Tech & Cyber

The Cable

Russian Drone Tech May Include Help From Iran

When Russia unveiled its Orion-E drone at the International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS-2017, near Moscow this summer, it bore a “striking resemblance” to an ...

The Cable

Report: Hypersonic Missiles Could Trigger a War

Imagine if a foreign country launched a nuclear attack on the continental United States and the Pentagon had only six minutes to respond. That’s the ...

Report

Abandoning Iranian Nuclear Deal Could Lead to New Wave of Cyberattacks

Over the last two years, U.S. banks and government agencies have enjoyed a notable respite from malicious Iranian cyber activity. The timing of this drop-off ...

Argument

Sex Dolls Are Replacing China’s Missing Women

Warning: This story contains graphic images. China’s sharing economy took a new turn recently, as a new app, its symbol a single yellow banana, briefly ...

Lawfare

Is the NSA Doing More Harm Than Good in Not Disclosing Exploits?

The current debate surrounding the Vulnerabilities Equities Process (VEP) — the process by which the U.S. government decides whether to disclose newly discovered software vulnerabilities ...

The Cable

Twitter Suspended Far Fewer Terrorist Accounts in First Half of 2017

Twitter suspended 300,000 accounts for promoting terrorism during the sixth-month period ending June 30, 2017, a 20 percent drop compared to the previous six-month period, ...

The Cable

U.S. Navy Investigating if Destroyer Crash Was Caused by Cyberattack

The military is examining whether compromised computer systems were responsible for one of two U.S. Navy destroyer collisions with merchant vessels that occurred in recent ...

Exclusive

Why Is Erik Prince Backing a Secure Communications Company?

Erik Prince's plan to send a private military force to Afghanistan may not have worked out, but another venture he’s involved with has sunnier prospects: ...

The Cable

Feds Ban Government Use of Kaspersky Software

Federal government agencies are banned from using software developed by Kaspersky Lab, a Russian firm with alleged links to that country’s intelligence agencies, acting Secretary ...

Argument

China Is Using America’s Own Plan to Dominate the Future of Artificial Intelligence

In late 2016, the Obama administration published three reports that shared an extraordinary conclusion: advances in machine learning, a technology that allows systems to learn ...

Lawfare

Will Apple’s New iOS 11 Make Border Searches More Difficult?

Unlike most Silicon Valley companies, Apple’s business model is one of "data liability." Unlike Google or Facebook which use advertising to extract value from users’ ...

Report

Report: U.S. Ranks Near Bottom in Commitment to Global Development

The United States is lagging behind the world’s other richest countries in its commitment to global development, according to a new study. The United States ...

The Cable

The World’s Largest Free Scientific Resource Is Now Blocked in Russia

The founder of the world’s largest resource for accessing free scientific research has blocked access to the site in Russia because of a dispute with ...

EXCERPT

The Secret History of Diplomats and Invisible Weapons

This month, the State Department revealed that American diplomats based in Cuba have suffered from possible hearing damage. Since then, hysteria over “sonic weapons” has ...

Argument

China Is Trying to Give the Internet a Death Blow

I live in the only country in the world where the internet gets worse every year — at least if you’re trying to look at ...

The Cable

Trump Elevates Cyber Command

President Donald Trump announced a bureaucratic shift on Friday to increase the power and independence of U.S. Cyber Command, giving the military unit more power ...

BELGIUM-NATO-DEFENCE-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY-MEETING

The Cable

SitRep: Afghanistan Strategy Day at Camp David, USS FItzgerald Officers Sacked After Deadly Crash

By Paul McLeary It’s Afghanistan decision time. Or is it? The National Security Council meets with President Trump at Camp David today to hash ...

Report

Amid Washington Russia Frenzy, Kaspersky Faces Backlash

LAS VEGAS -- It’s a tough year to be a Russian cybersecurity firm fighting for a share of the U.S. market. At last month’s Black ...

The Cable

SitRep: Getting Down to Business Bob Mueller Style; “Losing” the War in Afghanistan

By Jenna McLaughlin with Adam Rawnsley, Emily Tamkin, Kavitha Surana Bob Mueller sure isn’t messing around. President Trump was on his way to rally campaign ...

Lawfare

Bad Code Is Already a Problem. Soon, Companies Will Be Liable.

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s recent row over the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) may be a bit premature. When designed poorly, all kinds of ...

