National Security Organizations Research Articles

Helping Intelligence Analysts Gain Insight

Abtract Decisionmakers expect intelligence assessments to be insightful. Still, intelligence professionals do not understand the insight process well enough to achieve consistently such indispensable outcomes. Little, if any, research has studied how intelligence analysts achieve insights. A qualitative, interview-based unclassified study was conducted to understand how insight emerges in 36 intelligence analysts who solved novel problems. The results include an emergence process consisting of two interacting elements—internalized tensions and priming—across the emotion–cognition and individual–social dimensions, and that the relationship between the two elements is complex. The emergence of insight is not predictable or controllable, which has significant challenges for the management of intelligence analysts because intelligence agencies typically are hierarchical organizations that emphasize order and control, conditions antithetical for nurturing emergence. This conundrum requires a major individual and cultural shift by management. The study suggests that the findings are generalizable across intelligence analysts in any national security organization, domestic or international.

National Security Transparency and Relations with Minority Communities

National security and intelligence communities in democracies have traditionally not been very transparent, in general and specifically in their relations with minority communities. This goes against basic principles of democratic governance, but it is also counterproductive: the lack of transparency hinders these organizations’ ability to protect national security. This article argues that a broader, proactive definition of transparency should replace traditional perspectives to better support enhanced engagement with minority communities. Next, it explains that for its gains to be sustainable, transparency must be institutionalized into the everyday work of national security organizations. Yet enhancing transparency is easier said than done: while the gains tend to emerge in the longer term, risks emerge in the short term. The article concludes by recognizing that enhancing national security transparency in relations with minority communities, although necessary, is complex and time-consuming, a reality underestimated by some of its proponents in civil society.

Pump Up Password Security! Evaluating and Enhancing Risk-Based Authentication on a Real-World Large-Scale Online Service

Risk-based authentication (RBA) aims to protect users against attacks involving stolen passwords. RBA monitors features during login, and requests re-authentication when feature values widely differ from those previously observed. It is recommended by various national security organizations, and users perceive it more usable than and equally secure to equivalent two-factor authentication. Despite that, RBA is still used by very few online services. Reasons for this include a lack of validated open resources on RBA properties, implementation, and configuration. This effectively hinders the RBA research, development, and adoption progress. To close this gap, we provide the first long-term RBA analysis on a real-world large-scale online service. We collected feature data of 3.3 million users and 31.3 million login attempts over more than 1 year. Based on the data, we provide (i) studies on RBA’s real-world characteristics plus its configurations and enhancements to balance usability, security, and privacy; (ii) a machine learning–based RBA parameter optimization method to support administrators finding an optimal configuration for their own use case scenario; (iii) an evaluation of the round-trip time feature’s potential to replace the IP address for enhanced user privacy; and (iv) a synthesized RBA dataset to reproduce this research and to foster future RBA research. Our results provide insights on selecting an optimized RBA configuration so that users profit from RBA after just a few logins. The open dataset enables researchers to study, test, and improve RBA for widespread deployment in the wild.

The “Supermen” Club: Organizational Secrecy and Masculine Identity in an Israeli National Security Organization

How does secrecy shape narratives of militarized hegemonic masculinity? This article assesses a gap at the intersection between theories of masculinities and organizational secrecy. Supported by 15 interviews with current and former male workers of a covert section of an Israeli national security organization, it argues that secrecy is experienced as both an external hurdle and a central component to the way that men internalize masculinity. Unable to access social capital outside the security organization, the respondents of the study construct a social field inside it through which they can assert their masculinity. They do so by conceptualizing their jobs, themselves, and the organization through a prism of sacrificial warriorhood, and actively incorporate secrecy’s constraints into a narrative of “super-men”. This study thus examines secrecy in the context of a militarized environment, showing the experience of masculinity and a perceived lack of power-access among members of a dominant group.

MOTIVATION AND SATISFACTION IN THE NATIONAL SECURITY ENVIRONMENT

This research has studied the relation between motivation and job satisfaction in a national security organization. Two questionnaires for motivation and professional satisfaction were used as assessment tools. The research group consisted of 80 militaries, respectively 80 civilian subjects representing the control group. Several types of relations were studied, considered relevant for the study objectives, such as: the relation between work motivation and management satisfaction and interpersonal relationships within the team, with respect to work organization and functional communication; the relation between the motivation for accomplishment through work and the degree of salary satisfaction, rewards and career advancement opportunities; the relation between the levels of general satisfaction and the motivation for accomplishment through work; the relation between the higher levels of satisfaction with work organization and functional communication, respectively with management and interpersonal relationships of the military group, compared to the control group of civilian employees. The results of this research have some practical value, advancing the possibility that some conclusions can be assimilated in the human resources policies of national security institutions, in order to optimize staff motivation and maximize performance

Benzodiazepine and Z-drug consumption in a national social security organization in Argentina: rational or excessive use?

