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Click here to kill everybody : security and survival in a hyper-connected world
\"The internet is powerful, but it is not safe. As 'smart' devices proliferate the risks will get worse, unless we act now. From driverless cars to smart thermostats, from autonomous stock-trading systems to drones equipped with their own behavioral algorithms, the internet now has direct effects on the physical world. While this computerized future, often called the Internet of Things, carries enormous potential, best-selling author Bruce Schneier argues that catastrophe awaits in its new vulnerabilities and dangers. Forget data theft: cutting-edge digital attackers can now literally crash your car, pacemaker, and home security system, as well as everyone else's. In Click Here to Kill Everybody, Schneier explores the risks and security implications of our new, hyper-connected era, and lays out common-sense policies that will allow us to enjoy the benefits of this omnipotent age without falling prey to the consequences of its insecurity. From principles for a more resilient Internet of Things to a recipe for sane government oversight, Schneier's vision is required reading for anyone invested in human flourishing\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Japan's Nuclear Disaster and the Politics of Safety Governance
In Japan's Nuclear Disaster and the
Politics of Safety Governance , Florentine
Koppenborg argues that the regulatory reforms taken up in the wake
of the Fukushima disaster on March 11, 2011, directly and
indirectly raised the costs of nuclear power in Japan. The
Nuclear Regulation Authority resisted capture by the nuclear
industry and fundamentally altered the environment for nuclear
policy implementation. Independent safety regulation changed
state-business relations in the nuclear power domain from
regulatory capture to top-down safety regulation, which raised
technical safety costs for electric utilities. Furthermore, the
safety agency's extended emergency preparedness regulations
expanded the allegorical backyard of NIMBY demonstrations.
Antinuclear protests, mainly lawsuits challenging restarts,
incurred additional social acceptance costs. Increasing costs
undermined pronuclear actors' ability to implement nuclear power
policy and caused a rift inside the \"nuclear village.\" Small
nuclear safety administration reforms were, in fact, game changers
for nuclear power politics in Japan.
Koppenborg's findings contribute to the vibrant conversations
about the rise of independent regulatory agencies, crisis as a
mechanism for change, and the role of nuclear power amid global
interest in decarbonizing our energy supply.
eBook
Lessons of Disaster
Even before the wreckage of a disaster is cleared, one question is foremost in the minds of the public: \"What can be done to prevent this from happening again?\" Today, news media and policymakers often invoke the \"lessons of September 11\" and the \"lessons of Hurricane Katrina.\" Certainly, these unexpected events heightened awareness about problems that might have contributed to or worsened the disasters, particularly about gaps in preparation. Inquiries and investigations are made that claim that \"lessons\" were \"learned\" from a disaster, leading us to assume that we will be more ready the next time a similar threat looms, and that our government will put in place measures to protect us. In Lessons of Disaster, Thomas Birkland takes a critical look at this assumption. We know that disasters play a role in setting policy agendas—in getting policymakers to think about problems—but does our government always take the next step and enact new legislation or regulations? To determine when and how a catastrophic event serves as a catalyst for true policy change, the author examines four categories of disasters: aviation security, homeland security, earthquakes, and hurricanes. He explores lessons learned from each, focusing on three types of policy change: change in the larger social construction of the issues surrounding the disaster; instrumental change, in which laws and regulations are made; and political change, in which alliances are created and shifted. Birkland argues that the type of disaster affects the types of lessons learned from it, and that certain conditions are necessary to translate awareness into new policy, including media attention, salience for a large portion of the public, the existence of advocacy groups for the issue, and the preexistence of policy ideas that can be drawn upon. This timely study concludes with a discussion of the interplay of multiple disasters, focusing on the initial government response to Hurricane Katrina and the negative effect the September 11 catastrophe seems to have had on reaction to that tragedy.
eBook
Long shot : vaccines for national defense
At the turn of the twenty-first century, the United States contended with a state-run biological warfare program, bioterrorism, and a pandemic. Together, these threats spurred large-scale government demand for new vaccines, but few have materialized. A new anthrax vaccine has been a priority since the first Gulf War, but twenty years and a billion dollars later, the United States still does not have one. This failure is startling. Historically, the United States has excelled at responding to national health emergencies. World War II era programs developed ten new or improved vaccines, often in time to meet the objectives of particular military missions. Probing the history of vaccine development for factors that foster timely innovation, Kendall Hoyt discovered that vaccine innovation has been falling, not rising, since World War II. This finding is at odds with prevailing theories of market-based innovation and suggests that a collection of nonmarket factors drove mid-century innovation. Ironically, many late-twentieth-century developments that have been celebrated as a boon for innovation—the birth of a biotechnology industry and the rise of specialization and outsourcing—undercut the collaborative networks and research practices that drove successful vaccine projects in the past. Hoyt's timely investigation teaches important lessons for our efforts to rebuild twenty-first-century biodefense capabilities, especially when the financial payback for a particular vaccine is low, but the social returns are high.