Argument

America Needs a New ‘Dreadnought Strategy’

At the end of the Cold War, China did not appear poised to threaten America’s unipolar moment. The country was a nuclear power but largely ...

Podcast

Trump’s Bigly Plan to Be Better at ‘the Cyber’

[protected-iframe id="8922642ae44d18caef054df03a1f8f6f-71129472-123595852" info="https://player.megaphone.fm/PPY2279505557?" width="100%" height="200" scrolling="no"] After months of speculation, the Trump administration is moving forward with an Obama administration proposal to separate U.S. Cyber ...

Report

Feds Shut Down World’s Largest Online Drug Marketplace

American and European law enforcement officials said Thursday they have shuttered two leading online drug marketplaces, seizing computer infrastructure and arresting a slew of individuals ...

The Cable

Situation Report: How Iran Won Iraq War; Secret Service Vs. Trump Team

With Adam Rawnsley Gulf hack. The hack of Qatari government Web sites earlier this year was carried out by the United Arab Emirates, and ...

The Cable

Spyware Sold to Mexican Government Was Used to Target Experts Investigating Missing Students

Revelations that the Mexican government has been using spyware intended to track terrorists to instead target journalists, opposition politicians, activists, and others escalated Monday when ...

The Cable

Google Hit With EU Record $2.7 Billion Fine

In the biggest antitrust case in more than a decade, the European Union slammed Google with a record 2.4 billion euro ($2.7 billion) fine on ...

Voice

Science Won’t Save Vaccines From Lawsuits Anymore

This week, the highest court of the European Union handed opponents of basic public health their greatest legal victory in recent memory. At a time ...

Argument

The Kremlin’s Newest Hybrid Warfare Asset: Gangsters

Following the WannaCry ransomware cyberattack, which shut down computers around the world from Russia to Taiwan last month, fingers have been pointed at North Korea. ...

The Cable

SitRep: Another Week at War — U.S. Convoy Hit in Afghanistan; U.S. Losses; New Somalia Strike

With Adam Rawnsley Another bloody weekend in the Long War. Three U.S.soldiers were killed in Eastern Afghanistan over the weekend, and a convoy of ...

Elephants in the Room

America’s Arab Allies Should Work Together to Stop Iranian Cyberattacks

Given his past statements regarding Islam, his administration’s mishandled rollout of the travel moratorium on certain Muslim-majority countries, and his general penchant for undiplomatic statements, ...

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis Arrives At Al Udeid Air Base

The Cable

SitRep: Battle for Raqqa Begins; Gulf Allies Split; Germany Pulls Fighters From Turkey

With Adam Rawnsley and Elias Groll Raqqa fight starts. After months of hard fighting while pushing south toward the Islamic State’s home base of ...

The Cable

Theresa May Declares War on the Internet, Again

Following the weekend terror attack that left 7 dead in London, Prime Minister Theresa May trotted out a familiar bogeyman: internet companies and their role ...

Observation Deck

Thoughts from Jane Goodall on How to Save the Planet

I arrived in Gombe Stream National Park, in what is now Tanzania, in 1960 to study chimpanzees. At first they were afraid, but eventually I ...

The Magazine

Yeah, the Weather Has Been Weird

One brisk morning in March, two years ago, I found myself at a bustling diner in Salt Lake City sitting across the table from Steven ...

Report

How the White House Lost Its Brains

Four months into office, President Donald Trump has failed to appoint even a single person to a senior level science council, marking the first time ...

Argument

Chinese Citizens Want the Government to Rank Them

In October 2010, my grandmother, Tang Rirui, a 76-year-old retired headmistress living alone in Shenzhen, received a call from the “criminal investigations team of the ...

Report

Security Firms Tie WannaCry Ransomware to North Korea

When the WannaCry ransomware exploded across the world on May 12, it shut down car factories, forced hospitals to turn away patients, and knocked out ...

Exclusive

Trump Team Planning Possible Retaliation for Classified Leak Allegations

President Donald Trump’s inner circle is war-gaming how best to respond to the Washington Post’s bombshell report that he shared classified intelligence with the Russians about ...

The Cable

The Middle East Just Got its First Particle Accelerator

While Jared Kushner presumably slaves over a way to bring peace to the Middle East, a group of Middle Eastern physicists in Jordan might already ...

The Cable

Final Selection Process for Border Wall Kicks Off

After narrowing down hundreds of proposals submitted this spring, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is planning to ask less than 20 vendors to submit in-depth ...

