This is the first installment of the International Security Bulletin‘s Weekly Briefs, which will recap the top security stories from around the world this week. This installment includes updates on elections in Zimbabwe, unrest in Egypt, potential al Qaeda activity in the Middle East, counterterrorism in the United States, potential attacks on computer encryption algorithms, and ongoing violence in the eastern DR Congo.
Africa. On Wednesday, Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon expressed optimism regarding a major peace agreement signed between eleven African nations in February, despite renewed violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The International Security Bulletin has complete coverage in our most recent Conflict Report.
The International Crisis Group identified conflict risks in Egypt and Zimbabwe. In Egypt, unrest following the July 3 ouster of President Mohamed Morsi by the military continues, as the interim government promises to disperse sit-ins in support of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe prepares for elections though ICG reports that “[c]onditions for a free and fair vote do not exist.” The ICG fears the possibility of “extensive violence” if the elections do not go smoothly.
Middle East. The U.S. State Department issued a global travel alert warning that al Qaeda may attempt to carry out attacks in the Middle East and North Africa in the next few weeks. Most of the potential attacks were unspecified, though reports indicate specific concern that al Qaeda in Yemen is planning an attack in that country. The U.S. goverment plans to close embassies and consulates throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
From the United States, the FBI has concluded that it could not have prevented the Boston Marathon bombings. A number of new developments regarding NSA surveillance operations also surfaced this week. A former NSA analyst claimed that the NSA collects “word for word” every domestic communication. One of the judges on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which reviews secret warrant applications including the programs uncovered through the initial leak from Edward Snowden, wrote in a letter that none of the internet or wireless companies that have received information requests from the government have sought to challenge their legality (here is the original letter). The Guardian outed another NSA operation termed XKeyscore, which allows analysts access to vast amounts of personal digital information, including emails, chat histories, and browser histories with little oversight and no warrant or external authorization. The NSA responded with a press release claiming that its data collection is focused solely on “legitimate foreign intelligence targets”, though it confirmed the existence of the XKEYSCORE program. For more analysis, the Washington Post has a good overview.
In cryptography and cybersecurity, the Black Hat security conference discussed possible attacks on modern encryption algorithms. Most feared is a still theoretically possible but never impelemented polynomial time solution for integer factorization or the discrete logarithm—the two problems that form the basis for commonly used encryption methods. Researchers have called upon the security industry to embrace the more theoretically difficult to crack elliptic curve cryptography. Ars Technica has a great rundown.