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Briefs

  • Travel Advisory – Pakistan

    The State Department has issued a travel advisory relating the events that took place yesterday in Pakistan. Unconfirmed analysis also indicates that counterterrorist professionals should be concerned with the new government&#039s potential ties to bin Laden. Advisory

  • Nichols Loses Appeal

    The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday let stand the sentence of life in prison and the conviction of Terry Nichols for conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The Supreme Court rejected the appeal without comment or dissent. Reuters Story

  • Terrorism list updated by U.S.

    More detail on the U.S. State Departments newly up-dated list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The organization headed by Osama bin Laden is added to the list. AP News, CNN

  • The Boom in bioterror funds

    An article by US News and World Report concerning the billions of dollars flowing into the response to bioterrorism. The article suggests that the threat analysis justifying the funding may not be as credible as prior thought. US News

  • NY Times Story – Gaps in Biological Defenses

    The NY Times has a story on the outbreak of West Nile virus in New York City. On an interesting note, Reuters reported over the weekend that the FBI was investigating the outbreak as a potential attempt at bioterrorism. NY Times Story

  • CIP Hearing Testimony Available

    The testimony from the hearing before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and Government Information on “Critical Information Infrastructure Protection: the Threat is Real” is now available. Read the testimony

  • Critical Infrastructure Protection Funding in Budget Ammendment

    GovExec.com is reporting that there is a budget item for Critical Infrastructure Protection and computer security in a $611 million mid-year fiscal 2000 budget ammendment. The total designated for CIP and security enhancements is $39 million with $8.4 million earmarked for the federal intrusion detection initiative known at FIDNET. Full Story

  • Three Bomb Blasts Hit Corsican Official Buildings

    The Agence France Presse is reporting that three bombs have exploded at two Corsican Official buildings. The bombs are believed to be the work of hardline separatists.Full Story

  • Sixth Defendant Arrested In U.S. Embassy Bombings

    Reuters is reporting that authorities have taken a sixth defendant into custody for involvement in the bombings against U.S. embassies in Africa. Further details regarding the arrest should be made available by authorities later this afternoon. Full Story

  • Oklahoma City Bombing Figure Rejailed For 12 Years

    The man convicted of failing to warn police about the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people lost his bid Friday to reduce his original 12-year sentence, CBS radio reported. Fortier has spent four years in jail, convicted of involuntary manslaughter for failing to warn authorities that his friend Timothy McVeigh was plotting to…

  • NIPC Cyber Threat Assessment

    NIPC Director Mike Vatis provides the following Threat Assessment in which he states: Terrorists are known to use information technology and the Internet to formulate plans, raise funds, spread propaganda, and to communicate securely. For example, convicted terrorist Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the World Trade Center bombing, stored detailed plans to destroy United States…

  • Albright Designation of Foreign Terrorist Organizations

    A copy of the letter from the Secretary of State requesting that the following list of terrorist organizations be published in the Federal Register.

  • Information Terrorism: Can You Trust Your Toaster?

    The full version of the paper “Information Terrorism: Can You Trust Your Toaster?” has been made available in PDF format. We have been offering a reduced version of this paper for several years. This is the original version and contains an introductory scenario detailing an information terrorism attack. The document was originally published in 1996…

  • GAO Critical Infrastructure Protection Document

    The GAO has made available their report entitled “Critical Infrastructure Protection: Comprehensive Strategy Can Draw on Year 2000 Experiences”. A copy of the document can be found here.

  • U.S. urges U.N. sanctions against Taliban over bin Laden

    CNN reports that the United States is pushing forU.N. sanctions against the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan to pressure them to hand over Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, who is accused of leading a worldwide terrorist network. Full Story

  • Technical Community Discusses Cyberterrorism

    The technical gurus at Slashdot, a geek news/community site, have been holding some very interesting disuccsions on cyberterrorism. An editor from Jane&#039s asked the Slashdot community to comment on an article they were preparing to publish on the topic. The response was overwhelming and somewhat negative and as a result, the editor has decided to…

  • National Infrastructure Protection Week?

