Science & Tech
Software Used to Predict Crime Can Now Be Scoured for Bias
Predictive-policing startup CivicScape published its code online, allowing anyone to help ensure that the algorithm doesn’t unfairly target certain groups of people.
Ideas
Trump's Unbalanced Homeland Security Budget
As the former heads of DHS, the Coast Guard, and TSA, we think Trump’s border-and-immigration fixation is like double-locking your front door and leaving the window wide open.
Threats
How the Rise of Electronics Has Made Smuggling Bombs Easier
New restrictions on flights from the Middle East reflect how just about anything with power can be turned into an explosive.
Policy
Once Stealthy, Russian Hackers Now Go Toe to Toe with US Defenders
Once wary of being spotted, Russian government hackers now battle with their U.S. adversaries.
Business
Laptops and Tablets Are Now Banned from Use on 56 Routes to the US
Passengers will be required to pack larger electronics into their checked luggage.
Ideas
Cybersecurity’s Human Side: How Can We Solve Our People Problem?
First, stop undermining our own efforts to fill crucial jobs. Second, cast a wide net for useful lessons.
Policy
Trump Advisor Promises A Plan to Improve Federal Network Security
A top homeland security adviser says “bureaucrats” will be held accountable for breaches and other problems.
Policy
Trump Proposes More Money for Nukes, Border Security
Dubbed a “hard-power” budget by administration officials, the 2018 spending plan includes money for a controversial border wall.
Threats
Iraq Agreed to Share More Information With US to Avoid Travel Ban
Other countries will have a harder time pulling the same trick.
Science & Tech
DARPA Tests Dirty-Bomb Hunting Ambulances
You may not have known it, but some D.C. ambulances were searching for radiation while they drove.
Business
Almost 200 Firms Have Bid To Build Trump's Border Wall
From corporate behemoths to mom-and-pop shops, construction companies see an opportunity in designing Trump's border wall with Mexico, despite the project's notoriety.
Ideas
So, American Mass Shooters and Islamic Terrorists Do Have Something in Common
'It’s the same psychological phenomenon, different culture war.'
Science & Tech
Military-Grade Spy Gear Is Flooding into Local Police Departments
Major U.S. cities are spending millions of dollars on tools that track and extract data from people’s cellphones — but almost nothing on rules to guide their use.
Threats
Elections Systems Are Critical Infrastructure, DHS Chief Affirms
Initially dubious, John Kelly now says he concurs with the Obama administration's approach.
Ideas
Why Is New Jersey Grouping American 'Black Separatists' with ISIS?
The state’s new terror-group ranking raises more questions than it answers.
Science & Tech
Some DHS Employees Are Suspicious of 'Extreme Vetting'
The Department of Homeland Security has 30 days to figure out what "extreme vetting" means. Some DHS officials and counterterrorism experts find the concept dubious.
Policy
CIA, ODNI Get Exemption from Trump's Hiring Freeze
Agency leaders are told that if someone would work during a government shutdown, their job can be filled during the freeze.
Policy
'We Are Better than this Ban': US Diplomats Plan Official Dissent
White House to State Department: “They should get with the program or they should go.”
Ideas