Benzodiazepines and "Z-drugs" (BZD/Z) are overprescribed in many countries. This study evaluates their consumption in a social security sector health insurance provider with national coverage in Argentina. With a descriptive and observational approach, outpatient dispensations of BZD/Zs were analyzed for people over 18 years old from April 2020 to March 2021, disaggregated by sex, age, active ingredient, and half-life. An annual prevalence of use of 11.6% was found among the 431,445 adult affiliates, with higher rates in women and in those over age 60. Overall consumption of BZD/Zs was 77.6 defined daily doses (DDD) per 1000 enrollee-days. The average user received 5.1 annual dispensations and the equivalent of 1.4 DDD for each day of the year. BZD/Zs with long half-life were the most used. We found high levels of BZD/Z consumption and for longer periods than recommended. It is necessary to improve the quality of consumption and reduce the negative impact of inappropriate use of these drugs among treated individuals.

Space surveillance architecture: issues and challenges – an integrated approach

The object of this study is space surveillance activity and the information systems involved for actors and national security organizations. Near and Deep Space Surveillance areas are presented, the former dealing with artificial objects and the latter the inner planetary system, including asteroids and its exploration and exploitation. (Near Space includes the upper layers of the atmosphere (thermosphere, exosphere) and the magnetosphere up to the limits of the magnetopause (6–15 RE). Deep Space refers to the space after the magnetopause and practically up to the limits of the Kuiper belt, about 50 A.U.) Due to the different matter of each area, the two sectors cannot have a common system for surveillance. The ever-increasing interest in natural resource extraction from the asteroid belt, the Moon, and Near-Earth Objects, combined with the explosive growth of the number of satellite commercial applications, makes the development and interconnection of the two distinct sector systems a necessity. This study describes the surveillance systems, the available technologies and methods, and develops a comprehensive oversight proposal.

Turning the large, siloed, hierarchical and bureaucratic into learning organizations: finding practical learning application in national security organizations

Turning the large, siloed, hierarchical and bureaucratic into learning organizations: finding practical learning application in national security organizations

Cultivating a learning culture in the US Navy

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the cultivation of a learning culture in the US Navy (USN). The intent of preparing and sharing this research is to reveal the particular challenges of developing learning organization capability in national security organizations. This paper believes this effort will contribute to the evolution and establishment of learning organization models that are replicable across and adaptable to distinct industrial settings.Design/methodology/approachSeveral efforts were explored and assessed by applying relevant research in the learning organization literature to trends in current organizational practice within the USN.FindingsRecent USN learning culture efforts align with the broader, multi-sector, global trend toward building learning organizations to develop people as a source of competitive advantage. This research reveals the trials of enabling learning organizations across large, hierarchical bureaucracies with substantial structural and cultural barriers. The myriad obstacles currently being addressed by the USN, both at an institutional level and at smaller organization and unit levels, can inform the development of learning cultures. In particular, this research highlights the need to align specific efforts to the appropriate level of the organization.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the learning organization conversation by examining the associated challenges through a multi-level framework – top, middle and bottom.

Perspectives in Talent Management Strategies for Cybersecurity Job Roles in Public Safety and Health in Government Organizations

US government organizations struggle to broaden an entire of government approach to recruit and keep younger cybersecurity talent at a time when national security and intelligence organizations and emergency response agencies are extremely concerned that threats to federal structures and networks from cyber-attacks have never been higher for the state, local, and federal agencies. This study looks to explore innovative options for these agencies to address these employee talents and retention shortages for young information security and information technology professionals.

The production of precariousness for the dissenting subject at the intersections of neoliberal and cultural nationalist practice

In this study, I examine how dissenting subjects become precarious in the context of national security labor. I argue that the intersection of neoliberal and cultural nationalist practices produces a state formation, which is not genuinely interested in building institutional capacities for strengthening national security. Instead, the neoliberal, cultural nationalist state is more interested in investing in organizational actors who can produce spectacles, which transform citizens into passive consumers of state propaganda. Dissenters who call for expansion of institutional capacities threaten the prevailing authority structures, as institutions can then become sites for democratic action. Using auto-ethnographic approach to analyze the letters that I wrote while working in a national security organization in India and its subsequent coverage in the media, I contend that the marginalization of the dissenter is used as a tactic by the state for normalizing the erosion of institutional capacities.

