Security studies and military

The 2018 Election Insights series includes: Research-based commentaries by MIT experts on key issues for the country; a "Music for the Midterms" playlist; and an annotated election booklist.

Analyzing the 2018 election: Insights from MIT scholars

SHASS faculty members offer research-based perspectives with commentaries, plus a Music for the Midterms playlist, and an election book list.

October 30, 2018

A new system developed at CSAIL was shown to have stronger security guarantees than Intel's existing approach for preventing so-called "timing attacks" like Meltdown and Spectre, made possible by hardware vulnerabilities.

Defending against Spectre and Meltdown attacks

New system breaks up cache memory more efficiently to better protect computer systems against timing attacks.

October 18, 2018

This device, known as the PowerWalk, harvests kinetic energy. It may reduce the number of batteries a soldier needs to carry, potentially lightening the load and freeing up space in backpacks for other supplies, including food and water.

Movement-enhancing exoskeletons may impair decision making

In lab experiments, soldiers wearing exoskeletons designed to improve physical performance reacted more slowly to visual cues.

October 4, 2018

General Michael Hayden took questions from the audience and from Joel Brenner (right), who was a former senior counsel at the NSA and head of US counterintelligence under the director of National Intelligence. Brenner is a research affiliate of the MIT Center for International Studies and CSAIL’s Internet Policy Research Initiative.

An assault on American intelligence

In MIT visit, former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden describes current difficulties faced by society and U.S. intelligence services.

October 3, 2018

Computer scientists from MIT and IPRI propose a new cryptographic system to improve accountability of government surveillance while maintaining enough confidentiality for the police to do their jobs.

Holding law-enforcement accountable for electronic surveillance

CSAIL system encourages government transparency using cryptography on a public log of wiretap requests.

August 8, 2018

The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command views a shift to model-based systems engineering as an essential step in shortening and modernizing its abilities to deliver high-quality, state-of-the-art programs. Pictured here is Cmdr. Cynthia Dieterly, commanding officer of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 115 conducts pre-flight checks on an E-2C Hawkeye prior to launch from the Nimitz-class aircraft...

Transforming the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, with thanks to MIT

NAVAIR is upgrading its acquisition capabilities using an MIT online course in model-based systems engineering.

August 6, 2018

Barry Posen, a Ford International Professor of Political Science and director of the MIT Security Studies Program at the Center for International Studies, provided a foreign policy briefing on US grand strategy to consuls generals and journalists in April, 2018. He is the author of "The Case for Restraint: A New Foundation for U.S. Grand Strategy."

3Q: Barry Posen on the NATO Summit and state of the alliance

National security expert discusses US defense spending and considers whether the NATO alliance should remain a US priority.

July 20, 2018

The Italian naval warship ITS Alpino (foreground) sails alongside the USS Constitution in Boston Harbor on June 8, 2018.

The race to build the Navy’s next fleet of ships

Retired Rear Admiral Chuck Goddard OCE ’85, SM ’85 is leading a bid to design the US Navy’s next class of guided-missile frigates.

June 28, 2018

Covert nuclear-weapon programs, whether in Iran, North Korea, or elsewhere in the world, are a major unsolved problem, says Scott Kemp, an associate professor of nuclear science and engineering at MIT. He recently explained the technical challenges involved in the hunt for clandestine nuclear sites. And he floated a possible solution.

Explained: Detecting the threat of nuclear weapons

Professor of nuclear science and engineering Scott Kemp describes the science behind the search for clandestine nuclear sites.

June 8, 2018

Vipin Narang (left), associate professor of political science and a member of the Security Studies Program, discusses the North Korean nuclear crisis at a Starr Forum event sponsored by the Center for International Studies.

3 Questions: Vipin Narang on the North Korea summits

Nuclear strategy expert shares observations from the recent North Korea-South Korea summit and possible outcomes of the North Korea-U.S. summit.

May 10, 2018

At top, a diagram shows the configuration that could be used to verify that a nuclear warhead is real. At left, the key component of a nuclear weapon, called the pit, which consists of a hollow sphere of plutonium, is lined up with a specially made second component, called the reciprocal, which has the opposite characteristics. When the two are observed using a beam of neutrons, the resulting imag...

For nuclear weapons reduction, a way to verify without revealing

New isotope-detection method could prove compliance but avoid divulging secrets.

April 19, 2018

In the NICS command and control tent at the base of operations, Zeljko Sinkovic, who is working with the Laboratory to develop the Southeast Europe version of NICS, inputs information into the system. On the map, a car icon has been placed where responders have confirmed it has crashed, and the red dots represent the locations of responders.

Southeastern European nations are latest to adopt emergency-response system

Lincoln Laboratory, in partnership with NATO, is modifying the system to help the region coordinate disaster response across borders.

April 4, 2018

MIT grad student Elizabeth Bieler with her Dalmatian Hercules, who she plans to train as a therapy dog

Incorporating humanity into a systems mindset

Grad student and Air National Guard officer Elizabeth Bieler combines systems design and management studies with engineering and volunteer projects.

March 23, 2018

MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and Harvard Kennedy School launch collaborative international studies program

New initiative supported by $3.7 million in grants from the Charles Koch Foundation.

November 13, 2017

Left to right: Richard Clarke SM ’79, former national coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection and Counter-terrorism for the United States; and Joel Brenner, former head of counterintelligence under the Director of National Intelligence for the United States and Senior Research Fellow at the MIT Center for International Studies and CSAIL.

Why we should welcome warnings

At MIT event, experts call for a new approach to worst-case scenarios.

November 3, 2017

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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