In The News

Drone Patrols on US Border Ineffective, Report Finds

Jack Nicas January 7, 2015
Military-grade drones are too costly and ineffective for US border patrol, suggests a US inspector general report. “Customs and Border Protection has used drones since 2004 to aid investigations and patrol borders,” reports Jack Nicas for the Wall Street Journal. “The Inspector General report estimated the drone program cost $62.5 million in fiscal 2013…. Some independent analysts and the...

French Warships in Doldrums

Andreas Kuersten January 1, 2015
France signed a contract with Russia in 2011 to build and deliver two warships. Since then, Russia wrested control of Crimea and intervened in Eastern Ukraine. France dearly wanted to complete the deal, but faces intense scrutiny for supplying military hardware and technology to Russia while criticizing actions in Ukraine. “France’s lingering plan to deliver military hardware to Russia while...

The FBI Used the Web’s Favorite Hacking Tool to Unmask Tor Users

Kevin Poulson December 29, 2014
Anonymity on the Tor network may be compromised: “FBI agents relied on Flash code from an abandoned Metasploit side project called the ‘Decloaking Engine’ to stage its first known effort to successfully identify a multitude of suspects hiding behind the Tor anonymity network,” reports Kevin Poulson for Wired. “Tor, a free, open-source project originally funded by the US Navy, is sophisticated...

US Standing in the Middle East

Immanuel Wallerstein December 22, 2014
Ongoing use of force in the Middle East is weakening the United States. Sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein argues the country’s problems are structural and briefly outlines the history of US conflicts throughout the latter part of the 20th century. The unnecessary US invasion of Iraq in 2003 accelerated the country’s decline: “This was seen by the interventionists as a mode of restoring waning U.S...

Sony Fights Against Hackers, Who Threaten Violence at Theaters Playing “The Interview”

Cecilia Kang, Andrea Peterson and Ellen Nakashima December 22, 2014
Hackers, yet unknown, exposed embarrassing, confidential and protected documents from Sony Pictures Entertainment along with threats for theaters featuring “The Interview,” a film originally scheduled for nationwide release December 25. Globalization in entertainment, technology, security, civil and privacy rights converge as suggested by the team of writers for this Washington Post essay. The...

Why #I'llRideWithYou Worked

Husna Haq December 19, 2014
Muslims represent about 2 percent of Australia’s population. After a lone extremist, out on bail for serious charges, terrorized a group in a Sydney chocolate store, Twitter users realized that Muslims might expect a backlash and started a campaign on #I’llRideWithYou: “the hashtag began with a Facebook post … [by a woman] who said a Muslim woman sitting next to her on a train in Sydney had...

India: Bengaluru Man Confesses to Managing Islamic State Twitter Account

Vasudevan Sridharan December 18, 2014
Social-media debates are a magnet for the mentally ill, the marginalized and even educated professionals who are disenchanted with government, including dictatorships like that in Syria or their own democracies. Indian police have arrested a man accused of operating the most popular Islamic State Twitter account, @ShamiWitness, reports International Business Times. Bengaluru police suspect he was...