In an article for USA Today, research associate James Walsh writes about the Trump administration’s executive order on immigration. Walsh writes that he believes the order will “make international cooperation more difficult, increase animosity towards the United States, and strengthen the hands of ISIS to recruit followers and make the case that the US is anti-Islam.”
Research Associate Jim Walsh discusses the evolution of relations between North and South Korea 63 years after the Korean War armistice with Meghna Chakrabarti of WBUR’s Here & Now. Walsh notes that North and South Korea are currently in “a very different place where neither side wants a war, but the danger of nuclear weapons hangs in the shadows.”
Science magazine’s Ben Panko describes a new technique developed by Prof. R. Scott Kemp and colleagues that "nuclear inspectors can use to verify whether a warhead is active, inactive, or a fake—all without learning anything about its design." Panko refers to the method as "a kind of physical encryption that allows warhead scanning without revealing too much."
Researchers from Prof. Timothy Swager’s group have created sensors that detect trace amounts of toxic gases, writes Janet Burns for Forbes. The sensor can benefit the U.S. military’s current initiative for the development of wearable equipment, which includes flexible armor and body sensors, writes Burns.
Reuters reporter Dustin Volz writes that during an MIT event, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced that the U.S. will begin sending digital trade experts to foreign markets. Pritzker also “discussed the Privacy Shield and other issues facing the transatlantic digital economy with Andrus Ansip, vice president of the European Commission's digital single market.”
Larry Greenemeier writes for Scientific American about why government agencies want access to encrypted data, highlighting a report co-authored by MIT researchers that warns against providing special access. The researchers argue that providing access would “make software and devices much more complex, difficult to secure and expensive for tech companies to maintain."
Network World reporter Tim Greene writes that a committee of security experts state in a new report that allowing government agencies access to secure data could increase data breaches. MIT Principal Research Scientist Daniel Weitzner, who led the preparation of the report, explains that allowing special access creates “vulnerabilities to infrastructure being used in the commercial sector.”
Cat Zakrzewski writes for TechCrunch that a new report co-authored by MIT researchers details how giving law enforcement agencies access to encrypted communications could pose security risks. The report, “tells us that a backdoor for the government and law enforcement also provides an opening that could be exploited by hackers.”
Danny Yadron, Damian Paletta and Jennifer Valentino-Devries write for The Wall Street Journal that in a new report MIT cybersecurity experts argue that allowing governments access to encrypted data is “technically impractical and would expose consumers and business to a greater risk of data breaches.”
Government proposals for access to data would put digital communications at risk, according to a paper by CSAIL security experts. The New York Times’ Nicole Perlroth calls the report “the first in-depth technical analysis of government proposals by leading cryptographers and security thinkers.”
James Walsh, a research affiliate at the MIT Center for International Studies, speaks on Bloomberg TV about the prospects for a nuclear deal between Iran and the U.S. “I think the agreement in principle has been there a while and I think it’s a good one,” says Walsh.
Professor Barry Posen speaks with Tom Ashbrook, host of NPR’s On Point, about the new American military push in Iraq against ISIS. Posen argues that there is no military solution to ISIS and that the, “Islamic State problem is basically a political problem.”
Professor Emeritus Jack Ruina, a noted expert on strategic arms control who served as MIT’s vice president for special laboratories and was the first director of MIT’s Security Studies Program, passed away Feb. 4, reports Boston Globe reporter Bryan Marquard. Prof. Emeritus George Rathjens said that “there wasn’t a better faculty member that I knew in the universe.”
Professor Jim Walsh discusses the U.S. hostage policy with Jeremy Hobson of WBUR’s Here and Now following the failed rescue attempt of American hostage Luke Somers in Yemen. “[T]he number of kidnappings has jumped dramatically,” says Walsh. “A lot of this is fundraising on the part of local terrorist groups.”
Executive Director at the MIT Center for International Studies John Tirman writes for WBUR about President Obama’s plan for combating ISIS. Tirman argues that without a coherent diplomatic strategy, the President’s plan is unlikely to succeed.