Collaborate Disseminate
Interesting law journal paper: "Intelligence Legalism and the National Security Agency’s Civil Liberties Gap," by Margo Schlanger: Abstract: This paper examines the National Security Agency, its compliance with legal constraints and its respect for civil liberties. But even if perfect compliance could be achieved, it is too paltry a goal. A good oversight system needs its institutions not just to… Continue reading The NSA and "Intelligence Legalism"
Good essay pointing out the absurdity of comparing cyberweapons with nuclear weapons. On the surface, the analogy is compelling. Like nuclear weapons, the most powerful cyberweapons — malware capable of permanently damaging critical infrastructure and other key assets of society — are potentially catastrophically destructive, have short delivery times across vast distances, and are nearly impossible to defend against. Moreover,… Continue reading Cyberweapons vs. Nuclear Weapons
I have written before on the vulnerabilities equities process (VEP): the system by which the US government decides whether to disclose and fix a computer vulnerability or keep it secret and use it offensively. Ari Schwartz and Rob Knake, both former Directors for Cybersecurity Policy at the White House National Security Council, have written a report describing the process as… Continue reading Report on the Vulnerabilities Equities Process
Interesting paper: "Anonymization and Risk," by Ira S. Rubinstein and Woodrow Hartzog: Abstract: Perfect anonymization of data sets has failed. But the process of protecting data subjects in shared information remains integral to privacy practice and policy. While the deidentification debate has been vigorous and productive, there is no clear direction for policy. As a result, the law has been… Continue reading Anonymization and the Law
Interesting research: Debora Halbert, "Intellectual property theft and national security: Agendas and assumptions": Abstract: About a decade ago, intellectual property started getting systematically treated as a national security threat to the United States. The scope of the threat is broadly conceived to include hacking, trade secret theft, file sharing, and even foreign students enrolling in American universities. In each case,… Continue reading Intellectual Property as National Security
Ronald V. Clarke argues for more situational awareness in crime prevention. Turns out if you make crime harder, it goes down. And this has profound policy implications. Whatever the benefits for Criminology, the real benefits of a greater focus on crime than criminality would be for crime policy. The fundamental attribution error is the main impediment to formulating a broader… Continue reading Situational Awareness and Crime Prevention
Last week, CIA director John Brennan told a Senate committee that there wasn’t any strong cryptography outside of the US. CIA director John Brennan told US senators they shouldn’t worry about mandatory encryption backdoors hurting American businesses. And that’s because, according to Brennan, there’s no one else for people to turn to: if they don’t want to use US-based technology… Continue reading CIA Director John Brennan Pretends Foreign Cryptography Doesn’t Exist
This essay argues that teaching computer science at the K-12 level is a matter of national security. I think the argument is even broader. Computers, networks, and algorithms are at the heart of all of our complex social and political issues. We need broader literacy for all sorts of political and social reasons…. Continue reading Computer Science Education Is Security Education
This interesting essay argues that financial risks are generally not systemic risks, and instead are generally much smaller. That’s certainly been our experience to date: While systemic risk is frequently invoked as a key reason to be on guard for cyber risk, such a connection is quite tenuous. A cyber event might in extreme cases result in a systemic crisis,… Continue reading Financial Cyber Risk Is Not Systemic Risk
A proposed law in Albany, NY, would make it a crime to walk away from airport screening. Aside from wondering why county lawmakers are getting involved with what should be national policy, you have to ask: what are these people thinking? They’re thinking in stories, of course. They have a movie plot in their heads, and they are imaging how… Continue reading Arresting People for Walking Away from Airport Security