

DARPA seeks sensors for sub hunter

DARPA needs sensors for its anti-submarine drones to prowl the seas without bumping into other ships. The research agency has put out a request for information to assist its Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) project for robotic, sub-hunting surface vessels. DARPA is focusing on the need to comply with International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, or COLREGS.

Navy

This Duck Drone Could Spy on Enemy Subs

Nature, which has no need for devices that spy on enemy submarines from the air and underwater, may nevertheless have invented their form: flying fish, for example, or ducks that can zoom over the water’s surface and dive beneath to feed. But the Navy Research Lab, or NRL, which is working on a new drone that can both fly and swim, is learning that combining robots for two different purposes is not as easy as nature makes it look.

Military navigation

After GPS: The future of navigation

The military has become increasingly dependent on Global Positioning Systems (GPS) for accurate and precise positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) in a wide variety of operational environments — from tactical vehicles to GPS-guided missiles. However, as military operations are increasingly carried out in areas where GPS is denied, unreliable or not accessible, military use of GPS has evolved from being a strategic advantage to a vulnerability. 

Military

Infantry overhaul: How DARPA’s new experiments could shake up ground warfare

As Libya spiraled into chaos last year, U.S. Marines deployed there used a little-known computer application called KILSWITCH to map their routes and emergency plans. The program gave them not only detailed GPS-guided maps on handheld devices but targeting information and detailed maps of nearby compounds in case they came under fire.

Threat of terror

Uzbek Group In Afghanistan Pledge Allegiance To Islamic State

A group of Uzbeks in northern Afghanistan, claiming to be from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), says it is pledging allegiance to the Islamic State extremist group. A person calling himself Sadulla Urgenji said the IMU no longer views Taliban leader Mullah Omar as leader since he has not been seen for some 13 years and, "according to Shari'a," can no longer be leader.Urgenji said his group was recognizing the authority of the Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State group.

Nuclear security

The Alternative to an Iran Deal Isn’t Inevitable War

For months now, those in favor of a nuclear deal with the regime in Tehran have been arguing that the alternative is, inexorably, war between the US—along with its Western allies—against Iran, to prevent it from getting nukes. This allows them to label those who oppose a deal as hawks and war-mongers.

Providing additional military assistance 

Obama Lifts Freeze on Egyptian Weapon Sales

The White House lifted an executive hold on weapon sales to Egypt Tuesday, as part of a broader attempt to "modernize" the military relationship between the two countries. President Obama informed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of the change in the administration's posture, according to a White House notice. The loosening of restrictions comes just days after Egypt began bombing operations against militants in Yemen.

International arms trade

The US and Russia Are the Biggest Beneficiaries of the Global Arms Boom

One of the features of the 21st century, particularly since the 2008 financial crisis, has been the increasing number of rankings in which the United States is no longer number one. Title of top arms exporter, however, is not one of them—at least not yet—with the US maintaining its number one spot almost every year since the Cold War ended.

Military

AUSA: 3 tech trends defining global warfare

As warfare around the world becomes more reliant on high technology, some key trends are redefining how nations and forces go to battle. Cyber, electronic warfare and battlefield capabilities such as tanks are not new, but they are changing how some countries operate and defend – which changes the paradigm for a United States military that may have to work with or against those countries.

Cybersecurity

Pentagon Rolls Out ‘NSA-Proof’ Smartphones

The Defense Department has rolled out supersecretsmartphones for work and maybe play, made by anti-government-surveillance firm Silent Circle, according to company officials. Silent Circle, founded by a former Navy Seal and the inventor of privacy-mindedPGP encryption, is known for decrying federal efforts to bug smartphones. And for its spy-resistant “blackphone.”