Report

Who Is Really to Blame for the WannaCry Ransomware?

Over the weekend, hospitals in the U.K. were forced to turn away some patients as a result of a computer virus that had infected their operating ...

Voice

The United States Is Not Ready for a Cyber-Pearl Harbor

On May 12, the world witnessed a day that won’t exactly live in infamy but certainly should have a concentrating effect as we collectively grapple ...

The Cable

SitRep: North Korea Says It’s Nuke Ready; Another Afghan Surge; UAE, Turkish Leaders Come to White House

With Adam Rawnsley Norf Norf. North Korea announced on Monday that its successful missile test over the weekend proves that it has developed the ...

Report

Pentagon Email Addresses Being Used in Cyber Spoofing Campaign

Unidentified cyber criminals are sending fake emails that are made to appear as if they are coming from the Defense Security Service, a wing of ...

The Cable

NSA Director: Russia Hacked French ‘Infrastructure’ Ahead of Vote

National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers said the NSA warned French authorities that Russian hackers were targeting that country’s computer infrastructure in the run-up to ...

The Cable

Massive Macron Hack Roils French Politics on Eve of Critical Election

With mere minutes to go before the end of active campaigning in France’s presidential election on Friday evening, front-runner Emmanuel Macron’s campaign released a statement ...

Voice

Donald Trump Is America’s Experiment in Having No Government

Try to think like a scientist. If you think like a citizen, the first 100 days of the Trump administration will reduce you to weeping ...

Report

10 Years After the Landmark Attack on Estonia, Is the World Better Prepared for Cyber Threats?

The Estonians just wanted to relocate a statue. Ten years ago today, authorities in Tallinn set out to remove a Soviet World War II memorial ...

The Cable

U.S. Probes Into Trump’s Russia Links, Kremlin Meddling Gain Two Heavyweights

The flagging U.S. probes into the Trump administration’s ties to the Kremlin are about to get an injection of fresh blood. Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats ...

The Cable

First-Ever Malaria Vaccine To Begin Tests Next Year

The end of one of the world’s deadliest preventable diseases may finally be on the horizon. This week, just in time for World Malaria Day, ...

The Cable

Top Threat Facing U.S. Is Cyber, Says Outgoing CIA Lawyer

During her tenure as the CIA’s top lawyer, Caroline Krass dealt with investigations into the CIA’s enhanced interrogation programs and black sites, unrest in Ukraine ...

The Cable

If the U.S. Could Prosecute Assange, It Would Have Already Done So

While the Obama administration prosecuted more leakers of classified information than all previous administrations combined, there was one target they could never quite figure out ...

Voice

I Will March for Science on Saturday — So Should You

On Saturday, scientists and their supporters will leave the sanitized comfort of their labs and academic environs to march in Washington and more than 400 ...

Podcast

Book Talk: The Great Questions of Tomorrow

[protected-iframe id="2d1168c2f8cdc0736f9a9292343fd2a8-71129472-76891884" info="https://player.megaphone.fm/PNP5814408937?" width="100%" height="200" scrolling="no"] On this week’s second episode of The E.R., David Rothkopf sits down with the Financial Times’s chief U.S. commentator and columnist, Ed Luce, ...

Best Defense

What the railroad and Civil War might tell us about our military leadership today

In the years before the Civil War, as we were discussing the other day, the United States was transformed by the railroad and the telegraph. ...

The Cable

This Canadian River Disappeared in Four Days Thanks to Climate Change

Rivers ordinarily take thousands of years to disappear or reverse their course. But for one immense river in Canada, it took four days. The Slims ...

Podcast

The Power of the Arts

[protected-iframe id="934bde523ff50f162c3d0a89b72aaa97-71129472-76891884" info="https://player.megaphone.fm/PNP2893928390?" width="100%" height="200" scrolling="no"] On this week’s episode of The E.R., David Rothkopf takes the program to Abu Dhabi, where FP recently hosted ...

The Cable

SitRep: Tillerson Roasts The Kremlin; U.S. Syria Policy Changes Daily; South Korean Politics Raise Questions for U.S. Policy

With Adam Rawnsley Welcome to Moscow! Just hours before he was due to land in Moscow for talks with Russian officials (notably, Vladimir Putin ...

Report

U.S. Govt. Hackers Get Burned by Online Vigilantes, Researchers

It’s been a tough few days for America’s state-sponsored hackers. On Monday, CIA hackers were outed by an American security firm who linked their work ...

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