    The TRC Staff has encountered at least a dozen articles in the past 24 hours discussing infrastructure protection issues. NIPC Director Mike Vatis provided testimony on the hill yesterday detailing an operation dubbed Moonlight Maze in which attacks on U.S. systems were traced back to Moscow. The Russians have denied that these attacks were sponsored…

  • Russians Detain 2,000 in Anti-terrorist Operation

    AP is reporting that Moscow police have detained 2,000 people and seized scores of weapons as part of an anti-terrorism operation in the Russian capital. During the operation, code-named Whirlwind, police confiscated 88 firearms and 26 pounds of explosives, Interior Ministry inspector Viktor Krykhtin said, according to the agency. Full Story

  • Senate Committee to Examine IT Security Threat

    A U.S. Senate Judiciary subcommittee today will examine the information security threats posed to the nation&#039s public and private critical infrastructure. This hearing follows a federal report released this week that faulted the federal government&#039s security efforts while warning that little was known about the effectiveness security systems at private companies. The hearing will be…

  • Iran Involved in Khobar Tower Bombing?

    Iranian government officials may have been involved in the 1996 terror attack on U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia, according to “information” obtained by the State Department, a spokesman said today. ABC News

  • State Department – World Wide Caution Released

    The U.S. State department has released a new world wide caution announcement, dealing with the increased danger to U.S. citizens and facilities due to to the deportation of Hani al-Sayegh. WWC-October 5, 1999.

  • Terror Suspect to be Deported

    A man suspected in the Khobar Towers bombing will be deported to his native Saudi Arabia, where he will face charges in the 1996 attack that killed 19 U.S. servicemen. ABC News

  • TRC provides two new resources

    The Terrorism Research Center is pleased to announce the creation of our real-time news page. This page will be updated by TRC staff and selected moderators to provide you current links to relevant news and other resources. In addition, the TRC is please to release the beta version of its new online forum. This forum…

  • MITRE creates dictionary of common vulnerabilities.

    MITRE, in coordination with numerous security companies, has created a dictionary of common vulnerabilities and security exposures. This online resource can be found here.

  • USIA Posts Transcript on Terrorism in Russia

    The USIA has posted a transcript on Terrorism in Russia taken from a Wolrdnet interview. You can read the transcript here.

  • Key U.N. members call for global cooperation to fight terrorism

    Responding to a spate of bombings in Russia and increasing terrorism around the world, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council called Thursday for greater global cooperation to stem the violent attacks. CNN.

  • Militias and Millenarians: a preliminary typology

    “The Cold War is dead, long live the New World Disorder!” Whilst not exactly the official battle-cry for rogue-states or non-state actors, the sentiment behind this version of events is one that has become more and more a prevalent view amongst security analysts and threat assessors as they look at the international security scene at…

  • CIA Book of Dirty Tricks

    Infamous document that has been circulating on the Internet for decades. CIA Book of Dirty Tricks

  • Patterns of Global Terrorism 1996

    Although terrorism remains a concern in East Asia, national reconciliation efforts in Cambodia and the Philippines, and successful prosecutions in Japan, have helped reduce the terrorist profile in the region. Continuing defections by Khmer Rouge troops in Cambodia have reduced their numbers considerably, although the Khmer Rouge is still considered active and dangerous. Talks between…

  • Patterns of Global Terrorism 1991

    Terrorism in 1991 was marked by three major features. First, the number of international terrorist incidents increased 22 percent, from 456 in 1990 to 557 last year. This increase is solely attributable to terrorism associated with the Persian Gulf war. Second, 1991 was the second straight year in which there was no terrorist spectacular. Third,…

  • Patterns of Global Terrorism 1990

    The continuing decline in the number of international terrorist incidents during 1990 is encouraging. From a peak of 856 in 1988, the number of incidents decreased to 455 in 1990. Even more encouraging are the increasing counterterrorist cooperation among governments and our numerous successes in bringing the rule of law to bear on terrorists. As…

  • Patterns of Global Terrorism 1989

    The year 1989 saw a steep decline in the number of terrorist acts committed worldwide-one of the sharpest yearly drops we have recorded since the advent of modern terrorism in 1968. The number of people killed or wounded by terrorists also fell significantly. This is good news. But terrorism remains a serious problem on the…

  • Patterns of Global Terrorism 1986

    The level of international terrorist activity remained high in 1986, despite a slight decline in the total number of incidents.’ This halts, at least temporarily, the dramatic upward trend in the number of incidents experienced in the previous two years. In the first part of 1986, terrorism continued to rise, but increased counter- terrorist cooperation…

  • Patterns of Global Terrorism 1985

    International terrorists had a banner year in 1985.’ They carried out more attacks than in any year since the decade began; caused more casualties-especially fatalities-over that same period (329 alone occurred when an Air India jetliner was blown up in June) ; conducted a host of spectacular, publicity-grabbing events that ultimately ended in coldblooded murder;…