The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) – Aaron Shull, June 2014 “Examining global cybercrime as solely a legal issue misses an important facet of the problem. Understanding the applicable legal rules, both domestically and internationally, is important. However, major state actors are using concerted efforts to engage in nefarious cyber activities with the intention of… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Defense
Afghanistan Midyear Report 2014: Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict
“Ground combat among parties to the armed conflict in Afghanistan surpassed improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as the leading cause of conflict-related death and injury to Afghan civilians in the first six months of 2014, according to a major report of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), launched today in the Afghan capital of… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – FDIC Information Security, Missile Defense, National Nuclear Security Administration
INFORMATION SECURITY: FDIC Made Progress in Securing Key Financial Systems, but Weaknesses Remain, GAO-14-674: Published: Jul 17, 2014. Publicly Released: Jul 17, 2014. MISSILE DEFENSE: DOD’s Report Provides Limited Insight on Improvements to Homeland Missile Defense and Acquisition Plans, GAO-14-626R: Published: Jul 17, 2014. Publicly Released: Jul 17, 2014. NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: Agency Expanded Use of Some Federal Oversight Reforms, but… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Federal Workforce, Helium Program, Medicaid Payment, Military Training, VA Disability Claims Processing
FEDERAL WORKFORCE: Human Capital Management Challenges and the Path to Reform, GAO-14-723T: Published: Jul 15, 2014. Publicly Released: Jul 15, 2014. HELIUM PROGRAM: BLM’s Implementation of the Helium Stewardship Act of 2013, GAO-14-751T: Published: Jul 15, 2014. Publicly Released: Jul 15, 2014. MEDICAID PAYMENT: Comparisons of Selected Services under Fee-for-Service, Managed Care, and Private Insurance, GAO-14-533: Published: Jul 15, 2014. Publicly Released: Jul 15,… Continue Reading
New SIPRI military expenditure data for NATO countries
“SIPRI’s extended dataset of military expenditure of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states is now freely available online, alongside our main military expenditure dataset for all countries. The data, which makes use of NATO data on members’ military spending and other sources, extends back at least to each country’s year of joining…The 15 countries with… Continue Reading
Protection of Children Against Forced Recruitment During Armed Conflicts
Vedantam, Seshaiah Shasthri, Protection of Children Against Forced Recruitment During Armed Conflicts (July 1, 2014). The IUP Law Review, Vol. III, No. 4, October 2013, pp. 7-19. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2461078 “Armed conflicts innately represent the struggle of organized armed forces over assertive armed rebel groups in relation to the control of human and… Continue Reading
67 Percent of Critical Infrastructure Providers Were Breached Last Year
Jeff Goldman – eSecurity PlanetJeff Goldman – “A recent survey of 599 security executives at utility, oil and gas, energy and manufacturing companies in 13 countries has found that 67 percent have experienced at least one security breach in the past 12 months that led to the loss of confidential information or the disruption of operations. The survey, conducted… Continue Reading
Report on the Potential Exposure to Anthrax – CDC
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report today that reviews the early June incident that involved the unintentional exposure of personnel to potentially viable anthrax at the CDC’s Roybal Campus. The report identifies factors found to have contributed to the incident; and highlights actions taken by the agency to address these factors and… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Afghanistan, Bulk Fuel Pricing, E-Health Records, Littoral Combat Ship, Software Licenses
AFGHANISTAN: Kabul Embassy Construction Costs Have Increased and Schedules Have Been Extended, GAO-14-661R: Published: Jul 8, 2014. Publicly Released: Jul 8, 2014. BULK FUEL PRICING: DOD Needs to Reevaluate Its Approach to Better Manage the Effect of Market Fluctuations, GAO-14-595: Published: Jul 8, 2014. Publicly Released: Jul 8, 2014. ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS: Fiscal Year 2013 Expenditure Plan Lacks Key Information Needed to… Continue Reading
“For Official Use Only” is Used Too Much at DHS, House Says – FAS
Steven Aftergood, Secrecy News: “There is too much information that is marked “For Official Use Only” at the Department of Homeland Security, the House Appropriations Committee said in its report on DHS Appropriations for 2015….Here is the Committee language from its June 19 DHS Appropriations report: Over-Classification of Information – The Committee is concerned with the number of reports, briefings,… Continue Reading
Files provided by Snowden show extent to which ordinary Web users are caught in the net – WaPo
In NSA-intercepted data, those not targeted far outnumber the foreigners who are, by Barton Gellman, Julie Tate and Ashkan Soltani “Ordinary Internet users, American and non-American alike, far outnumber legally targeted foreigners in the communications intercepted by the National Security Agency from U.S. digital networks, according to a four-month investigation by The Washington Post. Nine of 10 account holders found… Continue Reading
The NSA Revelations All in One Chart
By Julia Angwin and Jeff Larson, ProPublica, illustrations by Alberto Cairo: “This is a plot of the NSA programs revealed in the past year according to whether they are bulk or targeted, and whether the targets of surveillance are foreign or domestic. Most of the programs fall squarely into the agency’s stated mission of foreign surveillance, but some –… Continue Reading
