Science & Tech

Here’s How the Pentagon Wants to Use Social Media On the Battlefield

Artificial intelligence will weave open-source and satellite data into useful intelligence in real time, the Pentagon’s No. 2 says.

Science & Tech

Obama to Successor: Put Fed IT Under One Roof, For Its Own Protection

Obama officials say they're preparing an 'options paper' for the next president’s transition team that envisions consolidating IT services similar to the way DISA works within the Defense Department.

Science & Tech

The Marines Want Mini-Missiles That Hunt for Specific Radio Signals

Signals-intelligence collection and drones are coming together in new packages for forward-deployed troops.

Science & Tech

Echoes of Future War: How the Fight for Mosul Will Change IED Science

Reseachers are using seismic sensors to learn about enemy weapons — and one day, even to find them as they fire.

Science & Tech

ISIS’ Social Media Ops Are Declining, US Military Researchers Say

Over a recent 18-month period, the Islamic State's military-themed messages stayed constant while ones on governance dropped, according to a new report from West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center.

Science & Tech

The Air Force Doesn’t Know How to Test Its Future Robotic Wingmen

How do you surprise a drone that can revise its strategy hundreds of times in an eyeblink?

Science & Tech

How One Intelligence Agency Is Opening Up to Startups

A invitation from the Pentagon's mapping arm could be the first of more outreach to early-stage private-sector companies.

Science & Tech

The US Needs One Cyber Defense Agency—Not Three, a Top NSA Official Says

With the job divided between NSA, FBI, and DHS, 'we need to rethink how we do cyber defense as a nation.'

Science & Tech

Should Sailors Be Able to Reprogram Their Ship?

The U.S. Navy’s newest destroyer is automated to an unprecedented degree. Should the crew be allowed to harness it with code?

Science & Tech

The Apps They Carried: Software, Big Data, and the Fight for Mosul

A variety of digital tech tools aim to provide coalition forces some sense of the dangers around the next bend.

Science & Tech

Potemkin Jets Unlikely To Fool US Satellites

But Russia’s inflatable decoys just might tie up scarce U.S. resources long enough to make a difference.

Science & Tech

Got Something to Sell to the Pentagon? It's About to Get Easier

A new office just opened to help the Defense Department's high-tech agency buy more easily from first-time sellers.

Science & Tech

Pentagon Urgently Pushing Anti-Drone Tech to ISIS Fight

From mast-mounted radar to drone-jamming guns, the U.S. military’s anti-IED office is rushing to keep up.

Science & Tech

Bitcoin-Style Security May Soon Guard US Nukes and Satellites

‘Blockchains' could offer crucial intelligence on whether a hacker has modified a database, or whether they’re surveilling a particular military system.

Ideas

The US Accused Russia of Hacking. What Happens Next Will Set a Cyber War Precedent

After blaming Russia for trying to tamper with the presidential election, the White House will want to choose its next move carefully.

Science & Tech

Data-Theft Arrest Shows that Insider Threat Remains Despite Post-Snowden Security Improvements

The recent arrest of an NSA contractor shows that the intelligence community has much further to go in stopping insider threats.

Science & Tech

The US Army’s Next Drone May Fit in a Soldier’s Pocket

The service could start buying palm-sized UAVs to complement its Pumas and Ravens as soon as 2018, according to one official.

Science & Tech

Here’s How Countries Like China, Russia Control Online Dissent

Look at the physical systems that make up internet infrastructure, and you find a network that is a lot more centralized than you might think.