Terrorists Up to Dangerous New Tricks Next 5 Years: US

(NEWSER) - US counterterrorism officials are worried that al-Qaeda may mount a biological attack from Mexico and could even seek to collaborate with domestic terrorists, the Washington Times reports. The fears are bolstered by a February video from Kuwait al-Qaeda recruiter Abdullah al-Nafisi. In the video, Nafisi boasted that anthrax “carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the US” would “kill 330,000 Americans.” More»

Rumored Homeland Security nominee has hawk cred on border

(NEWSER) - If Janet Napolitano is indeed Barack Obama’s pick for Homeland Security chief, it likely signals a shift in the department away from terrorism and toward immigration issues, CQPolitics reports. The Arizona governor has been on the front lines of the immigration battle. “She would do a pretty serious systematic review of the border strategy,” a Clinton administration immigration official said. More»

Encryption makes boarding pass 'impossible' to forge

(NEWSER) - The government is finally closing a well-known loophole that makes it easy for would-be terrorists to board planes, Wired reports. Under current rules, it’s possible to forge a boarding pass at home. But new measures will put the passes, with secure barcodes, on smartphones, making it “well-nigh impossible to make a phony one,” Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff says. More»

DHS taps outsider as Silicon Valley ambassador

(NEWSER) - Outre tech entrepreneur Rod Beckström will top the White House’s new secretive cyber security initiative, the Wall Street Journal reports, to the surprise of many Washington insiders. Beckström is a Silicon Valley transplant without security experience, but he has developed a cult following in the security and intelligence communities for his book The Starfish and the Spider, which favors decentralized management. More»