Cyber Project

Joseph Nye says in the cyber realm, the difference between a weapon and a non-weapon may come down to a single line of code, or simply the intent of a computer program's user. While this makes negotiating cyber arms-control treaties problematic, it does not make diplomacy impossible.

“It was too quiet.”

That was the sentiment expressed by a number of the 45 election officials from 23 states who gathered earlier this month at Harvard for a Belfer Center Defending Digital Democracy (D3P) Midterm After-Action Conference to discuss problems around their November midterm elections.  Most said they experienced significant but mostly unintended misinformation – and some disinformation – along with a number of other challenges to their electoral processes, but not the extensive foreign cyber and other attacks that took place during the 2016 presidential election.

Joseph Nye writes that the battle with fake news is likely to remain a cat-and-mouse game.

The Internet of Things fuses products with communications technology to make daily life more effortless. But like nearly all innovation, there are risks involved. And for products borne out of the Internet of Things, this means the risk of having personal information stolen or devices being overtaken and controlled remotely.

The Pentagon has launched a preemptive strike against the Russian hackers who may have attacked the 2016 presidential election with social media influence campaigns. Numerous initiatives, including Harvard University’s Defending Digital Democracy Project, have educated officials on how to fortify elections against cyberattacks and encouraged social media companies to take down fake accounts. Despite these efforts, 67 percent of Americans consider that a foreign influence campaign, either by Russia or other governments, during the midterm elections is “very or somewhat” plausible.

The U.S. government is currently working on creating a so called Space Force. Legislation to establish the branch is expected to be included in the Pentagon's budget proposal next year, but it would still need approval from Congress.

If the Space Force branch is established, tech companies and defense contractors in Massachusetts stand to make millions — if not billions — in new contracts.