Концепции США и Китая по использованию космических систем для решения военно-политических задач

The article draws upon the assumption that the U.S.–China struggle for global leadership is inevitable. At present, we witness the surge of interest towards the “active phase” of trade wars flaring since President Trump’s taking office. But what is requiring to shed light on is whether the bilateral antagonism may switch to the outer space with 95% of space technologies possessed by the states being dual. Proceeding from this logic, the author examines the extent of reciprocal preparedness towards turning space into a theater of war. The author claims that the space factor has been taken into account by the U.S. military strategists since the last decade of the 20th century, though the more vivid impetus was given by the Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization report published in 2001 which revealed insufficient readiness of military and intelligence services to use space for heading off perspective threats. As a result, stepping from pledges to reject any limitations on the fundamental right of a country to operate in and acquire data from space including defense and intelligence-related activities, the United States then came to proclamation of more precise guidelines on how to protect national interests depriving the adversary of potential advantages in space. In due course the issues of “interoperability” of national security systems and their “resilience” came to the fore contributing to better understanding of an impact the cross-domain solutions may have for preventing, countering and sustaining aggression. All in all, space domain mission assurance has become an inalienable part of the U.S. space policy since 2012 already. Amidst the Third Offset Strategy of the United States and Donald Trump’s aspirations for strengthening the American deterrence and warfighting options in space, it is expected that soon we will witness correspondent organizational and planning changes making outer space an area of military operational maneuver. Unlike the U.S., China does not have a space doctrine to contain prescriptions on the military use of space. White papers on space activities are majorly intended to build up the frames of providing national security in a peaceful manner. Meanwhile, the Academy of Military Science of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army publishes the guiding thoughts defining the Chinese vision of the future military affairs. It states the combination of soft- and hard-kill techniques to coerce the adversary and achieve space superiority, promotes joint operations implying integration of space operations into the military planning system to enable defensive and offensive activities, whether it be space deterrence or space blockade. In the whole, space is characterized as a “commanding height” applicable in asymmetric warfare and seizing the initiative. At the same time, establishment of Strategic Support Forces responsible inter alia for space activities confirms China’s intention to grant this domain a more active role in providing national security. The author comes to a conclusion that having open and concealed hints at each other in strategic, documents, and possessing certain similarities in the vision of the future space activities, both the U.S. and China are strategically prepared to shifting disputes to the space arena.

The Contemporary Presidency: The Trump Transition, Early Presidency, and National Security Organization

President Trump's establishment of his national security system proved highly problematic compared to those of his recent predecessors. Problems arose in its initial organization, especially the designation of his chief political strategist as a participant at its highest levels, later rescinded. Further difficulties developed with the resignation of his National Security Council advisor, after only 24 days on the job. The news media quickly pounced. They portrayed a presidency in disarray and a national security process as dysfunctional. It was a major blow to this new administration, even though it was unwilling to acknowledge it publicly. In his first solo press conference on February 16, 2017, Trump stated, “This administration is running like a fine‐tuned machine.” Not quite. This article explores their early organizational difficulties in national security policy making.

SECURITY IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: COMPARING UNITED NATIONS 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT WITH MILLENNIUM DECLARATION

This study aims to compare United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with Millennium Declaration in terms of their security conceptualizations to explore changes in security thinking and policy components (goals, targets, principles, priorities etc.) over time. In doing so, it is envisaged that United Nations’ expectations from member states regarding their national security policies and organizations could be revealed. Security thinking has changed since late 1980’s with the introduction of sustainable development approach by the United Nations. This shift in security thinking encompasses human security and security-development nexus. Holding all member states responsible, Millennium Declaration and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development constitute the primary and the most recent outcome documents of United Nations’ sustainable development policy. Both documents have security components. This enables extracting security elements and comparing them with an analytical manner. Consequently, findings are compared and discussed in terms of public policy and organization at national level.

L'illusione della Sicurezza Nazionale nell'era del warfare di quarta generazione e della comunicazione digitale

Although the United States is the sole superpower at the beginning of the 21st century, all of its extravagantly funded national security organizations, including the misnamed Department of the Defense (DOD), the National Security Agency (NSA), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), failed to protect the nation on September 11, 2001 despite their possession of critical information that would have helped to protect the nation had it been shared. Ironically, many of those who through incompetence or negligence failed to share the information were promoted and their employing agencies received increased budgets and responsibilities encouraging them to undertake activities to protect the budgets if not the nation by creating the illusion of security.

