Science & Tech

Nuclear Energy Regulators Need to Bring on More Cyber Experts, Watchdog Says

Cyberattacks on nuclear power stations on the rise, and an aging workforce may soon leave the government struggling to defend plants against the latest threats.

Science & Tech

Lawmakers Question FBI’s Facial Recognition Program

The bureau for years ignored concerns about the accuracy and transparency of its facial recognition efforts, and the House Oversight Committee isn’t happy about it.

Science & Tech

North Korea’s Nuclear Bomb Is Much Bigger than Previously Thought

A new look at 2017 test data reveals an explosion 16 times as powerful than the one that leveled Hiroshima.

Science & Tech

NSA Deflects Blame for Baltimore Ransomware Attack

An agency's policy advisor says city officials had more than two years to patch computers against the attack.

Science & Tech

US Seeks Technology to Help Allies Avoid Bombing Civilians

Pentagon officials are looking for tools and methods that can be declassified and shared with international partners.

Science & Tech

Russia's Would-Be Windows Replacement Gets a Security Upgrade

For sensitive communications, the Russian government aims to replace the ubiquitous Microsoft operating system with a bespoke flavor of Linux, a sign of the country's growing IT independence.

Science & Tech

NATO Getting More Aggressive on Offensive Cyber

Secretary General Stoltenberg says NATO pushes limits of what the alliance can do in cyberspace.

Science & Tech

Inside the Government's Quest to Safely Use Open-Source Code

One security company found that about 10 percent of individual software components contain a known vulnerability.

Science & Tech

3 Lawmakers Propose $2.2B Over 5 Years to Advance AI

The Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act would devote resources to education and research, and help coordinate AI adoption across government.

Science & Tech

ICE Wants To Track Electronic Devices — Through Time

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is soliciting for a cloud-based system that can geolocate devices using multiple sources, including apps.

Science & Tech

House Appropriators Take Aim at Some of the Pentagon’s Most Ambitious Tech Ideas

The new Congress is cold on many of the Pentagon’s most elaborate projects and plans.

Science & Tech

Six New Technologies NRO Wants

The spy agency is offering up to half a million dollars for promising prototypes.

Policy

Poll: Americans Want To Stay In Nuclear Arms Control Agreements

But there are lots of devils in the polling details.

Science & Tech

Nuclear Weapons Are Getting Less Predictable, and More Dangerous

Facing steerable ICBMs and smaller warheads, the Pentagon seeks better tracking as the White House pursues an unlikely arms-control treaty.

Science & Tech

The Bay Area’s Spy Camera Ban Is Only the Beginning

San Francisco just became the first city to ban use of facial recognition technology by government entities. Oakland may be next.

Science & Tech

Moscow to Weave AI Face Recognition into Its Urban Surveillance Net

City authorities say the planned system will have access to all 160,000 existing cameras.

Science & Tech

'Siri, Watch That Guy': Pentagon Seeks AI that Can Track Someone Across a City

The intel community's researchers are looking for datasets to help train their computers.

Science & Tech

Engineers Pitch Clean-Energy Plants Along Border

A proposal imagines how building solar panels and wind turbines along the U.S.-Mexico border could unite calls for a Green New Deal and a border wall.

Science & Tech

Pentagon ‘Matchmakers’ Aim to Keep US Tech Firms from Taking Chinese Money

Defense officials hope to protect cutting-edge technologies by getting innovative firms funded by U.S.-friendly investors.

Science & Tech

The Push to ‘Predict’ Police Shootings

Tracking officers’ stress exposure and body-camera practices could help keep them from pulling the trigger.