Short Takes – 10-10-22

Cybersecurity Regulation: It’s Not ‘Performance-Based’ If Outcomes Can’t Be Measured. LawfareBlog post.  Pull quote: “But there is one consistent point in all the work on performance-based rules (ranging from Coglianese’s postmortem on the Volkswagen scandal to the principles articulated in 2020 by the then-chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission): Performance-based regulations will work only if government agencies are able to specify, measure, and enforce performance.”

Federal government considers sharing costs for ‘catastrophic’ cyber incidents. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “The Treasury Department and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently asked [link added] stakeholders in the industry to weigh in on whether there’s a need for a federal insurance response to “catastrophic” cyber incidents and, if so, how such a program should be implemented.”

Nihilism and Mass Shooterism: Unclear Categories and Potential Dangers. Gnet-Research.org article. Interesting look at mass shootings, gang violence and violent extremism. “As complex as the intersection between gang violence and ideologically motivated violence is, the overlaps between non-ideologically driven, nihilistic, grievance-driven targeted violence and gang-related violence may present even more intense complexity. This challenge is demonstrated in the recent mass casualty attack in Memphis, TN, which can be described as a series of random shootings conducted in different areas of the city.”

Violent Extremists, terrorists Targeting U.S. Critical Infrastructure. HomelandSecurityNewsWire.com article. Review of an academic report on topic. Pull quote: “Violent extremists and terrorist organizations of numerous ideological persuasions have conducted devastating attacks on critical infrastructure in the United States. Today’s terrorism threat picture in the U.S. is incredibly fluid, dynamic, and dangerous, and under this backdrop authorities are increasingly worried about an uptick in terrorist plotting against critical infrastructure.”

Solar Harvesting System May Generate Solar Power 24/7. TechXplore.com article. Adding thermal harvesting to photovoltaics. Pull quote: “In one important application scenario, STPVs can be coupled with an economical thermal energy storage unit to generate electricity 24/7.” No consideration of potential environmental impacts of thermal energy harvesting.

The “Hurricane Tax”: Ian Is Pushing Florida’s Home Insurance Market Toward Collapse. Grist.org article. Continuing and worsening problem in Florida. Pull quote: “Wind damage is covered by standard homeowner’s insurance, and the payouts necessitated by Hurricane Ian’s extensive wreckage are likely to accelerate the collapse of the state’s homeowner’s insurance industry, driving private companies into bankruptcy and forcing thousands more Floridians into a state-run program with questionable long-term prospects. The process offers an early view of the way that natural disasters fueled by climate change threaten to upend regional economies.”

‘It’ll start to kill me.’ Hurricane Ian caused gas and chemical spills, records show. TampaBay.com article. Pull quote: “Thousands of gallons of boat fuel from sunken vessels fouling Florida’s waters; chemicals released from a storm-damaged warehouse; more than 2,000 gallons of disinfectant leaking from a county-operated water utility pipeline.”