Hidden Members and Key Players Detection in Covert Networks Using Multiple Heterogeneous Layers

National security is one of the biggest challenges of the world today because of the number of terrorist incidents occurring across the world. It has been seen that suspicious individuals work in very organized groups. They hide themselves between common public and communicate through different media. The whole network is often organized in such a way that all members may not be directly interacting; rather they may be interacting through different mediators and may be using different media for interaction. This type of group is difficult to identify completely because of the presence of mediators and also different media of communication. In order to mitigate the potential risk of terrorist activities, such organized groups are required to be destabilized which is a big challenge for national security organizations. In this paper we propose a new model for detecting such networks. Detection is done by integrating databases having records of associations of suspicious individuals from different domains. 

Burnout: trends, internationale verschillen, determinanten en effecten

Burnout: trends, international differences, determinants and effects Burnout: trends, international differences, determinants and effects The aim of this article is to describe the trends in burnout, the international differences, the determinants, the risk groups as well as the relation of burnout with absenteeism and work disability. This is done with large and representative national and international data bases. The Netherlands data are provided by Statistics Netherlands, the national social security organization UWV and the research organization TNO. The international data are from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions in Dublin.Results show that the percentage of burnout complaints by Netherlands employees increased from 11 to 13% in the period 2007-2009. In the next period, 2009-2012, the percentage stayed at the same level. In the years 1997-2004 the percentage varied between 8 and 10%.Within the European context Netherlands employees are among those with the lowest levels of fatigue. This possibly has to do with the relatively short working week in the Netherlands. Teachers on all levels are amongst the groups with the highest burnout risks in the Netherlands.Longitudinal analyses on the Netherlands Working Conditions Survey 2007-2009 show that the most important determinants of burnout risk are: emotional work strain, work pressure, long working hours, physical work strain, work insecurity, lack of creative work and learning opportunities, and lack of leader support. In addition, single employees, migrants, and employees working relatively often at home are among those with a burnout risk. Sex- and age differences in burnout disappear when work characteristics are kept under control.Finally, it is shown that high scores on the burnout scale are related to high levels of absenteeism. Longterm disabled workers because of a burnout account for 4 to 5% of all disabled for work. Hence, it is a relatively small category.

Resilience certification for commercial buildings: a study of stakeholder perspectives

Infrastructure resilience has become a primary objective for homeland and national security organizations over the past decade. Recent initiatives have focused on resilient building design, and one approach under consideration is a voluntary resilience certification program for commercial buildings. The intent of this program would be to encourage the adoption of resilient design practices in construction and planning of the buildings. While resilience may be a frequently discussed concept within the security communities, its level of awareness within the construction, design, insurance, and building owner communities is not well known. Given the voluntary nature of the certification program under consideration, program development requires a comprehensive understanding of resilience as defined by the commercial building stakeholders. Toward this end, Sandia National Laboratories conducted a study of stakeholder perspectives on resilience to ascertain factors that would serve as motivation for participation in the resilience certification program. This paper describes how Sandia performed the study and the resulting conclusions. One of the key conclusions that the study found is that the term resilience is unfamiliar to many and inconsistently defined across the industries. Those familiar with the term frequently linked it to sustainability concepts. The study also found that increased participation in the resilience certification program is very likely affected by demonstrable returns on resilience investments and a public–private partnership model for program administration.

Neuroscience, Ethics, and National Security: The State of the Art

National security organizations in the United States, including the armed services and the intelligence community, have developed a close relationship with the scientific establishment. The latest technology often fuels warfighting and counter-intelligence capacities, providing the tactical advantages thought necessary to maintain geopolitical dominance and national security. Neuroscience has emerged as a prominent focus within this milieu, annually receiving hundreds of millions of Department of Defense dollars. Its role in national security operations raises ethical issues that need to be addressed to ensure the pragmatic synthesis of ethical accountability and national security.

Review and assessment of select US space security technology proposals

This paper reports on the feasibility of research and development related to select US military space weapons technology development plans. The proposals are presented in an international context where the USA is likely not alone in having aspirations to space warfare technology. China, Russia and France, among others, are just as likely to develop novel space weapons technology, with the concept of militarized outer space gradually being replaced by that of weaponized outer space. However, since the US programs have received more attention and were arguably in more advanced states of planning, if not development, this article will focus on US national security space management and organization proposals, investigating five key technology projects that have been pursued by the US government. These systems will be described in relation to the technical issues, engineering difficulties and physical limits involved. If appropriate, their implications will be linked to the political impact of these US plans and the likely reactions of the rest of the world, as other countries may answer the perceived threat inherent in the mere development of space weapons by emulating or outpacing US space militarization plans. While the USA arguably has more advanced weapons technology expertise, it will be shown that other countries have already deployed low-tech weapons in space applications, with less media attention.