The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, the annual military authorization bill signed by President Obama last week, reportedly includes an increase of more than 50 percent in funding for development and procurement of "directed-energy" weapons. Funding for this category of weapon -- which includes lasers, but also controversial "pain ray" crowd control devices -- has … Continue reading NDAA includes increased funding for directed-energy weapons
Author: mirrorwilderness
Jonathan Riley is a multimedia journalist from Oakland, California. He has a bachelor's degree in psychology from California State University East Bay and a master's in journalism from Boston University. He has covered US politics at the local, state and federal level, writing for newspapers in California and Massachusetts, as well as working with the investigative unit at CNN in Washington, DC.
A report from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released last week, provides new details on the federal government's use of "cell-site simulators" -- cell phone surveillance devices also commonly known as Stingrays or IMSI-catchers -- and suggests changes to policies governing their use. The report confirms that federal agencies -- primarily the … Continue reading House Oversight Committee calls for clearer rules on cell-site simulators
A major restructuring is coming to to U.S. propaganda efforts, "and it looks like one that Vladimir Putin and Qatar’s emir might well admire," writes the Washington Post's editorial board. A CEO position, to be filled by a presidential appointee, will essentially replace the bipartisan Broadcasting Board of Governors -- effectively consolidating the president's control … Continue reading Trump administration to have expanded control over propaganda agencies
In the last major foreign policy speech of his presidency on Tuesday, President Barack Obama defended his counter-terrorism strategy over the last eight years, while simultaneously offering advice to his successor, Donald Trump, along with thinly-veiled criticism of some of the president-elect's policy proposals. "I will become the first President of the United States to … Continue reading Obama defends foreign policy record, suggests Trump try to achieve what he failed to
The US government's use of unmanned drones has been an open secret for some time. It has been over three years since President Obama admitted that multiple Americans have been killed in drone strikes overseas, and also since the FBI admitted to using surveillance drones to monitor US citizens. This year, the Pentagon has even … Continue reading Drone security lags behind counter-drone tech
Buried on the very last page of a draft document released last month by a somewhat obscure Pentagon research and development agency, the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO) describes a technology that may soon join US spy agencies' online arsenal: a social media mimicry tool that can effectively pretend to be Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat, … Continue reading Pentagon wants capability to mimic social media sites, search engines
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
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
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