In The News

German Firms Scramble to Boost Data Protection

August 6, 2013
German companies are reviewing procedures on data and communications, rapidly trying to improve security to prevent industrial espionage. Corporate security is already tight in Germany, reports Spiegel, with policies that include executives using disposable phones during travel, putting phones into tin cans during meetings, regularly sweeping corporate planes and conference rooms for bugs, and...

Greenland Melting

Jeff Goodell August 5, 2013
Greenland’s ice sheets are melting more rapidly than once predicted, and abrupt changes in the Earth’s climate and landscape are contributing to a new sense of urgency among some researchers, including climatologist Jason Box who studies Greenland’s surface. “Box doesn’t shy away from bold strokes,” writes Jeff Goodell for Rolling Stone. “As he sees it, the general public has been betrayed by the...

Russia Should Use Own Electronics in Defense Industry: Deputy PM

Alexei Anishchuk July 31, 2013
A former contract worker for the US National Security Agency, now stuck in the Russian airport, has suggested that the US has greater surveillance capabilities than many even in the US had once assumed. Revelations that the US is storing data on telephone calls and could access internet connections have prompted some individuals and countries to pursue preventative measures in other areas. Russia...

Rerouted Morales Plane Has South American Leaders Irate

July 5, 2013
Leaders of Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay and Suriname had a special meeting to address broad concerns about US and European regard for Latin America in terms of diplomacy and surveillance. The meeting was occasioned by the rerouting of a plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales as he left Russia. European air-traffic controllers reportedly assisted the US in forcing the...

Key US-EU Trade Pact Under Threat After More NSA Spying Allegations

Ian Traynor, Louise Osborne, Jamie Doward July 1, 2013
A new release of documents from Edward Snowden, a low level contract employee for the US National Security Agency, suggests that the US bugged EU offices in Washington, New York and Brussels, including one operation directed from NATO headquarters. Europe is stunned by the disclosure of intercepted phone calls and compromised fax machines of key officials, which if true, appear to have no...

Prism Informant: Moscow Welcomes Snowden With Open Arms

Benjamin Bidder June 25, 2013
Former NSA employee Edward Snowden’s arrival in Russia offers a public relations coup for Moscow after a string of criticisms by the United States on a number of fronts related to rights and freedoms. According to Spiegel Online, some members of the Russian parliament appear delighted with Snowden’s reported presence in their country, amid speculation about his eventual travel to Ecuador in light...

France vs EU: Bitter War of Words Escalates

June 24, 2013
A public spat between France and the EU is a potential sign of French disenchantment with the EU, reports The Local. The issue grew out of France’s position that European film and television industry be insulated from Hollywood during the upcoming US-EU trade negotiations and stems from past remarks José Manuel Barroso, EU Commission chief, regarding French protectionist positions on several...