Wired – At 22, he single-handedly put a stop to the worst cyberattack the world had ever seen. Then he was arrested by the FBI. This is his untold story. This is a long read and well worth the time. Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Defense
Zoom or Not? NSA Offers Agencies Guidance for Choosing Videoconference Tools
NextGov: “Video conferencing platforms Zoom and Microsoft Teams are both FedRAMP-approved, but while Zoom offers end-to-end encryption, Microsoft Teams does not. These are just two of nine factors the National Security Agency cites in its guide to help federal workers choose commercial telework tools for “safely using collaboration services,” as necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic.… Continue Reading
New Website Provides Acquisition-Related Coronavirus Information
JD Supra – “If you’re looking for a single place to find information concerning the federal government’s response to the coronavirus that impacts contractors, the General Services Administration (GSA) recently uploaded a webpage on the acquisition.gov website that aims to deliver: https://www.acquisition.gov/coronavirus. While it is not a comprehensive source, the site includes selected links to… Continue Reading
Trump team failed to follow NSC’s pandemic playbook
Politico – “The 69-page document / PDF [and embedded in this article], finished in 2016, provided a step by step list of priorities – which were then ignored by the administration. “The strategies are among hundreds of tactics and key policy decisions laid out in a 69-page National Security Council playbook on fighting pandemics, which… Continue Reading
Surprising sources of light pollution in states around the US
Mysterious Light Sources Alex Altair: “I got my first telescope in 2017, in time for the Great American Eclipse. I started paying attention to the concept of light pollution, including finding detailed maps of what places had high or low amounts of light pollution. After looking up nearby areas that were potentially good for stargazing,… Continue Reading
New Online Resource: War Powers and Presidential Practice
Just Security – “Today we are excited to announce the release of the War Powers Resolution Reporting Project, a product of the Reiss Center on Law and Security at NYU School of Law. (Bridgeman is the project’s lead author and researcher; Goldbrenner is the executive director of the Reiss Center.) Intended for use by policymakers,… Continue Reading
Oversight Subcommittee Seeks Information About Ring’s Agreements with Police, Local Governments
Washington, D.C. (Feb. 19, 2020)—”Today, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, sent a letter to Amazon seeking information about its subsidiary Ring Inc.’s partnerships with city governments and local police departments, along with the company’s policies governing the data it collects. Ring sells internet-connected home surveillance equipment, such… Continue Reading
Information Hunters: When Librarians, Soldiers, and Spies Banded Together in WW II Europe
National Archives presentation available via YouTube and C-SPAN – Information Hunters: When Librarians, Soldiers, and Spies Banded Together in World War II Europe, Thursday, January 23, 2020. “While armies have seized enemy records and rare texts as booty throughout history, it was only during World War II that an unlikely band of librarians, archivists, and… Continue Reading
Senate Intel Releases Bipartisan Report on Obama Admin Response to Russian Election Interference
“Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) and Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA) today released the third volume in the Committee’s bipartisan investigation into Russian election interference, “U.S. Government Response to Russian Activities.” The report examines the Obama Administration’s reaction to initial reports of election interference and the steps officials took or did… Continue Reading
Artificial intelligence, geopolitics, and information integrity
Brookings – The Global Race for Technological Security – Discover the Security Implications: “The report [142 pages PDF] explores the intersection of AI and information integrity in the specific context of geopolitics. Before addressing that topic further, it is important to underscore that the geopolitical implications of AI go far beyond information. AI will reshape… Continue Reading
GAO – Trump administration violated the law by withholding Ukraine aid
GAO – Office of Management and Budget—Withholding of Ukraine Security Assistance. B-331564: Jan 16, 2020. In the summer of 2019, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) withheld from obligation funds appropriated to the Department of Defense (DOD) for security assistance to Ukraine. In order to withhold the funds, OMB issued a series of nine… Continue Reading
NSA Takes Step Toward Protecting World’s Computers, Not Just Hacking Them
The New York Times: “The National Security Agency has taken a significant step toward protecting the world’s computer systems, announcing Tuesday that it alerted Microsoft to a vulnerability in its Windows operating system rather than following the agency’s typical approach of keeping quiet and exploiting the flaw to develop cyberweapons. The warning allowed Microsoft to… Continue Reading
