The national census in 2020 will be the first to rely primarily on the Internet for collecting census data, thereby creating new avenues for fraud and disruption. A new report from the JASON scientific advisory panel describes the problem and outlines some solutions. Why would anyone want to interfere with the constitutionally-mandated census, which maps […]
Employees of the U.S. intelligence community are expected to be bold, innovative and imbued with moral courage. At least, those are the desired qualities that are defined in a series of Intelligence Community Standards (ICS) first issued in 2008 that have just been released under the Freedom of Information Act. Even a non-supervisory employee at […]
The guiding principles for implementing and operating the Intelligence Community (IC) Information Technology Enterprise (ITE) were set forth in a 2013 memorandum from the Director of National Intelligence that was recently released under the Freedom of Information Act. The purpose of IC ITE (pronounced “eye sight”) is to establish a common information architecture for the entire […]
A newly updated Department of Defense publication affirms the importance of public outreach, not simply as a gesture towards democratic governance, but also as an instrument of operational utility. “The US military has an obligation to communicate with its members and the US public, and it is in the national interest to communicate with international […]
The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) allows foreign nationals from 38 countries to travel to the United States for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa. The travelers must still present a valid passport and meet certain other requirements. There were 20 million visitors who entered the United States under this program in FY 2013. […]
By Hans M. Kristensen The new Polish government caused a stir last weekend when deputy defense minister Tomasz Szatkowski said during an interview with Polsat News 2 that Poland was taking “concrete steps” to consider joining NATO’s so-called nuclear sharing program. The program is a controversial arrangement where the United States makes nuclear weapons available […]
The possible outcomes of the ongoing Paris climate change conference, and the challenges remaining to be overcome, are considered in a new report from the Congressional Research Service. See International Climate Change Negotiations: What to Expect in Paris, December 2015, November 27, 2015. The shifting numbers of U.S. troops and contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan […]
There are “substantial gaps” in the ability of the Department of Defense to counter Islamic State propaganda and messaging, the Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) informed Congress earlier this year. But now Congress has moved to narrow some of those gaps. Until recently, the Pentagon’s authority to act in this area had been […]
If you find Secrecy News useful or interesting, please consider supporting our work with a financial contribution to the Federation of American Scientists. Last month the House Committee on Homeland Security published a report of its task force on combating terrorist and foreign fighter travel. In a footnote, the Committee cited a related report from […]
Tomorrow Ronald W. Pelton, a National Security Agency communications specialist who was convicted in 1986 of spying for the Soviet Union, will be released from prison. Like Jonathan J. Pollard, who was convicted of spying for Israel and released last week, Pelton was apprehended in 1985, which became known as the Year of the Spy […]
New and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service that were issued last week — but withheld from public release — include the following. The Islamic State — Frequently Asked Questions: Threats, Global Implications, and U.S. Policy Responses, November 19, 2015 The “Islamic State” and U.S. Policy, updated November 18, 2015 (and still using the […]
A new report issued by the Congressional Research Service describes the various procedures that the U.S. government can use “to prevent individuals from traveling to, from, or within the United States to commit acts of terrorism.” See Legal Tools to Deter Travel by Suspected Terrorists: A Brief Primer, CRS Legal Sidebar, November 16, 2015. In […]