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Daily Archives: July 17, 2014

Global Cybercrime: The Interplay of Politics and Law

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 advancing their economic and geostrategic interests. This paper explores the recent unsealing of a 31-count indictment against five Chinese government officials and a significant cyber breach, perpetrated by Chinese actors against Western oil, energy and petrochemical companies. The paper concludes by noting that increased cooperation among governments is necessary, but unlikely to occur as long as the discourse surrounding cybercrime remains so heavily politicized and securitized. If governments coalesced around the notion of trying to prevent the long-term degradation of trust in the online economy, they may profitably advance the dialogue away from mutual suspicion and toward mutual cooperation.”

Analysis of Recent Mass Shootings Released by Advocacy Group

“In 2013, Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America came together to tackle our shared goals. We’ve combined the best minds in policy-making with a grassroots movement of more than 2 million motivated members…Using FBI data and media reports, Everytown for Gun Safety developed an analysis of mass shootings… Continue Reading

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

NOAA – Climate data from air, land, sea and ice in 2013 reflect trends of a warming planet

NOAA news release: “In 2013, the vast majority of worldwide climate indicators—greenhouse gases, sea levels, global temperatures, etc.—continued to reflect trends of a warmer planet, according to the indicators assessed in the State of the Climate in 2013 report, released online today by the American Meteorological Society. Scientists from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., served as… Continue Reading

UN – The Right to Privacy in the Digital Age

“Advances in information communication technology are dramatically improving real-time communication and information-sharing. By improving access to information and facilitating global debate, they foster democratic participation. By amplifying the voices of human rights defenders and helping to expose abuses, these powerful technologies offer the promise of improved enjoyment of human rights. But at the same time it… Continue Reading

Mapping and Sizing the U.S. Repo Market

Mapping and Sizing the U.S. Repo Market – Adam Copeland, Isaac Davis, Eric LeSueur, and Antoine Martin “The U.S. repurchase agreement (repo) market is a large financial market where participants effectively provide collateralized loans to one another. This market played a central role in the recent financial crisis; for example, both Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers experienced problems borrowing… Continue Reading

Agencies Finalize Technical Correction of Risk-Based Capital Rules

“The Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Wednesday announced the finalization of a technical correction to the definition of “eligible guarantee” in the agencies’ risk-based capital rules. In April, the agencies proposed a rule to correct the definition of eligible guarantee by… Continue Reading

Report – Elite Russian hackers breached Nasdq and inserted a digital bomb

BloombergBusinessWeek – Mike Riley: “In October 2010, a Federal Bureau of Investigation system monitoring U.S. Internet traffic picked up an alert. The signal was coming from Nasdaq. It looked like malware had snuck into the company’s central servers. There were indications that the intruder was not a kid somewhere, but the intelligence agency of another country.… 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