The Foreign Service Journal, September 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2021 15 I n recent months, the United States and other countries have been hit by a series of cyberattacks, including on a major U.S. pipeline and schools and hospitals. Cyber- security firms report that they are barely able to keep up with the number of calls from companies looking for help fending off attacks. In response, a group of faculty and students at Johns Hopkins University has developed the Cyber Attack Predic- tive Index, an analysis based on common factors compiled from cyberattacks over the past 15 years. “The site attempts to anticipate and predict where the next major cyber conflict could break out based on existing data from past attacks,” says Anton Dahbura, executive director of the Johns Hopkins Information Security Insti- tute and co-director of the new Johns Hopkins University Institute for Assured Autonomy. The highest likeli- hood of attack, at this writing, is Russia against Ukraine (extremely high). In the “high likelihood” category, the heat index foresees potential attacks against the United States by Russia and China, and attacks by the United States against Russia, China and Iran. Site of the Month: Cyber Attack Predictive Index ( cyberheatmap.isi.jhu.edu ) The appearance of a particular site or podcast is for information only and does not constitute an endorsement. mandated overhaul of the Foreign Service could create a newGlobal Service open to anyone interested in serving the country as an official representative abroad who is willing to sign up for a seven- to 10-year tour, or perhaps a five-year renewable tour, at any stage in their career,” she testified. State Deals with Massive Passport Backlog D ue to a growing backlog of passport applications, U.S. lawmakers intro- duced bipartisan legislation in July to re- quire the Biden administration to submit a plan to address the backlog of passport applications at the State Department. Focused on staffing shortages at State, the Passport Backlog Elimination Act would require the agency to ensure that processing time is six to eight weeks for regular passport applications, and two to three weeks for expedited applications. The bill was introduced by Represen- tatives Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.). “Caseworkers inmy district office are swamped with passport requests and are not receiving timely updates frompass- port agencies.This is unacceptable,” Burchett said. “East Tennesseans deserve better than this inadequate passport service from the Bureau of Consular Affairs. Congress has no choice but to step in and force the State Department to tell the American people how it plans to fix this mess.” At a July 14 press briefing, Rachel Arndt, deputy assistant secretary of State for passport services, said that the agency has a backlog of between 1.5 million and 2 million passport applications to process, and wait times can be 18 weeks. Expedited passport applications are tak- ing up to 12 weeks to process. Arndt said the State Department is bringing additional staff to passport agen- cies around the country as COVID-19 restrictions ease, but added that it will take time to get back to pre-pandemic levels. “U.S. citizens who wish to travel overseas this summer and do not cur- rently have a passport may need to make alternate travel plans,” she said. Third Gender Option for Passports R esponding to the needs of nonbi- nary, intersex and gender non-con- forming people, the State Department plans to allow passport applicants to select a third gender option. The depart- ment said it is working to make this hap- pen as soon as possible. “With this action, I express our enduring commitment to the LGBTQI+ community today andmoving forward,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on June 30, the last day of PrideMonth. He added that the United States consulted with other like-minded governments that have already undertaken similar changes. Meanwhile, the State Department is al- ready allowing people to change their gen- der between male and female, even if the gender they select doesn’t match the gen- der on supporting documents such as birth certificates, previous passports or State ID.