In a post last week on Lawfare, a blog published in cooperation with the Brookings Institute, former National Counterterrorism Center official Walter Haydock argues that "Artificial Intelligence Targeting Personas" -- an obscure term that does not appear to have been used before publicly, if at all -- could be harnessed in the fight against online … Continue reading Counter-terror chatbots plan would automate entrapment trolling
Month: November 2016
Fidel Castro, leader of communist Cuba for half a century, has died at the age of 90. The news of his death comes less than two years after US President Barack Obama took the most substantial actions in decades to ease the tense relationship between Cuba and the US, and follows the election of Donald … Continue reading Will Trump make Guantanamo great again?
The New York Times is reporting this week that social media giant Facebook has developed a new "censorship tool" for use by the Chinese government, in the company's latest aggressive move to get into the potentially lucrative Chinese market. The news comes as Facebook begins new controversial blocking of "fake news" in the US, a … Continue reading China censorship extends known distance Facebook will go to please governments, maximize profits
At the end of this month, regulations will come into effect requiring defense contractors to implement "insider threat" detection and prevention programs, with the aim of stopping security breaches. Yet the approach the Pentagon is taking seems to favor its larger contractors, while potentially stifling innovation from smaller competitors and contributing to the problem it … Continue reading DoD ‘insider threat’ rules may favor biggest contractors, make problem worse
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper announced his resignation this week, following Donald Trump's election win. Clapper, who endured a few controversies in his six years as DNI, will step down from his position January. Clapper's most memorable moment in the media spotlight was probably following his congressional testimony in 2013, when he answered a … Continue reading DNI Clapper resigns, leaving uncertainty about his replacement
Yet another highly classified surveillance facility -- this one managing to maintain secrecy for decades despite its rather prominent location in lower Manhattan -- was revealed this week. A report published Wednesday by the Intercept describes it in depth. As more continues to come to light about the US government's surveillance operations, it is becoming … Continue reading 10 surveillance facilities the government would prefer you didn’t know about
As US officials loudly argue over how to best go about hacking foreign governments, other countries are taking note, and an international hacking arms race seems to be picking up pace. Of the many unexpected topics that came into play in this year's cartoonish US presidential election, one that received considerable attention was Russian hacking … Continue reading Election hacking fears fuel cyber arms race
Following last week's US presidential election, Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who exposed numerous government surveillance programs in 2013 and is now living in Russia, has publicly discussed the results at least twice. "We are starting to substitute open government for sheer authoritarianism, a government based not upon the principle of informed … Continue reading Snowden weighs in on election results
Following Donald Trump's election win last week, many remain in a state of shock while others are celebrating. One group that is happy about the news, however, would probably not get along well with the kind of Trump supporters typically highlighted in the media, should their paths cross. Jihadists around the world apparently see a … Continue reading Jihadists see opportunity in Trump win
Unsurprisingly, following Tuesday's election results, some of Hillary Clinton's supporters and media surrogates have been quick to blame third party voters for Clinton's loss to Republican Donald Trump. Steve Benen of MSNBC -- the Democrats' own version of their hated Fox News -- writes that "in Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, third-party voters had an … Continue reading Don’t blame third parties for Trump
MirrorWilderness.com 