Science, “Soul,” and the Management of Terrorism

"So says science, and I believe in science, but up to now, has science ever troubled to look at the world other than from without" (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man, 1955)

Israel Begins Construction of Marine Barrier on Gaza Border

Israel has begun building an underwater sea barrier to prevent Palestinian infiltrators from entering Israel by sea, the Defense Ministry announced on Sunday.

Building began at the northern Gaza border, on Zikim beach. According to Erez Cohen, the head of the Defense Ministry’s Engineering and Construction Department, work is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

20 Finalists Chosen for 2018 Combating Terrorism Technology Startup Challenge

Twenty startups were chosen from amongst 210 companies to compete for the $220,000 in prizes at CTTSC3 – the 2018 Combating Terrorism Technology Startup Challenge. The contest is organized by the US Department of Defense, Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office (CTTSO), together with the Israel Ministry of Defense, Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D, aka MAFAT), and the MIT Enterprise Forum of Israel. CTTSC3 is a unique contest to identify startups with technologies that can help defeat terrorism.

NATO Ships Arrive in Israel for Joint Exercise with IDF Navy

The British destroyer HMS Duncan and Spanish Navy frigate Victoria, on a NATO mission, docked in Haifa Port on Friday, ahead of a joint exercise with Israel

According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, this is the first time that the Spanish frigate docked in an Israeli port.

The vessels’ visit will include meetings between senior NATO officers and their Israeli counterparts, as well as a joint NATO-Israel naval exercise.

US Authorities Take Control of Cyber-Espionage Campaign Attributed to Russia

The FBI has obtained court orders and has taken control of the command and control servers of a massive botnet of over 500,000 devices, known as the VPNFilter botnet. According to Bleeping Computer, the existence of this massive threat was made public after Cisco Talos published a report about VPNFilter infecting over 500,000 routers and NAS devices across the world.

Saudi-led Coalition Thwarts Houthi Drone Attack

The Saudi-led Arab Coalition has foiled an attempted terrorist drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport on May 26, 2018. According to the coalition, they have intercepted and destroyed an unmanned aerial aircraft that approached Abha airport. The Abha airport is not far from the military airport near Khamis Mushait.

Watch: Bell V-280 Valor in First Cruise Mode Flight

 

“Fully Prepared to Face the Threats”

It happened during the Passover holiday of 2018, when many places of work were closed for the holiday: a “mild” cyberattack. The websites of the Israel teacher union, the municipalities of Hertzliya and Eilat and several hospitals were disabled. Cyber specialists said about these attacks that they were “Unsophisticated; it was easy to reconstruct the data. These hackers focused on relatively small websites, where no substantial resources had been invested in security.”

Australia to Purchase Spike LR2 Missiles from Rafael

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has been selected by the Australian Department of Defense to supply its Spike LR2 anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) for the Australian Army.

Spike LR2, which was chosen over MBDA’s MMP (Missile Moyenne Portée or medium-range missile), will arm the Rheinmetall Boxer CRV.

Is Iran Considering Reactivating Uranium Enrichment at Fordow?

The Fordow uranium enrichment nuclear facility was one of the Iranian clandestine nuclear projects displayed in Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s “nuclear speech” on April 30. The day before the speech, irregular activity at Fordow was detected in a satellite image taken by the EROS-B (Earth Remote Observation) satellite. (EROS-B was manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries and is operated by Israel’s ImageSat International [ISI]).