{"id":24301,"date":"2016-01-21T11:00:48","date_gmt":"2016-01-21T00:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=24301"},"modified":"2016-01-21T10:10:01","modified_gmt":"2016-01-20T23:10:01","slug":"national-security-wrap-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/national-security-wrap-4\/","title":{"rendered":"National security wrap"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>The Beat<\/strong><\/p>\n The costs of crime<\/em><\/p>\n ICYMI: The Australian Crime Commission released their latest report, \u2018The Costs of Serious and Organised Crime in Australia 2013\u201314′<\/a> over the holidays. Their findings show that serious and organised crime cost Australia $36 billion in 2013\u201315, which is equal to $1,561 from every adult and child in Australia.\u00a0For background reading, check out ASPI\u2019s Special Report, \u2018A web of harms: serious and organised crime and its impact on Australian interests\u2019<\/a>, which analyses serious, transnational and organised crime in Australia and the damage it does to our national interests.<\/p>\n Blackberry handsets remain criminal\u2019s smartphone of choice<\/em><\/p>\n Last week, The Beat<\/em> covered a story <\/a>revealing that Dutch law enforcement agencies had cracked Blackberry\u2019s legendary encryption. Blackberry has since released a statement claiming their devices are as secure as they\u2019ve always been<\/a>, and that any message recovery made by law enforcement \u2018could be due to factors unrelated to how the Blackberry device was designed.\u2019 The statement reinforced that there are no backdoors in their devices and that Blackberry doesn\u2019t share users\u2019 information with law enforcement or any other bodies.<\/p>\n CT Scan<\/strong><\/p>\n Half-price terror<\/em><\/p>\n A leaked Daesh administrative document<\/a>, translated by Middle East Forum Research Fellow Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi<\/a>, has revealed that the terrorist organisation has been forced to cut the salaries of its fighters by half. US-led airstrikes have recently been targeting the group\u2019s oil<\/a> business, destroying tanker trucks and storage tanks in eastern Syria, and a strike last week reportedly targeted a stockpile of cash<\/a> in Mosul. The pressure on Daesh finances appears to be working.<\/p>\n International terrorism analysis<\/em><\/p>\n The new issue of CTC Sentinel<\/a> includes an article on last week\u2019s terror attack in Jakarta. Author Kirsten E. Schulze suggests that the attacks demonstrate<\/a> a \u2018growing military capacity\u2019 among Daesh supporters in Indonesia. The issue also includes a forecast of the Global Terror Threat<\/a> for 2016 and analysis of the effects of the ongoing war in Yemen<\/a> on terrorist groups like Daesh and al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n Terror and territoriality<\/em><\/p>\n Aaron Y. Zelin, an analyst at the Washington Institute<\/em> and author of Jihadology<\/em> blog, has written about Daesh\u2019s territorial methodology<\/a>. Zelin makes use of three case studies\u2014Tripoli \u00a0in Libya, Idlib in Syria, and Yemen\u2014and \u00a0examines the group\u2019s strategies, both pre- and post-territorial control.<\/p>\n Checkpoint<\/strong><\/p>\n Laser focus<\/em><\/p>\n India has announced it\u2019s going to build laser fences along its border with Pakistan to detect potential terrorists. The fences will be erected by India\u2019s Border Security Force<\/a> in the north western state of Punjab. Currently only five of India\u2019s 40 vulnerable border points<\/a> with Pakistan are home to laser fences. The latest development comes shortly after a deadly attack<\/a> on an Indian air force based in Punjab, which was blamed on Pakistan-based militants.<\/a><\/p>\n Darwin as the \u2018centre of gravity\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n Meanwhile, Darwin has been hailed as the \u2018centre of gravity\u2019 for Australia\u2019s Border Force<\/a> (ABF) agency after Immigration Minister Peter Dutton announced last week that the ABF will have a permanent base at the East Arm Wharf in the Port of Darwin. The new facility, which will be fully operational by February<\/a>, will allow the ABF to refuel, swap crews and rotate vessels for patrols. Minister Dutton stated that the strategic location of the base will allow the ABF to \u2018stare down threats<\/a>\u2019 in the region, which include people smuggling and illegal fishing.<\/p>\n First Responder<\/strong><\/p>\n Regional resilience <\/em><\/p>\n The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed an agreement<\/a> with the Government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) to provide a US$24.25 million grant from its Strategic Climate Fund to the South Pacific nation. The grant will enhance PNG\u2019s climate reliance<\/a>, supporting 21 vulnerable island communities<\/a> with adaptation plans, marine ecosystem protection, as well as training in sustainable fishing and infrastructure design. The agreement also includes plans to upgrade the early warning system<\/a> linked to PNG\u2019s National Disaster Centre.<\/p>\n A group of Asian countries will collaborate with two Japanese universities to construct a microsatellite network<\/a> designed to monitor the development of natural disasters in the region. Hokkaido University and Tohoku University will work with the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand and Mongolia on the project, with the aim of having 50 satellites<\/a> in orbit by 2020.<\/p>\n Tough money<\/em><\/p>\n The European Central Bank has been considering the resilience of its financial market infrastructure this week. Beno\u00eet C\u0153ur\u00e9, member of the Executive Board, gave a speech<\/a> emphasising that the bank shouldn\u2019t focus just on its defence but also its ability to \u2018operate or recovery quickly, minimising any adverse impact on the functioning of the system\u2019, should a breach occur.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Beat The costs of crime ICYMI: The Australian Crime Commission released their latest report, \u2018The Costs of Serious and Organised Crime in Australia 2013\u201314′ over the holidays. Their findings show that serious and organised …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":391,"featured_media":24303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1410,283,1018,1570,895,301],"class_list":["post-24301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-border-security","tag-climate-change","tag-disaster-resilience","tag-encryption","tag-islamic-state","tag-national-security-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n