Security Debrief

Federal Court Requires Additional Public Explanations for TSA's Advanced Imaging Technology

By Rob Strayer
The decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals in a lawsuit challenging the Transportation Security Administration’s use of Advanced Imaging Technology machines is that they do not constitute an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. What is significant is the D.C. Circuit’s holding that TSA failed to provide notice and solicit public comments on a new rule that passengers undergo a mandatory whole body scan or a pat down. The court’s decision will have potentially far ranging effects on the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies that seek to implement new security measures.

A Retrospective Look at Chem-Bio Terrorism

The Center for a New American Security released an excellent study – “Aum Shinrikyo: Insights Into How Terrorists Develop Biological and Chemical Weapons.” The result is a superb history of a singular event in modern terrorism history – the Sarin nerve gas attack on Tokyo in 1995. The CNAS team shows how a small group of dedicated loyalists can pull off some acts that many “experts” still persist in saying only nation states can do and highlight that sixteen years later, still facing a threat from terrorists, we need to learn more from this incident.

Running a Three-Legged Race: the San Diego Police Department, the Intelligence Community, and Counterterrorism

By Dr. Joseph R. Clark
Despite a decade of political rhetoric, blue ribbon commissions, and grant-making on the part of Congress and the presidency, local police departments remain all but absent from the counterterrorism efforts of America’s intelligence community. Although there are understandable reasons for this absence — a misunderstanding of the threat domain, concerns over potential constitutional or statutory prohibitions, a tendency to focus on (perhaps exclusively) more conventional crimes — this deficiency in the United States’ approach to counterterrorism intelligence must now be resolved.

White House Set to Release National Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism

Tomorrow, after months of drafting, heated interagency discussion, and many rounds of redrafting, the White House is reportedly set to release its long-expected national strategy on countering violent extremism – the National Strategy on Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism. Our efforts countering violent extremism on the domestic front should hone in on three key areas of concern: countering extremist ideologies, enhancing social cohesion, and building resiliency within American communities.

Underwhelmed by DOD Cyber Strategy

By Frank J. Cilluffo & Sharon L. Cardash

Given the flurry of recent cyber attacks and the significant attention these issues have generated of late, we had high expectations for a forward-leaning DoD Cyber Strategy. Unfortunately we were underwhelmed.

Obama Sending Mixed Messages in Counterterrorism Strategy

Recent developments in terror threats against the United States are at odds with the latest counterterrorism line coming out of the White House. We need some new thinking.

Defining Resilience for America's Critical Infrastructure

Despite near-continuous pronouncements on the topic of resilience, the Administration decided not to define resilience in its latest Presidential Policy Directive/PPD-8: National Preparedness. It is precisely the difficulty of nationally defining resilience that should compel the government to do so. Deciding not to define resilience and its application to the Nation’s infrastructure condemns America to continuous validation of Einstein’s definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result.”

Al-Qaeda Claims U.S. Transportation Infrastructure Must Improve Before Any Terrorist Attacks

Al-Qaeda Claims U.S. Mass Transportation Infrastructure Must Drastically Improve Before Any Terrorist Attacks | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source       WASHINGTON—In a 30-minute video released Thursday, al- Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri criticized the mass transportation infrastructure of the United States, claiming significant repairs and upgrades would need to be implemented before […]

Building Resilience in Critical Infrastructure With a Black Swan Toolkit

By Michael Hendrix
Critical infrastructures are the veins and arteries carrying the lifeblood of America’s economy and society. In a recent National Chamber Foundation event, Admiral Thad Allen described critical infrastructure as especially susceptible to “Black Swans.” To minimize the unexpected risk to critical infrastructure, we need a set of best practices, a sort “Black Swan toolkit.”

The Dangers of Public WiFi

I love to be connected everywhere, and I use public WiFi a lot. But I have to be very careful when I use it. Why is that? Simply because there are lots of ways the bad guys can hurt you if you are not. Here are some of the tactics they use to steal your information and hack your computer.