national security

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FBI's Primary Mission? Not Law Enforcement Anymore

In change, it's now 'national security'

(Newser) - The FBI fact sheet used to read, "The primary function of the FBI is law enforcement." But now, Foreign Policy reports, it's been changed to read, "The primary function of the FBI is national security." It's no big surprise, considering that ever since 9/11,...

Amnesty for Snowden? NSA Bosses Split

They fear he could reveal 'road map' of US know-how

(Newser) - 60 Minutes last night offered a window into the NSA's thinking on how to handle Edward Snowden and his cache of information. In an interview, Rick Ledgett, head of the task force investigating Snowden's impact, didn't rule out the possibility of amnesty, per CNET : It's...

Guardian Has Published Just 1% of Snowden Materials: Editor

Alan Rusbridger faces questions over national security

(Newser) - The Guardian has only published about 1% of some 58,000 files leaked by Edward Snowden—and it's unlikely to "publish a huge amount more," says editor Alan Rusbridger. He spoke to a British parliamentary committee as he faces scrutiny over whether the paper had weakened national...

Gore Blasts NSA's 'Crimes Against the Constitution'

He predicts NSA will be forced to rein in 'absurd' surveillance practices

(Newser) - Al Gore is definitely not among those buying the line that US surveillance practices are above-board and business as usual. Among the words he used to describe the methods unveiled by Edward Snowden in a speech last night in Canada: "absurd," "outrageous," "crimes against the...

NSA's Aim: To 'Utterly Master' Intelligence

NY Times offers in-depth look at 'omniscient' agency's operations

(Newser) - A lengthy report in the New York Times , based on thousands of documents shared by the Guardian via Edward Snowden, offers an in-depth look at an agency that can "seem omniscient," with eyes everywhere tracking even the smallest matters. The material obtained—whether years of stored text messages,...

Editor: I Wouldn't Have Published Snowden's Secrets

2 UK newspapers slam the Guardian for risking national security

(Newser) - Snaring access to Edward Snowden, and all the documents in his possession, has generally been regarded a huge coup for the Guardian newspaper. But at least two other British newspapers don't agree. Following claims by MI5's new chief that the paper's exposes have been a "guide...

Help National Security: Curb Animal Poaching
Help National Security:
Curb Animal Poaching
OPINION

Help National Security: Curb Animal Poaching

Funds go to terrorist groups, say op-ed writers

(Newser) - The US needs to get way more aggressive in stopping animal poachers worldwide—not just for moral reasons but for its own national security, write three advocates in the New York Times . Poaching is a major source of revenue for terror organizations, and poachers' links to groups such as al-Qeada,...

The TSA: Now Guarding Music Festivals?

Not to mention sports matches, rodeos...

(Newser) - The Transportation Security Administration is turning up in some unexpected places these days. The organization was originally created for airport security, but after the Madrid train bombing in 2005, special teams known as Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response were deployed. The groups are now working in train stations, highway weigh...

DC's New Protectors? Blimps

Two will begin radar patrols within a year

(Newser) - At some point within the next year, DC will get a missile shield of sorts—courtesy of two white blimps. Made by defense contractor Raytheon, the $2.7 billion blimps will float 10,000 feet above the city and use their high-tech surveillance systems to keep an eye out for...

US Actually Has History of Being Weak on Leakers

And that's why it's cracking down so hard now

(Newser) - With Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning in the headlines, the investigation into former top General James Cartwright , and now a court ruling earlier this week that a New York Times reporter must testify against a source, the Obama administration has been sending a message: leaking government secrets will not go...

NSA's Verizon Monitoring Has Gone on for 7 Years: Senators

It's 'nothing new,' and has been successful

(Newser) - The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee today downplayed the revelation that the NSA is collecting millions of phone records from Verizon, Politico and CNN report:
  • "As far as I know, this is the exact three-month renewal of what has been in place for the past seven years,"
...

NSA Is Seizing Millions of Verizon Phone Records

White House defends 'ongoing, daily' surveillance as a 'critical tool'

(Newser) - A new report in the Guardian suggests the Obama administration isn't so different from its predecessor when it comes to domestic phone surveillance: The National Security Agency has been gathering the phone records of millions of US Verizon users thanks to a secret court order . The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance...

Nun, 83, Guilty of Breaking Into Nuclear Plant

Says she did it for 'healing and forgiveness and love'

(Newser) - The 83-year-old Catholic nun and two other activists who broke into the country's only weapons-grade uranium processing facility last year have been found guilty of damaging government property and injuring national defense. The trio face up to 30 years each in prison, but won't know their fate until...

American Diplomacy in Sad Shape
 American 
 Diplomacy 
 in Sad Shape 

OPINION

American Diplomacy in Sad Shape

Essay: Foreign Service needs more professional diplomats, not political appointees

(Newser) - Even as diplomacy has grown ever more important to US national security, the US Foreign Service is being threatened by partisan politics worse than ever before, write longtime diplomats Susan Johnson, Ronald Neumann, and Thomas Pickering in the Washington Post . Exhibit A: Top leadership positions in the State Department have...

US Getting Worried About China's Space Program

It's fearful of what China could do to our security satellites

(Newser) - What China has done recently in space remains classified. But what sources were willing to tell Reuters is that those moves have officials worried that the country is becoming increasingly able to mess with US satellites that are key to our security. The revelation follows a late 2012 classified intelligence...

Worried US Nuke Lab Ditches Chinese Parts

Computer components were made by Huawei-affiliated company

(Newser) - In a national security move, a top US nuclear facility has replaced at least two computer parts after learning that they were Chinese-made. The systems at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which maintains our nuclear weapon stockpile, used some network switches created by China-based H3C; the switches control data flow. H3C...

Homeland Security Spends $430M on Radios...
Homeland Security Spends
$430M on
Radios...
propublica

Homeland Security Spends $430M on Radios...

...but nobody knows how to use them

(Newser) - The good news is that the Department of Homeland Security has invested $430 million into making sure federal agencies can communicate with each other in emergencies by using special radios tuned to a secure common channel. The bad news, according to a report by the department's inspector general picked...

Panetta Warns of 'Cyber Pearl Harbor'

He urges Congress to pass cybersecurity bill

(Newser) - America needs to beef up its defense or face a "cyber Pearl Harbor" attack from foreign hackers capable of dismantling the nation's infrastructure, Leon Panetta warns. Nations like Iran and China or militant groups could "gain control of critical switches," the defense secretary said in a...

Oops: Secret Service Leaves Gun in Romney's Plane

Meanwhile, candidate is about to receive security briefings

(Newser) - There was something of a scare aboard Romney's charter jet yesterday, when a gun was found in the bathroom. The firearm turned out to be Secret Service gun presumably accidentally left there by a member of his security detail, CBS News reports. A member of the Service quickly retrieved...

Condi Rocks Convention


 Condi Rocks 
 Convention 

Condi Rocks Convention

Recalls childhood in 'Jim Crow Birmingham'

(Newser) - After a command performance by Ann Romney the previous night, another woman stole much of the thunder last night at the Republican National Convention. Condoleezza Rice wooed the GOP crowd with a straight-forward view of American strength and opportunity—one that aimed in part to defend Mitt Romney's wealth...

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