eBook
We have root : even more advice from Schneier on security
\"We Have Root is the latest collection of essays by security and privacy expert Bruce Schneier. He explores a wide range of cybersecurity, privacy, and real-world security issues that are as current as today's headlines. Written in clear and understandable terms, his essays explore the ever-expanding role of technology in national security, war, transportation, the Internet of Things, elections, and more. Rather than addressing technology experts. Schneier directs his writings to leaders, voters, and consumers. He challenges non-technical readers to question the status quo to make better security decisions and investments. As the internet and other technologies have become commonplace and fundamental to society, it is necessary to understand how these work and how they affect our everyday world. Today, social media is essential to public discourse. The web is vital for commerce. Even more critically, the Internet now affects the world in a direct and physical manner. In the near future, the Internet will enable pervasive surveillance at unprecedented levels. The book's essays originally appeared in numerous publications, including the Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Wired, and others.\"-- Back cover.
Book
Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Vietnam
The COVID-19 pandemic has become one of the most serious health crises in human history, spreading rapidly across the globe from January 2020 to the present. With prompt and drastic measures, Vietnam is one of the few countries that has largely succeeded in controlling the outbreak. This result is derived from a harmonious combination of many factors, with the policy system playing a key role. This study assessed the policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam from the early days of the outbreak in January 2020 to 24 July 2020 (with a total of 413 cases confirmed and 99 days of no new cases infected from the local community) by synthesizing and evaluating 959 relevant policy documents in different classifications. The findings show that the Vietnamese policy system responded promptly, proactively, and effectively at multiple authority levels (33 different agencies from the national to provincial governments), using a range of policy tools and measures. Parallel to the daily occurrence of 2.24 new cases, 5.13 new policy documents were issued on average per day over the study period. The pandemic policy response over the first six months in Vietnam were divided into four periods, I (23 January–5 March), II (6–19 March), III (20 March–21 April), and IV (22 April–24 July). This paper synthesizes eight solution groups for these four anti-pandemic phases, including outbreak announcements and steering documents, medical measures, blockade of the schools, emergency responses, border and entry control measures, social isolation and nationwide social isolation measures, financial supports, and other measures. By emphasizing diversification of the policy responses, from the agencies to the tools and measures, the case study reviews and shares lessons from the successful COVID-19 prevention and control in Vietnam that could be useful for other nations.
Journal Article
Cyber security and the politics of time
\"'Cyber security' is a recent addition to the global security agenda, concerned with protecting states and citizens from the misuse of computer networks for war, terrorism, economic espionage and criminal gain. Many argue that the ubiquity of computer networks calls for robust and pervasive countermeasures, not least governments concerned at their potential effects on national and economic security. Drawing on critical literature in international relations, security studies, political theory and social theory, this is the first book that describes how these visions of future cyber security are sustained in the communities that articulate them. Specifically, it shows that conceptions of time and temporality are foundational to the politics of cyber security. It explores how cyber security communities understand the past, present and future, thereby shaping cyber security as a political practice. Integrating a wide range of conceptual and empirical resources, this innovative book provides insight for scholars, practitioners and policymakers\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
A review of the cost and effectiveness of solutions to address plastic pollution
Plastic usage increases year by year, and the growing trend is projected to continue. However as of 2017, only 9% of the 9 billion tons of plastic ever produced had been recycled leaving large amounts of plastics to contaminate the environment, resulting in important negative health and economic impacts. Curbing this trend is a major challenge that requires urgent and multifaceted action. Based on scientific and gray literature mainly published during the last 10 years, this review summarizes key solutions currently in use globally that have the potential to address at scale the plastic and microplastic contaminations from source to sea. They include technologies to control plastics in solid wastes (i.e. mechanical and chemical plastic recycling or incineration), in-stream (i.e. booms and clean-up boats, trash racks, and sea bins), and microplastics (i.e. stormwater, municipal wastewater and drinking water treatment), as well as general policy measures (i.e. measures to support the informal sector, bans, enforcement of levies, voluntary measures, extended producer responsibility, measures to enhance recycling and guidelines, standards and protocols to guide activities and interventions) to reduce use, reuse, and recycle plastics and microplastics in support of the technological options. The review discusses the effectiveness, capital expenditure, and operation and maintenance costs of the different technologies, the cost of implementation of policy measures, and the suitability of each solution under various conditions. This guidance is expected to help policymakers and practitioners address, in a sustainable and cost-efficient way, the plastic and microplastic management problem using technologies and policy instruments suitable in their local context.
Journal Article