The Global Frequency

Greetings from Pittsburgh, PA!  I'm on the road again this weekend with one last trip before the holiday break.  My apologies for any confusion last week when I typed Sun Micro instead of Super Micro.  Thanks to Mark W. for pointing out the error.

This week on the Global Frequency...

A new report offers a deep look at Russian information operations.  No offense to the other presenters, but I thought the Graphika presentation at CyberWarCon was the best in show.  Fascinating stuff and they open sourced their raw data. (Read More)

In China, the manual component of AI emerges as humans validate training data in the equivalent of AI boiler rooms. (Read More)

Navy secrets being targeted in cyberspace.  Yet, when I asked a former Secretary of the Navy about innovation initiatives he told me about how they are removing rolls from toilet paper to save weight. (Read More)

The Chinese get AI.  Not that they reference it as a developing universal technology and want to get ahead of AI security issues. (Read More)

Looking for Chinese spies. (Read More)

Does terrorism work?  An academic study tries to answer this question. (Read More)

China's AI push into...Africa. (Read More)

New disclosures about Facebook's information sharing practices.  "personal data has become the most prized commodity of the digital age, traded on a vast scale by some of the most powerful companies in Silicon Valley and beyond." (Read More)

How you can help fight the information wars.  "See something, say nothing." (Read More)

Could weak cybersecurity raise the threat of deadly missile attacks? (Read More)

The National Quantum Initiative Act is moving forward. (Read More)

BioWatch, a program designed to be the first line of detection against biological attacks, has some legacy security issues. (Read More)

An AI system identified all the solar panels in the U.S.  A pretty cool project. (Read More)

Fact or Fiction:
I'll be talking a lot about the OODA Loop in 2019, so it is only appropriate that I end the year with a strong recommendation to read "Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War Paperback" by Robert Coram.  I keep a dozen copies of this book in the office to give away.  Boyd's contributions to strategy and tactics through his OODA Loop (Observe - Orient - Decide - Act) are relatively well known, but he also played an important role in aviation science and technology development within the Department of Defense.  Capable of beating any challenger in aviation combat in under 40 seconds, Boyd articulated the OODA Loop as the explanation for his undefeated decision cycle.  A cycle that has been demonstrated to have value in dozens of different domains. (Amazon Link)

Quote of the Week:
“Machines don’t fight wars, terrain doesn’t fight wars. You must get into the minds of humans. That’s where the battles are won.” -John Boyd

Want more book recommendations from Matt?  Visit the Amazon List.