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Category Archives: Defense

TikTok: Technology Overview and Issues

CRS Report – TikTok: Technology Overview and Issues, Updated June 30, 2023: “TikTok is a globally popular video-sharing smartphone application (app) owned by ByteDance Ltd., a privately held company headquartered in Beijing, China. It is under increasing scrutiny by the U.S. government as a potential privacy and security risk to U.S. citizens. This is because… Continue Reading

Free ABA Webinar Lost Trust: Politics and Intelligence

Four national security lawyers who have served in prominent positions within federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies will discuss whether U.S. institutions have become politicized in a webinar sponsored by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security at 4 p.m. EDT on Friday, June 23. Recent political developments have damaged the… Continue Reading

ISOO Publishes its FY 2022 Annual Report to the President

“Today, ISOO published its FY 2022 Annual Report to the President. Each year, ISOO reports to the President on the implementation of the Classified National Security Information (CNSI) and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) programs, following requirements in Executive Orders 13526 and 13556. These Reports summarize ISOO’s oversight activities and make key recommendations that seek to… Continue Reading

Criminal Prohibitions on Leaks and Other Disclosures of Classified Defense Information

CRS Report – Criminal Prohibitions on Leaks and Other Disclosures of Classified Defense Information. Updated May 11, 2023 – “High-profile leaks and disclosures of protected government information have prompted frequent congressional interest in the criminal penalties for disclosing government secrets. In one recent case, a U.S. Air National Guardsman allegedly posted photographs on social media… Continue Reading

Navy Library at Washington Navy Yard

“The Navy Library at the Washington Navy Yard is our nation’s oldest federal library and houses a treasure vault of material, artifacts and rare books pertaining to the Washington Navy Yard and Naval Gun Factory civilian workforce1. The library is home to the most comprehensive collection of historical literature on the United States Navy. Over 13.5%… Continue Reading

The Hottest Online Game: Hunting for Classified Documents

WSJ – [free to read]  “The government secrets leaked on Discord have become fodder for users seeking fun and attention – “Videogame enthusiasts are scouring popular social-media platforms in the hope of finding classified U.S. military documents, turning the recent national-security crisis over leaked secrets into a global scavenger hunt. The competition pits online users… Continue Reading

How Death Outlives War: The Reverberating Impact of the Post-9/11 Wars on Human Health

Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs “War’s destruction of economies, public services, infrastructure, and the environment leads to deaths that occur long after bombs drop and grow in scale over time. This report reviews the latest research to examine the causal pathways that have led to an estimated 3.6-3.7 million indirect deaths in post-9/11… Continue Reading

The Russian “Firehose of Falsehood” Propaganda Model

Rand – The Russian “Firehose of Falsehood” Propaganda Model Why It Might Work and Options to Counter It = “Since its 2008 incursion into Georgia (if not before), there has been a remarkable evolution in Russia’s approach to propaganda. This new approach was on full display during the country’s 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula.… Continue Reading

Over 1,000 Companies Have Curtailed Operations in Russia—But Some Remain

Yale School of Management: “Since the invasion of Ukraine began, we have been tracking the responses of well over 1,200 companies, and counting. Over 1,000 companies have publicly announced they are voluntarily curtailing operations in Russia to some degree beyond the bare minimum legally required by international sanctions — but some companies have continued to operate… Continue Reading

Of Course This Is How the Intelligence Leak Happened

The Atlantic: “National-security leaks. Insurrections. Bank runs. Group chats are now the most powerful force on the internet…Group chats aren’t just good for triggering geopolitical crises—they’re also an effective means to start a bank run, as the world learned last month. The investor panic that led to the swift collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in… Continue Reading

After leak, Pentagon purges some users’ access to classified programs, launches security review

Breaking Defense: “As the Department of Justice continues investigating the breadth of the Discord leak, the Pentagon has launched a review of its security policies and procedures and is paring back just who has access to highly classified information, a Pentagon spokeswoman announced today. Late last week, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National… Continue Reading

Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community

ODNI, February 2023: Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community: “During the coming year, the United States and its allies will confront a complex and pivotal international security environment dominated by two critical strategic challenges that intersect with each other and existing trends to intensify their national security implications. First, great powers, rising regional… Continue Reading