The Pentagon has drafted a revised doctrine for the use of nuclear weapons that envisions commanders requesting presidential approval to use them to preempt an attack by a nation or a terrorist group using weapons of mass destruction. The draft also includes the option of using nuclear arms to destroy known enemy stockpiles of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.
The striking images of London subway bombers captured by the city's extensive video surveillance system and a rising sense that similar attacks could happen in the U.S. are renewing interest in expanding police camera surveillance of America's public places.
The U.S. military has devised its first-ever war plans for guarding against and responding to terrorist attacks in the United States, envisioning 15 potential crisis scenarios and anticipating several simultaneous strikes around the country, according to officers who drafted the plans.
Feature length article on how al Qaeda has become the "first guerrilla movement in history to migrate from physical space to cyberspace. With laptops and DVDs, in secret hideouts and at neighborhood Internet cafes, young code-writing jihadists have sought to replicate the training, communication, planning and preaching facilities they lost in Afghanistan with countless new locations on the Internet."
In light of the recent wave of terror attacks in the UK, Turkey, and Egypt, biometrics technology is increasingly being discussed as a means to tackle terrorism, not to mention fraud and theft.
Pressure is building for greater use of video cameras to keep watch over the nation's cities -- particularly in transportation systems and other spots vulnerable to terrorism -- after the bombings in London.
Laura Donohue argues that the best way for society to protect itself against both natural threats (ex. pandemics) and unnatural threats (ex. terrorism) is to facilitate the free flow of scientific information.
Three and a half years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the U.S. has failed to address the risk that a passenger plane flying at high speed could be deliberately crashed into a commercial nuclear plant, setting off fires and dispersing large amounts of radiation according to a new report from the National Academy of Sciences.
With CIA backing, a U.S. company has developed a method to parse electronic documents almost instantly and diagram all of the sentences inside, helping turn chatter into information that is relevant and usable.
Vigilante groups are tracking down terrorist groups on the web and taking down their websites. Some law enforcement and intelligence experts are concerned that such actions are counterproductive by removing a potentially valuable source of intelligence.