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Secrecy and Security News

Newer News: August 2019

July 2019

• It's Sentient: Meet the classified artificial brain being developed by US intelligence programs by Sarah Scoles, The Verge, July 31. "Sentient is (or at least aims to be) an omnivorous analysis tool, capable of devouring data of all sorts, making sense of the past and present, anticipating the future, and pointing satellites toward what it determines will be the most interesting parts of that future."
• Inside a Trump-era purge of military scientists at a legendary think tank by Charles Levinson, Reuters, July 30. "The fight over Jason, a longstanding panel of military scientists, signals a larger story about the escalating conflict between the Trump Administration and world of science."
• 'Let's see them aliens': The Facebook group is a joke, but the Pentagon takes plans to storm Area 51 seriously by Brittany Shepherd and Christopher Wilson, Yahoo News, July 18. "While those in the group are having a laugh about the idea of investigating extraterrestrial activity, the military says it's aware of the event and is taking it seriously."
• New Ruling in Mar-a-Lago Intruder Case Raises Question of Chinese Espionage by Dan Friedman, Mother Jones, July 11. "Were foreign spies targeting the facility to gain access to Trump, his family, or his associates? On Wednesday, a federal judge in Florida suggested there was indeed reason to worry."
• Who is a 'covert agent'? CIA bid to expand the category raises alarm for civil liberties groups by Jenna McLaughlin, Yahoo News, July 11. "Activists are concerned the provision, which is written extremely broadly, could allow CIA officers or contractors to escape legal scrutiny indefinitely as well as prevent journalists from writing about agency activities and personnel."
• Expansion of Secrecy Law for Intelligence Operatives Alarms Free Press Advocates by Charlie Savage, New York Times, July 10. "The C.I.A. is quietly pushing Congress to significantly expand the scope of a law that makes it a crime to disclose the identities of undercover intelligence agents, raising alarms among advocates of press freedoms."
• Blast from the past: The Pentagon's updated war plan for tactical nukes by Todd South, Stephen Losey and Kristine Froeba, Military Times, July 10. "For the first time in decades, incorporating tactical-level targeting and being able to run maneuver operations in a post-nuclear blast area have returned to the thinking of even the lowest-ranking troops."
• Intelligence Bill Would Enhance Whistleblower Protections by Charles S. Clark, Government Executive, July 8. "Among the many items on Congress's crowded July agenda is floor action on a three-year catch-up on the Intelligence Community authorization bill, a largely bipartisan package drafted in both chambers, with Senate provisions that would enhance protections for whistleblowers."
• NSA Inspector General Releases Semi-Annual Report, July 8. "The unclassified version of the SAR covers the period from October 1, 2018 through March 31, 2019, and reflects what NSA OIG could release publicly about its work for that reporting period. The OIG issued 13 reports and oversight memoranda during that period, making 198 recommendations to assist the Agency in addressing the findings and deficiencies identified."

Older News: June 2019

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Maintained by Steven Aftergood
Updated August 21, 2019