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General Security and Resilience

Arrests for Domestic Terror Outpace those Inspired by Foreign Terror Groups, according to Analysis of FBI Statistics

Based on its review of FBI statistics, the Washington Post reports it found that there were more arrests of domestic terror suspects last year than those allegedly inspired by foreign terror groups. The past year was actually at least the second year in a row for which arrests of domestic terrorists exceeded those for individuals believed to be linked to international terrorist groups like the Islamic State and al Qa’ida. In 2018, 120 individuals accused of domestic terrorism were arrested, compared with 100 alleged to have ties to foreign terrorist organizations.

Podcast Series Explores Diverse Opinions on Terrorism

The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland has made available a series of podcasts involving interviews of terrorism experts by Dr. Gary LaFee, the founding director of START. The 15 guests on the podcasts are all researchers who have contributed directly to scholarship on terrorism and offer diverse opinions. Some of the guests feel that worldwide responses to terrorism have not been strong enough – others feel that they have been far too strong.

Awareness of the Active Shooter Threat Has Increased, Preparedness for It Hasn’t

In a survey of over 600 security, facilities, business continuity, and emergency management professionals conducted by security company Everbridge, 75 percent of respondents listed active shooter situations at the “top threat” (up from 64 percent in the previous report), outranking concerns such as natural disasters, cyber attacks, supply chain disruptions. Despite increased concerns about active shooters, the survey revealed deficits in organizations actually preparing themselves for these threats.

What an Electromagnetic Pulse Could do to U.S. Critical Infrastructure

For much of the U.S. public, an attack involving the detonation of a nuclear weapon conjures up an image of a device being detonated within or directly overhead of a city or other target, resulting in the familiar mushroom cloud. But according to one national security expert, the greater threat is if an adversary detonated a nuclear device far above the U.S., triggering an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that could have devastating effects on critical infrastructure.

NIST Launches Small Business Cybersecurity Corner

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has launched the “Small Business Cybersecurity Corner,” a website intended to disseminate consistent, clear, concise, and actionable resources – all of which are free – to small businesses. Currently the website contains resources that provide overviews of types of cyber risks and threats; offer recommendations for how to manage risks; help create, evaluate, and improve security plans; provide guidance for responding to a cyber incident; and list training resources like educational courses, webinars, and videos.

Terrorists’ Use of Drones Promises to Extend Beyond Middle East Battlefields

An article coauthored by terrorism expert and Georgetown University professor Dr. Anne Speckhard discusses terrorist groups’ use of drones in their operations, almost all of which have been in the Middle East, and the likelihood that these devices will be employed in terrorist attacks elsewhere. The article shows pictures of some of the drones that were customized for battlefield use by the Islamic State. In one case, a drone intended for aerial videography and photography was modified to conduct surveillance and drop explosives.

Resources for Understanding and Improving Coordination with the Water Sector and other “Community Lifelines”

FEMA has published the Community Lifelines Implementation Toolkit to provide its partners with the information and resources to understand lifelines, coordinate with entities using lifelines, and serve as basic guidance for how to implement the lifeline construct during incident response. According to FEMA, the community lifelines include food, water, and sheltering; hazardous waste; energy; communications; transportation; health and medical; and safety and security. Operationalizing the lifeline construct has become a priority for FEMA.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Prioritizes Domestic Terrorism

During a speech on Tuesday, Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, highlighted that his legislative priorities include an increased focus on domestic terrorism. In his remarks, Rep. Thompson elevated the ranking of this threat as compared to global extremism, which he indicated had become the greatest focus of the federal government in recent times. “What’s on our minds a lot now is domestic terrorism. We have focused on the radical Islamist terrorist threat for a long time.

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