Russ Beck (Freshman, SRA) is fairly new to the blogosphere but he’s making some serious waves with his blog titled Counter-Terrorism and Security. Russ mentioned last week that his blog was noticed by The Journal of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security International, and now there is a possibility of Russ and Ali Ziab (Junior, SRA) being published in the industry magazine. All because of an article on his blog! I’ve been impressed with many of his detailed analytical posts about national security, and they should be required reading for SRA majors in our College who aspire to work for the government.

There is a lack of security and risk analysis blogs out there, and Russ’ blog definitely helps to fill that void. Other security bloggers from the College of IST include Matt Maisel (Freshman, SRA) and Steven Sharer (Freshman, SRA). It’s awesome that our students are taking the initiative to create an online presence to blog about their field of study.

A blog is a great way to share your opinions and refine your process of thinking. Sign up for a free blog at Wordpress.com today to start your own. (Let us know about your new blog and we will add a link to our sidebar.)

Russ Beck and Steven Sharer also co-update a wiki-style blog called SRA Resources. Russ states that its purpose is to “spread information across IST and SRA Majors so that we can all stay updated on what is going on in our fields.” Although the content so far is shaping into top-notch material, Wordpress is not a good choice for a website like this. An actual wiki would be the way to go, for maintenance and presentation purposes.

Regarding the journal publication mentioned above, Ali Ziab will be a senior next fall majoring in SRA with an intelligence analysis and modeling option. During the past spring semester he worked on a couple of research projects for Dr. Isaac Brewer. This research will continue during the summer and the following school year. He has a special interest in the area of threat analysis and risk mitigation. One of his fellow classmate and him decided to take on the responsibility of developing a vulnerability assessment that will address an attack on Beaver Stadium. During the summer he will be using MASSIVE Software to model simulate an attack on the stadium and the various chaotic reactions of the fans. After he receives his Bachelor’s degree, he plans on pursuing a Master’s Degree in Counter-Terrorism. After he graduates summer of 2009 he would like to keep his options open but would prefer to work in the field of counter terrorism and intelligence.

Tags: russ beck, security and risk analysis, sra, steven sharer

Categories: Gossip